Humour; what constitutes as racism?

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Reply 20

Mechie

I've got a girlfriend at the moment. She's not a steady girlfriend, she has Parkinson's.

Reply 21

GBateman

Original post by AnoneMouse

well jokes about any race are actually racist,

I did a quick google:

Definitions of racism on the Web:

* the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races
* discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race

The joke does not perpetrate any of the above.

Original post by AnoneMouse

i did read all your OP which leads me to beleive that you are not clever

Because I did not physically see you read the whole post makes me "not clever"?

Not being psychic =/= Not being clever

Original post by AnoneMouse

negores is a rascist and degrading term for black people.

I guess the context in which this particular term is used determines whether it is racist or not.

Original post by AnoneMouse

you also write what constitutes as racism?, the as is not needed, and makes it grammatically incorrect.

Irrelevant as grammar is not part of this debate.

Original post by AnoneMouse

if you walked up to a black person and called him a negroe, he would not be happy. came for rascist terms about most nations.

I guess this depends on the individual. Not everyone shares the exact same view on every single issue.

Reply 22

Kareir

Certainly if you know someone well enough, there's no such thing as racism.
Example? Well, i do IB, so we have looooads of international students in my class.
One day, we have a geography class, dicussing tourism in China, and the teacher asks if anyone knows anything about it. Instantly, one guy goes 'Ask <asian kid>, he's chinese!' to which the guy replies 'I'm korean, dipsh*t'. we all (including those two) instantly laugh for ages.

Teacher stops the class, and starts almost shouting at the guy who said to ask the korean kid, saying it was racist, that he should be kicked out of class blah blah blah blah. Luckily the korean kid basically told him to stop being stupid. :tongue:

Some people are just waaaay too sensitive.

_Kar.

Reply 23

Stimulation

Original post by GBateman

I wasn't aware of this.
In fact, I don't think you read the entirety of my post. One would assume you saw the title, read the joke and then started bashing your hand into the keyboard ham-handedly.

...just like all the other mindless black apes.

A racist joke. :rolleyes:

Reply 24

EmpressKeloa

I am an African person, a member of the 'Black' Consciousness Movement and I find the term 'Negro' offensive.

If you'd like to ask someone if a term is offensive then ask the person you believe it might offend.

All this bickering between people of European descent (or POED) about whether a term should be offensive to a group that is NOT in the discussion is a good example of the superiority complex held by people of European descent that often spawns racism.

Call one of your friends that are of African descent a 'Negro' (without discussing whether he/she should feel offended or not) and tell me what he/she says.

Just because a few historic European publications use the term 'Negro' does not mean you should.

I don't call POED "white" and I don't call POAD "black". I respect people as people and not as a colour.

Thank you and goodnight.

Reply 25

GBateman

I don't find the term "white" offensive because it is just a descriptor of white people, in the same way "black" is a descriptor of black people.

If someone called me "white trash" I would find that offensive - but that would be because those words are intended as an insult and are an attack on my person.

Reply 26

Jepira4661

I really hate to have to sit and pick apart a joke... but jokes and words are really only offensive depending on the context and who you are talking to or even if someone outside of the joke/discussion just overhears you. If you're saying a racist joke just to be obnoxious, it's probably not funny.

I have a tall, black co-worker who I've known for over a year and a half. I'm white and short. We went through school and now work together every day so we are really great friends but sometimes our job gets extremely stressful. So one of the really sort of odd things we do is make fun of each other in really offensive ways. It's just a way to blow off steam, vent, make fun of the situation, make fun of each other and get over ourselves. Some of the things we say are insanely offensive, but the absurdity is what makes it funny. We don't actually mean anything we say, but anyone who didn't know that we were actually really great friends would think we were complete ignorant, hateful bigots toward each other.

Reply 27

adam_zed

Well I think the intention behind it is also important. I call my chinese mate blind all the time, in fact I use all racial features of my mates to take the piss but I also get it back and it is obviously in good humour. I think if it was to a public audience, that negro joke may be in the grey zone but it is still based on wordplay. However as soon as you have someone like Jim Davidson walk on stage and start going "What is it with ****in wogs and pakis stealin our jobs" then thats not humour, thats just plain bigotry and racism. Equally I would never call a random Chinese guy who I didnt know blind.

Humour is a tricky business as some people genuinely get offended whereas others believe themselves to be some white knight in a black and white world, fighting the injustice of anything that could slightly be interpreted as offensive.

Reply 28

username612213

Original post by GBateman

I want this to be a serious discussion; if you have nothing of worth to input into this discussion please refrain from posting. I don't want to see people trying to be "cool" and posting "OMG UR RACIT!!11oneone" or other nonsensery.

Disclaimer:
Racism is a touchy subject, and if anybody is inadvertently offended by this I apologise in advance.

A friend of mine told me a joke the other day (one which referred to black people) and he didn't think it was racist. I was unsure - I didn't see anything wrong with the joke because it wasn't offensive in any way - but I wasn't sure if "society" would share this view.

The joke:

Now, I don't see this to be offensive, in any plausible way. To my knowledge, the term "negro" is socially acceptable (if not, I guess I am mistaken) so therefore the joke should not offend. However, in times when political correctness seems to dictate society and its understanding of the english language, I can understand how some may find this offensive, or at the least; questionable.

I don't think I've seen many, if any, black people with holes in their jeans, and I don't regard having holes in one's jeans as being a negative thing. In fact, some would regard that as being stylish.

Personally, I believe what constitutes as racism is something that actively persecutes, discriminates against, or defames any race and based on that logic, I do not see the joke as racist because it is not doing any of the above. In fact, I simply see it as an irreverant play on words; a pun.

What are your thoughts on this?

Are jokes like this "racist", or are they simply jokes?

Do you think political correctness has warped the english language and people are now too scared to use once 'socially acceptable' phrases/terms in case they 'offend' someone?

Discuss.

I don't think that joke in particular is racist. Then again it can be dependent in what context it's said in. It can be related to comedians, there are some jokes black comedians say that you would never hear a comedian of any other colour saying.

Reply 29

QStah

Yeah i find the term 'negro' offensive. I don't find the joke funny .. I think its just one of these things, if you're gunna have a bit of banter about race, or make race related jokes you should do it with people you know, its not one of those jokes that you crack to people you don't know, you'll make a bad impression and people are always so quick to think 'omgdddd thats raacisstt !!11' you know ? .. Though in all i don't find the Joke racist in itself, unless it was spoken with maliciousness or said to poke fun at the said race. which im sure it wasn't .. so its all good.

Peace

Reply 30

Fragile_Illusions

There's no definitive line. My friends and I always make jokes with offensive language and sterotypes but none of us really care or are offended. However, you do have to be careful with it because our light passing comments would probably really offend anyone else.

Reply 31

nonotrly

It wasn't racist until you made it public.

Reply 32

Left Hand Drive

OMGZ U RACIST!!111!!!!one!!!un!

Reply 33

Harrifer

Original post by EmpressKeloa

All this bickering between people of European descent (or POED) about whether a term should be offensive to a group that is NOT in the discussion is a good example of the superiority complex held by people of European descent that often spawns racism.

So somehow we the posters on this thread (who you assume are all white) must be racists because (you assume) no black people have participated in the discussion? How exactly is that our fault, if indeed it is the case?

Please do participate, I welcome it. What I don't welcome is the idea that somehow I have a 'superiority complex' based on (supposed) situations which are outside of my control.

For what it's worth, my position was that the etymology of the word 'Negro' was not inherently racist, but due to its historical usage it is not an appropriate word to be used in the present day, least of all in conversation. I gave a comparison of the word 'Paki'.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 34

Sherkba

Original post by EmpressKeloa

I don't care where you come from. You do not accuse me of having a superiority complex because I may want to engage in a debate on what constitutes racism.

I don't call POED "white" and I don't call POAD "black". I respect people as people and not as a colour.

No you don't. You don't use the terms ''white'' or ''black'', you replace the terms by wordier, even more patronising acronyms, which mean the exact same thing.

You sound like a dick.

Reply 35

AnoneMouse

mister OP i think you are neandertul in your views, you are clearly a rascist

Reply 36

Leahcar

It's simple word play, I doubt whoever made up this specific joke meant it to be racst. The funny part is that 'knee grows' is a word play on negros- the word for black people. Knees don't even grow. And if they did I'm sure a black man's knee would grow in exactly the same manor as a white man or indeed a man of any other race. I don't think this joke is particularly racist, but as you say OP, political correctness has gone crazy and we're not even allowed to sing baa baa black sheep to kids anymore because it could be seen as racist.
To me, racism is directly insulting/discrminating against someone because of their race. I don't think it's racist to say 'that sheep s black' .... some people nowadays seem to think that it's racist to meerly state that a person has different coloured skin, which is obviously complete ballex. You wouldn't go all 'OMG THAT'S RACIST YOU'RE A RACIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' on a 3 year old child who'd never seen, say, an asian person before and asked why his skin was different.
people just need to lighten up about the whole thing :smile:

Reply 37

whyumadtho

Original post by Leahcar

Out of interest, in terms of social acceptability, where do you feel the line (if you even feel there should be a line) should be drawn between a joke that is objectionable and a joke that is acceptable?

Reply 38

anomynous

i just want to point out that negro means dark in french which is why some chocolate packaging has the term on it for dark chocolate. i think it depends on how you view it.

Reply 39

username293212

To me something is racist if there is genuine intent, belief or hate behind what is being said. If it is a joke, it should be taken for what it is; a joke. This said, there is a fine line between being tasteful and distasteful, so people ought to think twice before they open their mouths.