|
Because I don't think jokes make people hate.
Because I don't think a "colorblind" society is possible or perhaps even preferable.
Because my mind is grounded enough to laugh at a Chris Rock joke about black people and not walk out the door and define every black person I see with that joke. Same with a George Carlin joke about golfers or a Roseanne Barr joke about men or a Robin Williams joke about republicans. They are jokes. And anyone who uses them to define groups of people is a moron.
And because, at the same time, my mind is malleable enough to understand why, when a white person makes a joke about black people, especially of a derogatory nature, they are risking the very real knee-jerk response from most people in America that is rooted our relationship to a very real and very recent era in American history. And I don't have to cover my ears and scream "yah, yah, yah" whenever any mentions it in order to make my feelings known about racism...and comedy. You have yet to address the reality of that gut response even once.
And one more thing, if a white person is going to make a derogatory joke about black people...it best be funny. Perhaps that was Imus' biggest mistake. His joke didn't fly because it had no context nor any basis in common perceptions. He was just being mean. And mean is not funny.
__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
|