Many stand-up comics and television shows use racism as a go-to for laughs (ex. Chapelle's Show, Mind of Mencia). Does laughing about racism actually help stop racism, or does making jokes just help racism grow worse?
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My opinion of racist jokes is that the person saying it is acting like a racist, not the actual content. I mean lets be honest, at some point, almost everyone laughs at a racist joke, but you don't have to necessarily believe it to find it funny. In fact, its normally the fact that the comment is so absurd in the first place, that it's funny.
I don't think an example would be appropriate in this discussion though, lol. But I do have a few...
I believe that either everything is okay to make fun of or nothing is. If someone can't take a joke, that's their problem. Just be warned that if you are willing to make a joke about another group of people, you are just as vulnerable
-Other
i kinda agree... everyone needs to be able to laugh at themselves once in awhile. YES, some of racist jokes can be funny. Honestly, there are some people who i believe are overly sensitive when it comes to them...
i think it truly becomes racist when they get out of hand.
i know this is a terrible example...
in an episode of Spongebob Squarepants (yes, i admit to watching this show every now and again)
Spongebob is making fun of squirrels with his squirrel jokes. Sandy really only became offended when they got out of hand and when people started treating her differently because of the jokes.
So, every once in awhile, you need to laugh at yourself.
like i said before, they really are only racist when they get out of hand, or if the teller is being serious.
-alex pd 2
Race comics are satirists; they're no different than people like Frank Caliendo or Stephen Colbert in that they attempt to make fun of whatever they're talking about. People who can't laugh at Dave Chappelle don't understand that he's joking.
I think the fact that they hyperbolicly make fun of stereotypes is what most people find funny. But I agree with what others have said about needing to be able to take a joke. I mean, the joke on The Office about female drivers wasn't really racist (it was a little bit sexist, though), but most of the girls in our class laughed. Racist jokes are about being able to laugh about stereotypes, despite the fact that a lot of people defy them.
Despite the fact that some people can't take a joke, I also think that our society is too hooked up on keeping everything politically correct. It's almost like we're afraid of offending anything, which is kind of the other extreme of racism. It's almost like we WANT to make everyone the same. Yes, justice is blind to skin color and all that stuff, but I think it's important that we recognize everyone's differences in race, ethnicity, religion, etc. We can't ignore them! And if the only way to get people to think about them is through comedy which may exaggerate the issues a little bit, I'm okay with that. At least some people aren't so obsessed with making the world into blank-faced, metal-skinned people.
Alex, you said, "Sandy really only became offended when [the anti-squirrel jokes] got out of hand and when people started treating her differently because of the jokes." My issues with this are, where do we define "getting out of hand"? How do we stop people from treating others differently because of the jokes? There's no definite place to draw the line. I agree that the perception of the jokes rather than the jokes themselves might be more of the problem, but I think it's difficult to separate the two.
it really can't be determined when something gets out of hand...
really jokes can be okay (depending on the joke) until people take them seriously.
like the mention of woman drivers... if all of a sudden it became more difficult for women to get their driver's license, or the insurance is higher just because they are women... then the jokes have gone to far.
but that's just what i think...
any thoughts guys?
I think that the person telling the jokes is somewhat racist, but usually they joke about their own culture as well. I've learned throughout life that you need to learn to laugh at yourself. If you're really uptight about everything you'll eventually go crazy.
I think racist jokes actually both ease tensions between races and also make racism worse. Making people laugh is the ultimate icebreaker, and if you are able to make people laugh and make fun of the stereotypes of their race, common ground is formed.
But racist jokes also expose people to the misconceptions of different races, so listening to them long enough can reinforce them, too.
I personally don't find racist jokes to be the funniest types of jokes around, but some are funny.
Jokes about race can ease racism between people of different races. Most of these jokes are based on stereotypes, not the reality behind these people. If a white person is laughing at a joke about white people; they are probably laughing at the stereotype and how others percieve them. When these stereotypes are out in the open they can be discussed, which can actually help ease tensions between different races.
I don't think joking about racism adds to racism. I think it is progress towards creating a multicultural country. While making a joke about how cheap a you people are or a joke about the way your people look doesn't automatically wipe out racism, I think it is good when we can laugh with each toher. The problem is that people don't make racist jokes just for laughs, but alot of the time these people are just racists. There is a fine line between a joke about food and a joke making fun of a serious racial situation. If the joke is small, it is funny for everyone. If it is a big joke then it helps breed racism.
haha Jordan - i totally agree with you. we all really do need to laugh at ourselves every once in awhile. if everyone could take a joke, then the jokes will seem less racist.
i make racist jokes all the time -- does that make me a racist? probably not.
I agree that you should be able to laugh at 'racist' jokes, even if they are about you. it doesn't mean you are racist, or the person telliung the jokes is racist. It's just..funny.
I for example, am Italian and also Jewish..two strongly targeted groups for jokes. When I see them, I have to laugh, because it's true! In my family atleast. Maybe not so much the Jewish stereotypes but definitaly the Italian ones. I am not whatsoever offended when people exaggerate hand gestures, or talk like Tony Soprano. It's funny.
I found this MadTV clip on youtube. I found it really funny because some people in my Italian family do talk like that. Jokes like the one in this clip, for me, wouldn't be funny if you can't really see how it exists in real life. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgTUF_7vRMI
I agree with everyone that said that you need to be able to laugh at yourself. I don't think that people should get all that offended by racist jokes. It's not like comedians focus on one group of people for every joke. The thing about racist jokes is that every race has something that can be joked about. It's not as if just one group of people gets laughed at. Everybody gets their turn. I feel that racist jokes aren't all that offensive anyway.
There's a fine line between what comics do and real racism. I believe tone has a lot to do with it. You can say something with the intent of making someone laugh, or you can say something hoping that they will laugh. I personally get easily offended when the line is crossed. I don't think its because I do not have a sense of humor, or I'm too sensitive. I just have trouble laughing at tasteless jokes that are meant to hurt.
I think that racist jokes are bad and good. They are bad in a way because there are people out there who get offended very easily, and then there are people who love them and find it very funny. In a way racist jokes help bring people together with laughter. But they could also hurt people badly like when the guy from Seinfeld was booed off the stage. It's all really about who the person is and how they take the jokes
Laughing about racism does not make it worse. Jokes generally help to ease tensions about steriotypes. The main problem with this is that there are still some people out there that cannot take a joke and take offense. Everyone belongs to a race that at some point has been the target of jokes. You don't have to laugh at a joke about your race or religion but don't take offense from it, just shrug it off. This is the only way racism will be gone. People need to be able to take a joke and not take everything so literal.
In most cases laughing about racsim generally doesnt make it worse. The only problem is with people who take the jokes to seriously. A comedians job isnt to go against a certain race but just to make you laugh. Which is why the comedian will even make fun of his own race. I believe people need to laugh at jokes and not feel like their the only ones being targeted
World peace will come when whites, blacks, christians, jews, muslims, arabs, indians etc. will all throw their arms around each other and laugh in mass hysteria about racial and ethnic stereotypes. No one will tell the difference between each other and everyone will be at peace with one another. I think comics are moving us in the right direction in the fight against racism.
Andrew E.
Maximus
Racist jokes aren't made to hurt anyone its a great way to laugh at one another and ease tensions. However, there's a certain extent that a joke can be told because it can soon become offensive.
Many stand-up comics and television shows use racism as a go-to for laughs (ex. Chapelle's Show, Mind of Mencia). Does laughing about racism actually help stop racism, or does making jokes just help racism grow worse?
Racial comedies, while created primarily for comedic purposes, impact the audience in both positive and negative ways. Comedians use stereotypes about racial groups for us to laugh and think jokingly of them in the manner that they are presented. However, these stereotypes are often applied later on or reinforced outside of the racial comedy. For example, one might see a comedy about how Mexicans are all illegal immigrants that work as lawn mowers, then see their neighbor hiring a Mexican lawn mower, and in turn think lowly of Mexicans that one meets in a social setting. One might see a comedy about how Asians are reluctant to venture outside of their group of fellow nerdy Asians that only care about academics, then notice how an Asian in their class rants about “failing” quizzes and tests while receiving a B, then notice and how the Asians have almost only Asian friends. Consciously or unconsciously one might turn to an Asian for answers to a question but at the same time try to stay out of social interaction with them. Furthermore, racial comedies can bring stereotypes that may have been a taboo subject into common everyday conversation, for example “You’re half Mexican, so go mow half my lawn” or “It doesn’t matter, Asians can’t fail anyways.” Or, one might learn new stereotypes previously unknown to them, such as “white people can’t jump.”
Comedians have the ability to turn problems in our world such as racism into funny jokes. They can remove the seriousness in racism so that instead of discriminating certain racial groups, we laugh about displayed stereotypes or broken stereotypes. For example, a comment once directed at me a few years ago: “Wow, the only Asian with a 2.5 GPA!”
What is really really really surprising to me is that just an hour ago I believed that racial comedies helped eliminate racism, but now that I’ve finished a well thought out essay on the topic, I realized that while I was able to come up with one thorough paragraph about problems that racial comedies cause relatively easily, I was unable to come up with anything else beyond a few sentences about how they help alleviate the problem. This is the first time simply writing about something made me reconsider my stance on it. I don’t know if I can say that I’m now against racial comedies because I still think they’re funny, but now I’m heavily reconsidering my position regarding the effects of racial comedies on real life racism. The intentions of the comedians may be simply for humor or even to attempt to eliminate racism through comedy but this may be a case where not everything goes as planned. I myself have no problem laughing at myself since I’m used to doing it numerous times everyday, but the effects of the racial comedies, as mentioned before, can transform into conscious or unconscious behavior directly reflecting the racial stereotypes that one has of certain racial groups far beyond just joking once one leaves the realm of stand-up/television comedy.
Thank you for reading
– Michael Ch**ng
In my opinion all jokes need to be taken in the right way. Sometimes a joke is made to just be funny and should not be taken out of context. Each video we watched in class was of the comics making fun of themselves, not having any intention of being racist. Once people start taking these jokes out of context and for more than they really are this is where problems occur. I think if everyone could just see a joke as a joke and not worrying about it being racist, then maybe racism might not be such an issue.
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