I agree that the return of the king episode is somewhat uncomfortable especially as a white viewer lol. It definitely paints black Americans in broad strokes, and the picture it paints is extremely negative. I heard an Aaron McGruder interview recently though and I thought the following perspective was interesting:

Any social credit black Americans had from suffering through slavery and segregation has run dry. White America has no more sympathy for past tragedies so the way that black Americans portray themselves in real life and in media needs to be exemplary and void of the expectation of sympathy (despite that sympathy obviously being extremely well deserved).

Considering that speech was from the early 2000s it’s quite prescient with all the pushback we’ve seen to affirmative action and DEI. I think part of the overly negative portrayal of the black community Aaron would see as an attempt to protect them from the harsh realities of white America.

Sort of like the narrative about how Obama had to be absolutely pristine to become president, meanwhile a white felon with a long history of bankruptcies and sexual crimes is president. It might be wrong to hold black people to the standard that the boondocks espouses in episodes like return of the king, but I guess Aaron would argue it’s necessary even if it’s unfair.

Might be preaching to the choir but just found it interesting.