By Debbie Schlussel

As a fan of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” when I was younger, I always thought Alfonso Ribeiro–who played Carlton Banks–was much more talented than star Will Smith.  It’s a lot of hard work to play the straight man while someone else has the easy, funny lines, laughs, and gags.  Plus, over the years, I’d seen Ribeiro sing and dance in Broadway’s “The Tap Dance Kid” and watched him act on TV’s “Silver Spoons.”

Et Tu, Carlton Banks?

But I’m no longer a fan of this low-class has-been.  When he’s not doing videos for Disney by day (with his young daughter), he’s bragging by night about how he [bleeps] White women. (Watch the video.)  I don’t care who dates whom, or what races they are, but his in-your-face “monologue” on the topic is racist and meant to irritate and offend.  I grew up in a majority Black city (where I still live), went to a majority Black high school.  But this act by Ribeiro is beyond moronic.  It’s not about interracial relationships.  It’s about an obsession with lording it over people of the opposite race (a la the “not guilty” verdict in the O.J. Simpson murder trial) and constantly referring to their race in an offensive way.

I’m not sure what his motivation for bragging that “I [blank] White Women” is:  racism against Black women, racism against easy blonde White women, lording it over White men, trying to expand his O.J.-esque harem, or who knows what?  Maybe it’s some kind of revenge for White slave-owners more than a century ago sleeping with Black slaves and more than a century before he was born.  Any way you slice it, it’s racist, offensive, and has echoes of the Oprah and Gail King conversation bragging about how many White people work for them.    White people are the slaves of Oprah, and they’re the sex slaves of Carlton Banks.  Wow, you’ve come a long way, Black America.  Here’s a tip:  lording this stuff over a particular race won’t heal racism.  It is racism.  And it exacerbates it.

Remember the Terrell Owens – Nicollete Sheridan “Desperate Housewives” / “Monday Night Football” skit?  I didn’t think it was a big deal  as many people did, other than the suggestiveness that continues to pervade every aspect of media to which kids are exposed.  But I understand why  it upset people.

If Ribeiro wasn’t a racist, he wouldn’t have to make a big deal about the race of the women he is, um, “dating” (euphemism). Now that he’s fat and over the hill for Hollywood, he needs something to make some noise. And this is it.

Alfonso Ribeiro Wants You to Know: He “Blanks” White Chicks

And you wonder what Disney is thinking employing this guy.  I mean, would he want his daughter to see this?  He’s onstage doing his “I [bleep] White Chicks” act with has-been boy-band member Joey Fatone, his co-host on the Disney father-daughter videos.  Nice job, Magical Kingdom.  Why not make it official:  Disney Presents a porno movie with Carlton Banks and Snow White?  You know, just to be consistent with this new form of “civil rights” advancement.

Time to retire “the Carlton Dance” to the dustbin of has-been showbiz history. It’s been replaced by the “I [Bleep] White Chicks” rant. Welcome to Barack Obama’s “post-racial” I “Bleep” White Chicks America.