Well the name of the special was selective outrage...
I do think had Chris Rock done more of his traditional style cultural analysis style jokes it would've been received better by most. But there's also a generational gap if you're looking at reactions on social media. Alot of young folks today don't know Bring The Pain, Bigger and Blacker etc...so their frame of reference for Chris begins and ends within the last 5 years or so. You see the same shit when younger folks talk about Martin Lawrence. His entire career to some has now become "he made colorist jokes about Pam. It was never funny"