It's racist, borderline offensive. But a little funny. Just bare with me...
I was in Vegas, taking the shuttle bus to the airport from the car rental dropoff. I was in between a group of drunk tourists and a middle-aged black couple.
The drunk dudes were talking about their trip, and how one of them almost nailed a black chick.
This turned into a few racist jokes.
The black couple was slowly getting more and more offended, and the wife restrained her husband more than once. I'm getting uncomfortable watching this, but wasn't in a position to make the guys stop.
This continues to escalate until one of the drunkies cracks this joke: "Hey, why did the black man cross the road? BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE CHICKEN WAS!!"
The black dude laughed a little, and then looked around to see if anyone noticed.
His eyes caught mine. I pointed to him, with an "I saw that, you laughed" face. His expression?
He knew he got caught, and then wasn't angry at the drunk dudes anymore. Apparently racism is ok as long as it's funny...
On that note, that could be why Randy Newman recently made this song:
"I'm Dreaming of a White President" can be seen as racist, but Mr. Newman made this song as a jab to the Republican Party and some of the hate rhetoric going around.
Again, slightly racist, but intended to be funny.
Or is that crossing a line, since white people would be crucified for telling the same joke?
Carlos Mencia talks about 'Beaners and Wetbacks' but I can't.
...yet everyone jokes about White Trash and rednecks. And I'm ok with that.
Can racism be funny? Can we poke fun at ourselves and each other without getting overly offended?
Or if I shout out "Fuck yo couch, nigga!" will you cry foul?
18 witty retorts:
This was an awesome post. Personally, I think that we, as a society, are WAY too sensative.
True racism is treating someone differently because of their skin colour, be it positive or negative. Unfortunately it's so difficult separating intention from actual belief when it comes to little things like jokes, so we invented political correctness... despite how racist it is.
Stand-up comedians can tell racist jokes because they're in a special environment where everyone understands the offensiveness is a part of the fun. They generally enjoy an easy familiarity with their audience even though they've never met before. You can't walk up to some random black guy on the street and start spouting racist jokes, especially here in England where there's a certain etiquette demanded of strangers.
IMHO, I think PC has gone way to far.
I think it really all comes down to what your intent is with the joke, and what is behind it. To me, words are just letters strung together to form a cohesive sound. It's the intent behind them that matters. I say racist shit with my friends all of the time, and I call my homo husband "faggy." They all know I would kill or take a bullet for them. But we have no boundaries, and that's the way we'll always be.
I'm still laughing at the "irony" pic :-) Also, when did your site explode in popularity? Congrats on all the new followers and stuff man--happy for ya!!
I'm not amused by things like this at all, and it actually bothers me quite a lot.
What you might find funny is that I also think people in this country are way too sensitive, but we're also way too self-centered. No one gives a shit about how other people feel or how our own actions will affect someone else, it only matters what we want to do.
My problem with making these kinds of jokes, is that there is still a big problem with inequality and discrimination in this country, and when people joke about it, it sends a message that it's okay. If a person isn't actually mired in it, isn't actually faced with it people don't understand that it's still a problem and that joking about it perpetuates a very serious problem.
Civil rights and social equality is hot button issue for me.
I was bothered by those guys as well, until the black dude laughed at one of the jokes. All of a sudden the scenario flipped. The drunks were still idiots and racist, but the situation was kind of diffused.
I am not a fan of racism and bigotry at all. Offensive is offensive. That said, I say offensive things from time to time. Remember about 6 months ago when I got into a twitter fight for cracking a fat joke?
It's an odd thin line, and easy to cross... Thanks for sounding off, Haven. I value your opinion greatly.
Heh, if I knew that, I'd know how to make money doing it. If I can get one penny for every pageview, this would be a fun side job. If I can get a dime for every pageview, I'll quit my day job...
Good point. I think when the words are designed to hurt, there's an issue.
But you never know who could be listening...
HEAR HEAR
If only all cultures were as considerate and polite as the British or Japanese. At the same time, I wish Americans weren't so easily offended. If I came out and said I was voting for Obama or didn't believe in God, I'd get flamed. Hard. It's like we're not even allowed to express our own opinions anymore.
(...and those were examples, not actual opinions. Put down the torches and pitchforks people...)
All I can say here is that I am tired of being politically correct. If I had been part of the couple on the bus I would have tossed out a few jokes or comments of my own.
I absolutely love to make people laugh, but I never try to create humor at anyone's expense other than my own. I remember when Archie Bunker made terribly racist comments that were hysterical, but that was because the jokes were always on HIM.
Werd! It's odd how races can yell racism when they themselves are guilty of doing to to their own race. It makes my brain ache.... :/ Loved the joke though. Instantly had to share with my Dad who seems to always have one or two for me!
Racism isn't funny, imo, at all, ever, but I think you hit the nail on the head B, in that the drunken idiots are still racist, but the situation was diffused by humor. I don't think it's okay to tell a racist joke, but have I laughed at them? Yep. Have I told my fair share? Yep.
Again, as you said, B, thin line, easy to cross, and I agree generally that maybe everyone needs to relax a little and not take everything so personally. However, I think one of the basic problems with the world these days is that people don't have enough respect for each other, and that certainly comes out in racism and intolerance.
I think it's a double-edged sword. We are not very sensitive to others, but we are also overly-sensitive to comments we twist into offensive attacks. Not everything derogatory is race-based, but people 'cry racism' whenever they think they can.
On that note, I say some offensive things now and then. Will I apologize if I say something that offends you? Probably not, but I'm not going out of my way to piss you off, I'm just sharing my thoughts...
Damned if you do, damned if you don't...
If it's genuinely putting people down, then it's not funny. But sometimes it's fun to poke at stereotypes.
I'm a black man from the Deep South and I'm so over racism. That's so 1970. I personally don't have a problem with a racist joke because I just like to laugh. Now, if someone calls me a racial slur, then I may get upset. Then again, if you call me anything derogatory, racist or not, I'd get upset. I hate how some black people laugh at Chris Rock insulting white people, but get offended at Lisa Lampanelli for doing a black joke. I don't play double standards when it comes to jokes. What's funny is funny.
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