Chuck Knipp
Encyclopedia
Chuck Knipp is an American
and Canadian (dual citizenship) drag queen
and comedian best known for his alter egos, the characters 'Shirley Q. Liquor' and 'Betty Butterfield.' A number of videos of Knipp's Butterfield were featured on several different Youtube
accounts until 2007 when most disappeared. In mid-2009 a number of videos were reuploaded to the site, many of them new. Many of them feature Butterfield relating her struggle to find a religion and/or church where she feels at home.
Knipp is a citizen of the United States
and Canada
, active in the American Civil Liberties Union
and Libertarian Party
and was nominated as their candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. (Texas, District 2).
Knipp is a 1979 graduate of West Orange-Stark High School
in Orange, Texas, where he served as drum major of the high school band.
Knipp concedes that his performances as Shirley can make people uncomfortable. Knipp has said his show is about "lancing the boil of institutionized racism" and that "treating African Americans as if they have a disease is the real racism" because black people are "more than intelligent enough to discern the nuance" of his performances. He's also said that "many people thought that Harriet Beecher-Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin
was and still is perceived as racist, despite being the probable artistic genesis of emotional support against slavery in the 19th century."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canadian (dual citizenship) drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
and comedian best known for his alter egos, the characters 'Shirley Q. Liquor' and 'Betty Butterfield.' A number of videos of Knipp's Butterfield were featured on several different Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
accounts until 2007 when most disappeared. In mid-2009 a number of videos were reuploaded to the site, many of them new. Many of them feature Butterfield relating her struggle to find a religion and/or church where she feels at home.
Knipp is a citizen of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, active in the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
and Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
and was nominated as their candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. (Texas, District 2).
Knipp is a 1979 graduate of West Orange-Stark High School
West Orange-Stark High School
West Orange-Stark High School is a College Preparatory High school, and the only high school in the West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District, though some students report to the West Orange-Stark Academic Alternative Center.-History:...
in Orange, Texas, where he served as drum major of the high school band.
Support
- Entertainer RuPaulRuPaulRuPaul Andre Charles , best known as simply RuPaul, is an American actor, drag queen, model, author, and singer-songwriter, who first became widely known in the 1990s when he appeared in a wide variety of television programs, films, and musical albums. Previously, he was a fixture on the Atlanta...
has long been a fan and supporter of Knipp. "Critics who think that Shirley Q. Liquor is offensive are idiots. Listen, I've been discriminated against by everybody in the world: gay people, black people, whatever. I know discrimination, I know racism, I know it very intimately. She's not racist, and if she were, she wouldn't be on my new CD." In her blog, RuPaul adds: "I am very sensitive to issues of racism, sexism and discrimination. I am a gay black man, who started my career as a professional transvestite in Georgia, twenty years ago." - Boston Phoenix journalist Dan Kennedy awarded Boston government official Jerome Smith the dubious Muzzle Award for his part in leading to the cancellation of Knipp's scheduled 2004 Boston performance.
- Writer David Holthouse, anti-racist investigator for the "Intelligence Report" from the Southern Poverty Law Center, stated "Knipp is not a white supremacist" and that Knipp "invites the audience to sympathize with a single Black mother." An in-depth article was printed in the June, 2007 edition of Rolling Stone Magazine.
- The New York Blade criticized GLAAD for condemning Knipp, stating, "We commend GLAAD for condemning racism, but we question whether the organization’s goal is best attained by joining this particular fight."
- John StrausbaughJohn StrausbaughJohn Strausbaugh is an American author, cultural commentator, and host of the New York Times "Weekend Explorer" video podcast series on New York City....
, author of Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture, explores Liquor's act in his book.
Knipp concedes that his performances as Shirley can make people uncomfortable. Knipp has said his show is about "lancing the boil of institutionized racism" and that "treating African Americans as if they have a disease is the real racism" because black people are "more than intelligent enough to discern the nuance" of his performances. He's also said that "many people thought that Harriet Beecher-Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
was and still is perceived as racist, despite being the probable artistic genesis of emotional support against slavery in the 19th century."
Criticism
There have been a number of articles in media that have taken issue with Knipp and the character.- To Knipp's declaration that Liquor "was created in celebration of, not to downgrade, black women," Jasmyne CannickJasmyne CannickJasmyne Cannick is an African-American lesbian civil rights activist. In 2005, Essence magazine named her one of 25 Women Shaping the World. She was quoted by the Chicago Sun-Times for her stance on the R. Kelly scandal. She frequently provides commentary on National Public Radio...
countered in her blogBlogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
: "...it is not possible for Charles Knipp, a white man, to help heal years of mistreatment and racism at the hands of his people by putting on a wig, speaking Ebonics, and in blackface...There is nothing remotely uplifting about Knipp’s act and I wish people would stop defending his character with the tired argument that he’s trying to heal the nation. The only thing Knipp is trying to heal is the hole in his pocket by filling it with all of the money he makes off of degrading Black people." - BET.comBlack Entertainment TelevisionBlack Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
writer Jennifer Daniels wrote: "I have [no] intention of slinking off into some corner while some pseudo-bigot paints his face black and gets rich off spewing hurtful and embarrassing stereotypes about Black women...Knipp is free to celebrate Black women his way. That is certainly his right. But I have a right to publicly critique said celebration and encourage others not to participate." Daniels offered Knipp an interview with BET to set the record straight about his Shirley Q. Liquor character, but Knipp declined to participate, preferring an in-depth article by Rolling Stone Magazine.