Racist Jokes

Politics and Social Issues
21

Thank you, I.J., that was an interesting article and I think very appropriate to include in this discussion thread. I am a bit perplexed as to why the discussion halted after you provided this interesting reference - which by the way, includes other good references within it. I agree with the article’s premise and think it is an important tangent to explore from the original post.
Anyway, thank you again for your efforts to provoke thoughtful discussion.

Something interesting in this regards http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/without-prejudice/201307/dehumanizing-others-is-no-joke
22

I don’t understand the difference between gender and sex in our country. Its all the same to me. Why should libtards refer to themselves as attack helicopters whenever they want to? Its toxic to our country. And furthermore, we commemorate these people and spend around 2 million dollars of our government economy towards them. Just because they can have their gay pride parade means that we should also have our straight pride parade. However, the US and state governments are so toxic that they will not allow anything that opposes this extreme typhoon of liberalism and the use of gender as a social construct that has plagued our country. The LGBTQ+ community should be treated the same way as an ordinary straight person. It just sucks. I mean its terrible. Even colleges have come to favor the LGBTQ+ community in admissions. Just because one is a minority and LGBTQ+ doesn’t mean that they should be accepted into elite colleges with sub-par test scores and similar essays. This is just terrible. I mean imagine all of those straight people who are looking to have a good standing in life and are interested and have the capability of attending the best schools in the country only to find out that the LGBTQ+ community has ruined their life. Its just terrible.

23
The LGBTQ+ community should be treated the same way as an ordinary straight person.
Welcome to the forum Kunj. This is an old thread so not sure what kind of response you'll get. I agree with the line that I quoted here, but don't get the rest of what you're talking about.
24

I don’t think it’s possible to treat them “the same”, but that’s just nitpicking on what you’re saying. “The same” implies no differences and certainly there are differences in all people that affect how we treat them. Again, that’s if you take “the same” to the extreme of semantics, obviously.

But the reason I don’t think we can’t treat them “the same” is simply because they have suffered a lot and I think, by way of repairing some of the damage done, we need to give a bit of special consideration in much the same way as Affirmative Action does not treat minorities “the same”. I’m not calling for any special laws or anything (though I would entertain the possibility if someone come up with one that made sense), just that we need to be a little understanding of their current position. After being in the shadows, on the fringe and downtrodden their entire lives they now have something close to acceptance from at least the majority of the general community. Giving someone the right to speak freely for the first time in their lives is going to have some consequences. They are going to be vocal, they are going to be “in your face” and they are going to be venting some anger and I think we need to take the circumstance into consideration when dealing with that.

Again, that’s just nitpicking on semantics, but I bring it up because I think it is important to remember that after a lifetime of subjugation and attack (which isn’t entirely over) there are going to be some raw feelings which are going to come out from time to time and treating that “the same” as you would for anybody else just isn’t enough. We have to have a little more understanding and patience in that case, I think.

25

The reason we can’t “treat people the same” is because, for generations, certain people haven’t treated the same.

This…

442×656 37.4 KB

…may be genuine and well-meaning, but it’s just bonkers.

Racism exists. White privilege exists. Solutions are difficult.

People who say “I don’t see race! I don’t care if you’re black, brown, yellow or green,” may be genuinely nice folks, but they’re part of the problem.

(Actor Don Cheadle actually re-tweeted me last year when I said that on Twitter!)

 

The thing about “racist jokes” depends on your definition of them. Who’s the butt of the joke?

There is a difference between:

Laughing at a group of people you have stereotyped

And

Laughing at the people who have stereotypes of other people.

And if you are honest, you should see yourself reflected.

Sarcasm, satire and dark humor communicate important things about important topics, including racism. Really good humor sometimes makes us really uncomfortable. And calling someone out for being racist isn’t being racist.

I saw this hilarious example of how needing to try extra hard not to be racist is actually racist last night on “The Office:”

784×527 45.3 KB

Michael, the boss, has brought in some cake for the staff.

MICHAEL: Hey everybody, cake! Tell me what kind!

STANLEY: Chocolate.

MICHAEL: Racism’s dead, Stanley. Today in America, you can have any flavor you want.

⊱⋅ ──────────── ⋅⊰

This is classic. It’s only 2.48 minutes long, and it is required viewing for anyone trying to understand what racism is and isn’t.

Aamer Rahman, an Australian stand-up comedian of Bangladeshi descent, explains why “reverse racism” isn’t a thing: