Facebook/Daniel Sims Daniel Sims pictured on his Facebook page in August 2019.
Daniel Sims is the Alabama man who is being compared to Dave Chappelle’s fictional character Clayton Bigsby. Sims has been featured on TV protesting the removal of confederate monuments.
On August 13, video of Sims being featured on a WHNT broadcast in Huntsville, Alabama, went viral. This led to Simms being compared to Clayton Bigsby, a blind African American man who is the leader of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter, by multiple Twitter users.
Sims, Who Goes by the Nickname Country Boy, Was Adopted by a White Family at Age 3
Sims is referred to by WHNT as a member of the Captain John Rayburn Camp 452 Sons of Confederate Veterans. Sims told the station that his whole family is white as he was adopted at the age of three by a white family. Sims said, “My grandfather was white and he was the main one that fought in this war here and he’s taught me everything I know.” Sims was at a counter-protest to a rally held by an organization seeking to remove a confederate monument from the Marshall County courthouse. The rally was held by Say Their Names Alabama.
At the same rally, Sims was quoted by the Sand Mountain Reporter as saying, “Instead of jumping the gun and talking about something that you really don’t know anything about, ask some questions before you bash us. The truth is out here. It’s just up to you to take heed to it.”
According to Sims’ Facebook page, he lives in Albertville, Alabama, and is a member of the Asbury Volunteer Fire Department. Sims studied at Gadsden State Community College. In his bio section, Sims said that he goes by the nickname, “Country Boy.” Sims identifies himself as a supporter of President Donald Trump.
Clayton Bigsby Has Been Named as Dave Chappelle’s Finest Sketch
In 2013, Grantland’s Rembert Browne named Chappelle’s Clayton Bigsby sketch as the comedian’s finest work. Browne wrote, “You have to be extremely creative and talented to successfully mock racism. The mistake that most make when trying to mix satire with racial commentary is that it either comes off too cautious or it lands on the other side of the spectrum and simply comes off as racist in its own right.” Sims said that it would make his “blood boil” if the monument was removed and placed somewhere else. Sims also said, “That monument ain’t killing a soul. It’s ain’t talking bad to nobody. It’s ain’t even racist.”
Chappelle’s Show co-creator Neal Brennan told Vulture in 2016 that the sketch was based on Dave Chappelle’s grandfather who was mixed-race and blind. Brennan said that when the pair were editing the episode, Def Jam’s Cey Adams told them, “You guys are in trouble.” Adams compared the sketch to the Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock using the N-word during a performance at the Apollo Theater in the Harlem-section of New York. Brennan went on to describe the sketch as being emblematic of the Chappelle’s Show, Brennan said, “You can almost feel the ripple effect. It’s abrasive in the best possible way.”
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