When it comes to comedy, everyone's a critic. Whether it's funny or not, it's important to laugh at ourselves and our culture, to find that silver lining on what can seem like a very dark planet. But what is considered comedy and what is considered stepping over the line?

I attended a staff talent show at Roxborough Elementary a couple weeks ago that could have pushed that boundary between funny and controversial. The Roxborough PTIC presented "Roxborough Night Live," a cute, kid-friendly spin-off of the NBC's Saturday Night Live, starring the schools staff.

Before the show began, kids huddled around the small gym stage, waiting for a glimpse of their favorite teacher under the bright lights. Parents sat further back, discussing flu season and soccer games. The lights finally dimmed and the first annual RNL began. The show opened with the notorious and highly annoying Hannah Montana, played by Barbra Chase-Burke, a teacher or staff member I'm not familiar with. The little girl crowd went nuts, shrieking with excitement.

The next couple of scenes were typical Saturday Night Live skits such as "More cowbell" and "Wayne's World," getting a laugh from both young and old.

Overall, the show was heartfelt and hilarious but what bothered me, and others, was one particular performance. One of the RNL hosts was Queen Latifah, and the "actress," Barbra Chase-Burke, had smeared brown make-up all over her face and arms hiding her natural white skin tone.

She performed the skit as sassy Latifah and received a very awkward, very slow clap. Why did her freedom of expression make the audience (including me) feel extremely uncomfortable?

As I sat watching her performance, I thought, "This is inappropriate! What is she thinking?" But then I thought, why do I feel that way as a white individual? Is this an act of racism or just a poorly made decision by a innocent woman?

The theatrical portrayal of African Americans by Caucasians has been dated back to the 1600s when whites played black characters in the Elizabethan and Jacobean theaters by covering their faces with black substances. Thus became the popularity of "blackface."

In many of these blackface performances whites portrayed blacks in a negative light, a stereotype considered humorous at the time. Do I think Burke portrayed Latifah in a negative light? No. I honestly don't think she meant to offend anyone. The point is, by her performing that interpretation in front of children makes it seem like its okay to paint yourself a different race for entertainment.

I know what your thinking, was there any black people in the audience? Not that I saw, and from what I gather from my black friends, it would have offended them if they witnessed it. Roxborough is primarily populated with white people -- just check out the pie-chart on www.city-data.com/city/Roxborough-Park-Colorado. African Americans aren't even on the chart! Just a small sliver of Mexicans and an even smaller sliver of Asians.

The point I'm making is, it's a big, wide world out there and what happens when these kids leave the comfort of the Borough and actually see some diversity? What will they consider to be inappropriate?

I am in no way blaming Burke for her performance; it was her choice, her freedom of expression. I'm questioning the basis of what our community views as morally wrong, and how a performance such as Burkes would be received in say, Denver?

The line that separates what hurts an individual's cultural roots in thin, but runs deep. Perhaps you remember the roast of Whoopi Goldberg back in 1993 when then boyfriend, Ted Danson (star of the show Cheers) performed some tongue-and-cheek comedy in blackface. The critics jumped at the controversy, and Goldberg had to defend Dansons vulgar form of entertainment.

On the other hand, Dave Chappell often acts as yuppie white man on his show covered in white makeup, yet you don't hear about white people getting offended over it. Yes, yes I know that African Americans have had a horrible history of slavery and persecution, and perhaps white people deserve to be poked fun at.

Personally, I will gladly keep my mouth shut about black comedians making fun at white people, even though my family came to America well after slavery.

Is it a double standard? Absolutely. But I think we should make our young people aware of it, and be sensitive to what our culture considers to be acceptable. Perhaps then we can hopefully evolve into more tolerant, understanding individuals.

At first, I hesitated to write about such a hot topic, for several reasons. First off, I didn't want to place blame one individual and secondly I love and respect Roxborough Elementary and to tarnish their reputation would make me feel awful. Rather than point fingers, I hope to ignite conversation and let you, the reader, draw your own conclusions.