I do believe that it is possible to make an insensitive joke/statement/whatever without being a racist/misogynist/homophobe/whatever. I've been guilty of inadvertent behavior in the past and presumably will be again in the future. The big thing is whether or not you learn from your mistakes and don't repeat them.
My issue with Rush Limbaugh is that he has a pattern of behavior and people seek to excuse individual statements and behaviors without looking at the overall pattern of behavior. I'd have a hard time justifying any sort of joke about Obama being an Oreo as it is so fucking blatantly racist but maybe you could do something if it was an isolated instance. But it isn't. There is a difference between dumb and racist (though both are frequently found together) and I personally think it is really important to not only call out the behaviors, it is important to call out the people who keep invoking the behaviors and the people who people who try and rationalize and discount a pattern of behavior. Is it prejudicial? Yes. I'm prejudiced against racism and people who are apologists for racists. Judah On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 1:53 PM, GMoney <[email protected]> wrote: > > Well for the record, my statement was interrogative, not declarative :) > > I think there is an argument that you can listen to, enjoy, and even > tell...jokes with racial overtones, and yet not be a racist. > > The opposing view might be that any propagation or repetition of biases and > stereotypes that feed racism, especially for one's own amusement in the form > of a joke...not only represents a tacit approval of such stereotypes, but > helps to keep them alive and ultimately has a detrimental affect on that > race...and it doesn't really matter if the person thinks themselves a racist > or not, what they are doing has the same affect. > > I see validity in both ideas. > > On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 3:38 PM, Chris Stoner <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> What G said. >> >> On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 4:29 PM, GMoney <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > >> > On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 3:25 PM, Dana <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> > > But you seem to be saying that it's possible to tell a racist joke >> > without >> > > having racism involved in any way? How? >> > > >> > >> > WOuld it be possible to recognize the stereotypes that racists apply to >> the >> > race in question, see how the punchline of the joke plays off that >> > stereotype, see how that would be funny....and yet not share in the >> belief >> > of the stereotype? >> > >> > Put simply...could you think a dumb blond joke is funny, and yet not >> think >> > blonds are generally dumb? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:341711 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
