Your thoughts on racist jokes

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elevation2u

elevation2u

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i was just thinking to myself which is what i do all the day everyday... what are your opinions regarding "racist jokes"? most of them are play on stereotypes and while soem think they're simply harmless others find them truly offensive. being a minority i always laugh at jokes regarding my race and do not find them offensive (as of yet)...

i was just curious what everybody thinks about them.

/jazmin:|
 
Depends who says it and how its done. I quite like some jokes about Australians, for example. The ones that are true but exaggerated.

But if the joke is told by a bigot then its not funny at all.
 
:down:

I can't seem to find any humour in those. Anyway, if I'm with friends and I'm the only one that doesn’t' laugh (and that happens occasionally) I feel like going back to my box :reject:
 
some can be harmful, but Ive enjoyed a few, you see Ive got a lot goin on here, from Hispanic, Irish, american indian, the list goes on, so I laughed when my old drummer said to me " if you were a sandwich at Mcdonalds, you would be the Mc spic, haha, anyways, some jokes just arent called for, and some are just plain funny. I think it depends on the person you are telling it to, and we all have to face it, none of us are angels, and we have all laughed at a racist joke at one point in our lives, other times we have said, "man thats just wrong". So I guess its all who you tell it to. I would never get totally serious about something like that cause I dont take myself that seriously, and I try very hard to not sweat the small stuff, leave the drama for your mama, haha. Ever hear the one about " 2 irish men walk out of a bar"................................................................................................................. hahahahahahahahahahaa............right!


Sorry if Ive offended ( holds up a very Bonolike peace sign)
 
true, beli. there's a big difference between a flat out offensive joke and a funny observation about a cultural characteristic. i suppose it depends on the intent of both the speaker and the joke, but there's a world of difference between the two.
 
depends on who tells them. im polish/irish and laugh at any jokes about poles being dumb and irish being angry and drunks. so one someone tells one about another race i laugh as well. as long as you can tell its a joke i have no prob with it. some people take jokes way to serious. i love to laugh and will laugh if i find something funny.
 
DeadMansParty said:
some can be harmful, but Ive enjoyed a few, you see Ive got a lot goin on here, from Hispanic, Irish, american indian, the list goes on, so I laughed when my old drummer said to me " if you were a sandwich at Mcdonalds, you would be the Mc spic, haha, anyways, some jokes just arent called for, and some are just plain funny. I think it depends on the person you are telling it to, and we all have to face it, none of us are angels, and we have all laughed at a racist joke at one point in our lives, other times we have said, "man thats just wrong". So I guess its all who you tell it to. I would never get totally serious about something like that cause I dont take myself that seriously, and I try very hard to not sweat the small stuff, leave the drama for your mama, haha. Ever hear the one about " 2 irish men walk out of a bar"................................................................................................................. hahahahahahahahahahaa............right!


Sorry if Ive offended ( holds up a very Bonolike peace sign)
Click to expand...



yes, what he said.
 
DeadMansParty said:
some can be harmful, but Ive enjoyed a few, you see Ive got a lot goin on here, from Hispanic, Irish, american indian, the list goes on, so I laughed when my old drummer said to me " if you were a sandwich at Mcdonalds, you would be the Mc spic, haha, anyways, some jokes just arent called for, and some are just plain funny. I think it depends on the person you are telling it to, and we all have to face it, none of us are angels, and we have all laughed at a racist joke at one point in our lives, other times we have said, "man thats just wrong". So I guess its all who you tell it to. I would never get totally serious about something like that cause I dont take myself that seriously, and I try very hard to not sweat the small stuff, leave the drama for your mama, haha. Ever hear the one about " 2 irish men walk out of a bar"................................................................................................................. hahahahahahahahahahaa............right!


Sorry if Ive offended ( holds up a very Bonolike peace sign)
Click to expand...

Gotta agree here, and with beli too.

Like DMP (my son for those of you who don't know) said, our family is so mixed...Caucasian, Hispanic, African-American, straight, gay, etc. We have all made little jokes about our differences and for the most part, its not meant or taken as offensive. My husband's family is always making jokes about their own ethnicity (and mine sometimes too) but I take no offense.

Now if someone came out with an outright racist joke or comment, that would not be okay but making light of our obvious differences has never never been a problem.

But I would be very careful about joking in that same way around someone who was not in our immediate family circle.
 
i understand that the way the joke is told makes a difference, obviously someone who would say a 'racist' joke in a rude or insulting way is hardly joking in the first place...but yea when i hear mexican jokes such as "why do mexicans eat tamales for christmas?"....."so they have somethign to unwrap"....i laugh, i find it harmless because being mexican i know thats not true so in reality its not offensive.

i wonder though how people react to racist comments in the likes of the show family guy where peter would say regarding the southern usa "is that where the white people are angry at the black people for being so lazy but the white people are just as lazy?"... is this offensive? funny? or a satirical take on america's prejudices in general?

sorry if i come across as having no point, i had one but it might have gotten lost between themy ramblings.;)
 
elevation2u said:
i understand that the way the joke is told makes a difference, obviously someone who would say a 'racist' joke in a rude or insulting way is hardly joking in the first place...but yea when i hear mexican jokes such as "why do mexicans eat tamales for christmas?"....."so they have somethign to unwrap"....i laugh, i find it harmless because being mexican i know thats not true so in reality its not offensive.

i wonder though how people react to racist comments in the likes of the show family guy where peter would say regarding the southern usa "is that where the white people are angry at the black people for being so lazy but the white people are just as lazy?"... is this offensive? funny? or a satirical take on america's prejudices in general?

sorry if i come across as having no point, i had one but it might have gotten lost between themy ramblings.;)
Click to expand...


hahahaha, the tamale joke, Ive never heard it before, hahahahahaha LMAO
 
it's a touchy thing....
"amongst ourselves"*, it's funny...
but told with deliberate intent to hurt someone... not so much.
where and when and how loudly is up to one's own discretion and that's when the trouble starts.

*"ourselves" of course being the butt of the jokes... gay, straight, Irish, Polish, Chinese, multicultural, blind, whatever...
 
I don´t like racist jokes and I am relatively strict on that. Light-heartedness is nice, but racism not. Sure, a good joke might involve a person with certain characters, but I prefer to joke about women or men or opel-drivers or yomama´s, or blonde hairdressers or gays, than about Afro-Americans, Vietnamese, Jews or any other specific ethnic groups - except if its a really harmless joke, like "The American, the Englishman and the ..." etc.

Imo, one could say a joke about gays is just as offensive as joking about an ethnic group, but I think considering the history of persecution, there are differences.

Another exception is when specific ethnic groups tell jokes about themselves; that might be funny "insider" for them.

But yeah, there is good taste and bad taste, and it depends on the joke. I prefer jokes about politicians to jokes about handicapped people.
 
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All my life I've heard horrible comments about my sister 'cos she's as black as the ace of spades and I resemble casper the ghost, so to hear a funny joke with no harm intended by a person who is confident enough in their own knowledge that they do not have any problem with race is weirdly refreshing. I dont view it as racism because it is not.

It all depends on how it is said (and imo should never matter by 'whom' it is said), and always needs to be within reason.
 
The people I know at university are all protestant and sometimes they'll come out with really anti-Catholic jokes. Some of them have family in the Orange Order and talk very openly with me about which political parties they'll vote for in the election and how they can't understand why anyone would ever vote for a "f***ing republican group trying to make this place an All-Ireland". If it was a person in my family telling the joke it wouldn't be offensive.

None of them know I am a Catholic. My sister has jsut left a protestant school, we live in a prodominantly protestant area and our whole family has protestant names. Hearing their jokes and knowing they're biggots really offends me. I really think they are being spiteful when they tell me them. I am a bit afraid of what would happen if one of them found out my religion. One girl has told me about her family doing not such pleasant things to a Catholic boy at a club one night. :|

Angie, my sister is quite pale and her boyfriend is black. Now that the weather is getting warmer and they get lots of jokes about the difference in their colours, none of them have gone too far though. I think it all depends on who says it and what they're saying, as long as it isn't taken to far and not meant to be malicious. :up:
 
Lara Mullen said:
Some of them have family in the Orange Order and talk very openly with me about which political parties they'll vote for in the election and how they can't understand why anyone would ever vote for a "f***ing republican group trying to make this place an All-Ireland".
Click to expand...

Hateful. Tell them to consult a map, and then ask them if they are enjoying their holiday in Ireland.

OK, better not actually do that.
 
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admit it, we ALL laugh at them at some point or another...!

My brother's in a band and one of the guitarists just tells REALLY bad (as in distasteful) jokes about all sorts of crap and when he comes home and makes the Pizza/Jew gag, I can't help laughing at it when I know deep down it's actually quite despicable...quite a problem really...!
 
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