Talking Point: Agree/Disagree?

Patrick Neate on Sean Puffy Combs (Independent, London):

"I remember reading a description of early-20th-century American minstrels (white men blacking up to portray the stereotypical"negro"). The character was played as a kind of ignorant magpie who decked himself out in the shiniest gear, strutted inself-satisfaction, and spouted bullshit in words of three syllables.The crowds flocked. Now we have Sean Combs. I would suggest the only difference is that the minstrel's now a black guy."