Kevin Michael Richardson: The irony of being the voice of Dr. Hibbert and Barney Rubble

Barney Rubble had many voices

Barney Rubble the best friend and sidekick of Fred Flintsone is a white male and was been voiced by Caucasian men for 4 decades from 1960-2001. The iconic Mel Blanc was the first to lend his voice to the character from 1960–1989. From 1961-1973 at random intervals, Daws Butler took over and then Hamilton Camp from 1986-1988. Frank Welker voiced Barney from 1990–2006 and Jeff Bergman from 1990-2009, and again 2015, 2018.

Somewhere in between in 2001 Kevin Michael Richardson a black man was hired as the voice of Barney Rubble and he continues the job today. A big deal was made over Richardson as if an African American voicing one of The Flintstones characters was a milestone. The truth is Richardson is talented but this gets lost in all the politics. The decision for him to voice Barney was seen as groundbreaking and a sign of the times but it was actually pretty ironic considering what came over two decades later regarding the actor.

Doctor Hibbert

For 30 years Dr. Hibbert on the long-running animated series The Simpsons had been voiced by Harry Shearer who is known for many voices on the show including Principal Skinner, Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Waylon Smithers, Reverend Lovejoy, and Kent Brockman. Shearer was hired in 1979 as a writer as well as a cast member of Saturday Night Live and he is also a director.

I know people who debated the nationality of Doctor Hibbert because his voice sounded more Middle Eastern than African American. Some viewers assumed his complexion ad wavy hair indicated that he was Indian or Iraqi. I do not recall ever hearing that anyone complained about who portrayed the Springfield physician but for some reason, the powers that be for The Simpsons decided to make a change.

It was announced that the series was going to be politically correct and would no longer have white actors voicing non-white characters. Richardson had been offered the role of the good doctor a year earlier but turned it down. The Simpsons announced in 2020 that due to the George Floyd killing they were giving the role of Kumiko Albertson to Jenny Yokobori so this might be why Richardson got the role of Dr. Hibbert.

The irony that is revealed

Actor James Roday (Shawn Spencer on Psych) said Floyd's death inspired him to officially reclaim his birth name of James Rodriguez so this might be the reason for switching actors for Dr. Hibbert. The irony of the situation is that Richardson got the part on The Simpsons because the powers that be were trying to match the characters with actors who shared their ethnicity.

If that indeed were the goal the show should consider having a man as Bart Simpson who has been voiced by females Angela Cartwright and Nancy Schwittau. The contradiction that should be considered is the fact that in February 2021 Richardson took over voicing Barney Rubble because of an attempt to express diversity. He gets one job that matches him with a character of the same race and another role because he is of a different race which is indeed ironic.

May the best man or woman win

There are probably people who said it was about time when the voice actor took over as Barney and others who believe that Rubble should be voiced by a man of the same race. Likewise, there are those who don't see the big deal with a white man voicing Dr. Hibbert while other Simpson fans will cheer the fact that a black male now has the job.

Perhaps in such situations related to voice actors, race and gender should not be considered. Maybe the job should go to the best actor who auditions, period. The Simpsons' initial decision may have been the best except they only used white voice actors for Springfield residents who are multicultural. The announcement of Richardson taking on these two roles should have focused on the fact that his talent qualified him.