Poor, lost souls.Quote:
Originally Posted by bac0n
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Poor, lost souls.Quote:
Originally Posted by bac0n
Mara, what are their degrees in? How'd they get hired in the first place? Nepotism?
I believe the word you're looking for is "douchebags."Quote:
Originally Posted by Mara
I thought so too, but it was in my newspaper - I admit, it's a pretty crappy one that takes articles directly from the internet and often uses wikipedia as a source - but I looked it up, and it's listed as a phobia in many places.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mara
And no one should hate Abba. :pritch:
Had already figured.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mara
My favorite figure of speech on that page is the prolepsis. I do this all the time in conversation, usually intentionally, sometimes not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mara
Racist jokes bring up a topic of mine that I'm curious about.
Does joking around about different aspects of race actually make you a racist?
To me, a racist is one that treats others unfairly, whether it be one that refuses to sell a product, help an individual, or give one a hard time. Making a joke, to me at least, is just like ribbing someone here, such as making fun of Wats' animated girl reputation.
At the fire station, it's very diverse racially. We help all types of individuals in a very diverse town as well. However, jokes are rampant all over the place. Yet, when it comes time to help someone, we'll be there, regardless of who it is. Jokes may be said, but I don't think that makes any of us racist.
Discuss.
E, it sounds to me like you need some "sensitivity" training at that firehouse of yours. I recommend starting a weekly focus group with keynote speakers. Sit in a circle around the speaker while holding hands, and make sure that you are holding the hand of someone of a different race. Offer counseling to anyone making a joke about race, and if they keep making jokes then you will probably need to send them to rehab. Promote discussion, diversity, understanding, political correctness. Learn to say things like "handi-capable" instead of "handicapped". You may continue to call republicans "right wing extremist fascist pigs" though. Oh, and jokes about white people are acceptable no matter what.
I think it can be said that joking around with race can be both alleviating and exacerbating. On the one hand, making fun of everyone leaves everyone equally offended (and thus, leaves no one offended). However, allowing racial jokes to run rampant can equally encourage those predisposed to prejudice to believe that their bigoted thoughts/stereotypes are "ok" and acceptable. I believe both strains of thought somewhat in even measure. I never make racist/sexist jokes myself, yet I love Lisa Lampanelli. Though if I hear an average person make a racist joke, I usually cringe a bit.
HOWEVER, and this is a biggie (as well as being incredibly difficult to pin down/explain), I believe in meta-jokes. That is the term I use to describe when someone makes a kind of joke specifically to make fun of the idiocy of making that kind of joke. Example: I say something about Jewish people in such a way that it's "clear" that I'm not making fun of Jewish people but rather making fun of people who asininely make fun of Jewish people, people who make those kinds of jokes. Does everyone see the distinction? Certainly not, and the average person will think I'm callous/a bigot for making the joke. This kind of thing, clearly, is often impossible to defend or argue since it takes rather fine skills of observation and perception to detect such a difference in tone of voice and body language, particularly when the person is subtle in both.
More specific example:
Old lady walks by a group of boys at a store picking out Halloween costumes. For the sake of the "joke," I'm there as well, nearby. She sweetly asks the young scamps what they are going to be for Halloween. A mummy! one says. A vampire! another tells her. A ninja that flips out and kills people! a third declares, with vigor. She turns to me, grinning like she's long-since lost a third of her mental faculties, cutely includes me in the group like I'm one of the little rascals, and says: "And what are you going to be for Halloween, young man?" I look at her, skip a beat, and say, "A Jew."
...
Now, is that a racist joke? Is there a distinction between making a joke and making fun of those who make such jokes? Does the fact that the distinction is lost on the old lady nullify the humor in this context? Or is the humor still there because the joke has an audience (you) who can appreciate the distinction, if it exists.
Fuck "timing is everything." In humor, I say, context is everything.
For sit-in-a-circle-and-hold-hands time, I would suggest for the song, Kum-By-Ya. Someone will, of course, need to learn how to play it on the guitar. But fear not. All you need to learn are three chords, and they're all pretty easy. And those three chords will also avail you of the song Peace is Flowing Like A River.
And, as a bonus, those same three chords will open up the entire Ramones repertoire for when you've had too much and wanna be sedated.
When crime is committed in Antarctica, what happens? Do they have police and a justice system down there?
I try not to make racial jokes if the person within the race is not present. Without them, it makes me feel slightly sleazy, but really it's just because it's not as funny if you're not offending someone.
I'm an Asian muslim, my wife's Jewish and one of our roommate is black. The dog-eating, Allah-praising, money-grubbing, pepperspray sex jokes are rampant in our household.
Holding hands is gay.Quote:
Originally Posted by Benny Profane
http://buffalogeek.wnymedia.net/blog...08/mcclure.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by Ezee E
Gay? I wish!
I generally subscribe to Wryan's take on this. Making racism jokes over racist jokes is a lot more fun for me. Call me irony dependent.
Generally, most people's idea of racial humor doesn't rise above calling someone a camel-fucker (usually with a follow-up of calling you a fag for finding it a little lacking and offensive). Racism comes in both action and attitude. Most people I've encountered who tell racially-charged jokes tend to actually have a attitude about race, even though they like to say they hate everybody equally. "Black people steal," one jerk I met once told me earnestly after I was trying to break down why his joke wasn't funny. He believed it and that was what was motivating him.
Also, as 8 pointed out, there's something a lot sleazier about making racial jokes without a person of that race present. As such, people around me in Utah don't get to make racial jokes. Because we're all white.
The penguins handle everything of course. Duh :PQuote:
Originally Posted by Spinal
Anyone can make racist jokes about anyone else, and it be considered witty.
As long as the person making the joke isn't white.
I don't believe this is true.Quote:
Originally Posted by megladon8
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sycophant
I think of stand up comedy with this situation.
A lot of black comedians have acts that rely entirely on "white people can't dance" type material, yet if a white person were ever to go up and do an act based on a racial stereotype like that, they'd probably get shot.
The only reason "Chappelle's Show" was so popular and accepted was because he was black. A white guy could never get away with that type of humor and not be lynched.
You're right, of course. I believe in the Carlin rule which is that it all depends on how you construct the joke. Where you place the emphasis reveals something about you as a person. You can make a joke that reveals your intolerance. You can make a joke that involves race that reveals you to be a thoughtful individual. Sarah Silverman is a great example, because all her race jokes have the underlying subtext, "Can you believe that some people actually think this?"Quote:
Originally Posted by Sycophant
There are a few comedians that I've seen that get away with it. Hate him or not, but Dane Cook was able to do this. There's a fat white Louisiana guy that just ranted on every race on a BET special.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spinal
It's starting to become okay in some places. But it does get creepy when you have someone like Bill Maher do the joke. It just doesn't work as well.
Penguin justice ... :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMan
This... isn't true. There are plenty of fearless white comedians making stereotype jokes about other races. And they get laughs. Methinks you don't watch enough stand ups.Quote:
Originally Posted by megladon8
I don't understand. Again, do you watch Chapelle's Show? 90% of it is making fun of black people, and the funny thing is, their writing staff was mostly white.Quote:
The only reason "Chappelle's Show" was so popular and accepted was because he was black. A white guy could never get away with that type of humor and not be lynched.
I asked. One was economics, another was business. I can't remember the others. And I have no idea how they made it past the drug & background tests.Quote:
Originally Posted by monolith94
Today wasn't THAT much worse than yesterday, but they amazingly added anti-semitism to the repetoire. At some point, they will run out of people to hate.
They also had a porn-and-masturbation discussion that I normally wouldn't make a fuss about, but I was already pissed off with them so I added it to the list.
And, yes, I finally went to the instructor. I dropped by her office privately during lunch and expressed my concerns. She said she had noticed a couple of things and was troubled. I assured her that it was worse when she wasn't around. She said she would listen in on our breaks and take appropriate action.
During class in the afternoon she gave us a little lecture on being sensitive and acting professionally. Whatever happens, happens.
Could you give me an example?Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezee E
I know at my old job I had a running joke with my friend Gloria about how she was the Worst Mexican Ever. It had a lot of facets: her stomach couldn't handle spicy food so we'd have to eat boring places, and her Spanish was really bad, etc. I wouldn't consider that racist, because we are both friends and she knows I love her.
But that's a world of difference from these guys, who say things like, "Where I live, we don't even rent to Puerto Ricans because we know they don't have the credit" and "I'm telling you, if some f----t tried to add his 'domestic partner' on as an Authorized Operator, I'd punch him out."