If I were a minority, I would be able to say anything and everything I wanted. But no, I am white, which means I have to be extremely mindful of things I say and jokes I make when it comes to ethnicity.
Why is this? I’ve never really gotten a good answer as to why white people are not allowed to make any comments, even if it’s a joke, about any race other than their own, yet anyone who is anything other than white can say whatever they want about whatever race they want.
Comedians like Dave Chappelle and Carlos Mencia have hilarious shows with skits based on racial stereotypes. However, if a white person did the exact same show, it would be considered racist.
Racial and ethnic stereotypes are funny. I realize that there are definitely some things (derogatory terms) that should not be said by certain people at all, but everyone needs to just accept this and enjoy the fun that is poked at EVERY racial background. In my opinion, something is only racist if it promotes negativity/violence toward a certain group of people. This is why I feel that everyone, including white people, should be allowed to make similar jokes (as long as they make fun of themselves just as much).
I also don’t understand why Dave Chappelle got so upset about the “pixie sketch” he did. I thought it was one of the funniest things he’s ever done. Didn’t come off to me as being offensive. People need to lighten the f*** up and get a sense of humor.
Racism is no laughing matter. Stereotyping for the sake of comedy though is damn funny.
July 24th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
everything you just said was racist you pig!
July 24th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
Explain how.
July 24th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
I don’t think nemesis understands what “racism” really is…
Why won’t you leave? You seriously add nothing to this site and no one EVER agrees with you.
July 24th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
What was the “Pixie” sketch?
July 24th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
It was on last week. I recommend trying to find it online at Youtube.com or something. Pretty damn funny.
July 24th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Ken: you need to see Clerks 2 right away!
The funniest scene in the movie (IMHO)deals with racial slurs. The scene is somewhat shocking because it involves a white guy using the slurs. Kudos to Kevin Smith for taking such a risk…
(Before anyone thinks/says “there is nothing humorous about somebody using racial slurs” –SEE THE MOVIE. The context in which the slurs are used makes it funny, rather than derogatory. I would love to explain, but I don’t want to ruin the movie for anyone.)
July 24th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
This is a tricky topic because some people are more sensitive to this issue than others.
While you have a choice to tune in and listen to a comedian’s routine, you don’t have the choice of tuning it out when friends/family/co-workers do such.
I don’t get offended by these things but that may be because I’m a white female and these jokes rarely pertain to me. It’s easier to enjoy it when it’s not being aimed at me.
July 25th, 2006 at 3:29 am
I think this kind of comedy is beaten into the ground. Playing the race card over and over again is tiring. There are no new jokes on the subject just different ways of serving it up.
The Pixie sketch, I just finished watching, might be the end-all on the material. There is no where else to take it. The sketch covered every single prominant cheap shot in racial comedy.
Perhaps Dave Chappelle was right by saying these sketches may be reinforcing the very stereotypes they’re trying condemn. After I heard him make this statement it really realigned my opinion of him too.
I think today people are feeling refreshed to see people of other races acting like themselves instead trying to relate to the culture of others they know mostly from watching t.v.
July 25th, 2006 at 7:57 am
Here is the reason you, as a white male, cannot make racist jokes. You are at the top of the social ladder. I don’t care if anyone wants to say how far a race or how far women have come, none of them are equal to white men. In the world we live in, white men are at the top, if you need any proof look into politics (every US President all white males), business (Gates, Rockefeller, Buffet - all white males), Science (Edison, Einstein, Hawking) in the world culture white males have somehow worked their way to the top. Even in sport all of the owners are white and the atheletes are minorities, they are working for the white man! Yes there are black senators, Opera has a lot of money and George Washington Carver invented a lot of really important stuff, but they are the exception. Even in the US melting pot culture, men make more than women and the white race runs things.
I am not promoting any racist views, I am just stating fact. Since you are at the top, it is not proper to bash the people under you. You don’t like to point and laugh at poor people, you are supposed to feel sorry for them. It may be funny when Dave Chappell involves a sketch where black men get excited and expect to be recognized when they stay around and do their job as a father, but Dave can make fun of that because he is a black man, if you as a white man make fun of that you are inadvertanly flauting your success as a white man. It would be like Bengals beating a college football team and then making jokes about it afterward.
Until we as a people unite and actually become equal in the eyes of society, you as a white man will not be able to make racist jokes, no matter how funny they might be.
July 25th, 2006 at 9:03 am
So now us white males are stereotyped as “successful” and are discriminated against: we don’t get the right/privilege of making racist jokes while everybody else does?
Stereotypes are hurtful. By stereotyping me, a white male, as being successful, I have the deck stacked against me in trying to realize that supposed success.
Everything is harder for us - from entering colleges to getting good jobs.
Additionally, we are fair game for ridicule. Look at how white males are portrayed by comedians - rigid, prissy, dorks.
The worm has turned.
July 25th, 2006 at 10:54 am
Ok — hehehe — I recently married into an ethnicity, well not recently, but! the day after we had breakfast with a friend of mine who was making the point that we could get a home loan by exploiting the fact that we are ethnic. So I blurted out, “OH YEA! I forgot I am a minority now!!!” Which caused my husband to slink down in his chair cause there was a black family sitting right behind us. One of the kids giggled and I saw nothing wrong with what I said. However, I can see how my husband was embarrassed, cause I am white white white. Like — I am freaking see-through. Same vein, when we were engaged I hosted a baby shower for my sister and I was signing the guest book, and I said “Just think, next year it will be a new last name… and everyone will say ‘Who Invited the Help?’” Now- my sister and I were crying cause it was so funny to us, but others were mortified.
When it comes to racist\ethnic\sterotypical humor, I think anyone can use it, it just depends on how natural and non-harmful the joke is. You use Carlos and Dave as examples. And I think the reason no one takes offense to what they do, is because everyone can tell that they aren’t using their humor as thinnly veiled hate speech. It’s just a flippin joke
July 25th, 2006 at 4:19 pm
I agree with zDom’s counter of Brooks’ entry. I, as a white person, don’t feel anymore blessed as my stereotype suggests and yet it remains an obstacle for me to overcome. It’s all so stupid.
July 26th, 2006 at 10:07 am
Another show I like that pushes the racial boundaries somewhat is South Park. Since the creators are two white guys, some of the stuff may seem controversial to some. They way they do it though allows them to pull it off, pretty much because they go after everyone, not just a particular group. It’s all just for fun.
July 26th, 2006 at 11:34 am
I love South Park, they way they killed off Isaac Hayes was brilliant. They definetly let him know how they feel
July 29th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
I tuned into the Chapelle show the other night to see what all the fuss was about and I was disappointed. I barely laughed at the show’s lame attempt at comedy. Do people really find this hilarious? Maybe the episode I caught wasn’t one of his finest? I dunno but I don’t get it.
July 29th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
Which one was it? The most recent episode wasn’t that great other than the cribs skit.
July 30th, 2006 at 9:49 am
It was the one where the Asian shopkeeper gave him a videocam that let him hear people’s thoughts, the last person they slept with, and where’d they be in 10 years.
Any sketch with Carson Daly in it is bound to suck.
January 17th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
Just took a race, racism and American law class. Points are well made all around through the comments. Truth is, I have struggled w/ disdain for blacks for years now due to living in Clifton and being downtown often. Racism means so much more than hatered of skin color. Racism is a disdain for a culture, a claue sysytem. We disdain black’s culture of hip-hop and entitlement. Blacks in turn disdain whites for their privileged suburban lifestyle and ease of obtaining wealth and success. To a large extent both groups have legitimate gripes. But, I must say that for hundreds of years not only did we have slavery but at every level blacks were totally mistreated and abused and not even considered “citizens” for the sake of consitutional protections. Further, it is true that blacks receive assistance that they may not individually deserve anymore than an equally poor white person. Skin color doesn’t give one a more powerful value. However, whites have done this to themselves due to how we treated blacks for hundreds of years. And, as I said I just dont mean slavery. So yes, there will be some unequal government assistance for blacks, and yes we as whites will suffer from the institutional implementation of federal laws that encourage and incite affirmative action. But the truth really is that overall, whites do have it better. The government cannot make up for past inequality no matter what the Supreme Court, congress or the executive branches do. It will seem at times to be quite unfair, and at any given time it could and probably is unfair in the moment. At the same time here in Cincinnati we see that ghettoes and poverty generally are condenses in black areas. Now, this is the tricky issue, how much of blacks problems are attributable to their culture and how many black community problems are attributable to historical discrimination and involuntary servitude. You must remember that even after the civil war blacks were barred from voting in the south, restaurants failed to serve them. In the North blatant racism was less but existed at every conceivable level of business and government. We are now experiencing the backlash of those policies and laws. So it will take quite some time. Lastly, black communities are culpable in terms of holding themselves and their community accountable. Blacks rightly or wrongly have created a value system they deem as “black” and opposed to the majority “white” culture. This sort of installed thinking must be abandoned. It is refreshing to see many black indiviudals be individuals and not wanna be rappers all the time. If you ever go to Mt. Airy mens shelter or the drop inn center in cincinnati you will see the majority of homeless men are indeed black with some whites. As you walk in as a white person you will feel the eyes of the blacks lay upon you with contempt. Racism stands for many things, not the least of which is class envy.