Watch 'Key & Peele' Imagine a Paradise for Black Americans in "Negrotown"

Culture

Imagine a world where black people could live without fear of being judged, harassed, shot or killed in America. That's what Keegan-Michael Key's character dreams of in a new Key & Peele sketch, released online Wednesday. 

After being arrested for no reason other than being black, Key hits his head on the police car door and is quickly transported, with the help of Jordan Peele's guide, to "Negrotown."

Mic/YouTube

In what some of the dancers call "a motherfucking black playground," the routine and painful injustices black men and women face every day are absent. Everything from white people playing with one's hair to getting shot for wearing a hoodie is a thing of the past.

Mic/YouTube

"Negrotown" is a fun number, but its true impact is in hearing all of these issues one after the other. The sheer tonnage of how hard it is to live in a place uniquely unsuited to you — like, sadly, America — makes the injustice come across crystal clear. It's easy to see why one would wish for something like "Negrotown."

Mic/YouTube
Mic/YouTube

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that black Americans face a number of challenges most white people can't even imagine. From income wage gaps to housing discrimination and unequal access to education to the fact black people are 21 times more likely to be shot dead by police, black Americans in the 21st century must fight for their lives, often literally.

Sadly, Negrotown is a fantasy — not just in the real world, but on Key & Peele too. In the clip, Key's character is revived by the police officer and thrown in the car. "I thought I was going to Negrotown!" he protests as he's sent to jail.

The officer's response is sad and all too reflective of our world: "Oh, you are."

Watch the full clip below.