Posted on 06/03/2021 6:45:39 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Remember when we used to be able to make ethnic and racial jokes? There was a time when humor was a major source of social engagement between people, who enjoyed laughing at themselves and the stereotypes attributed to them. In other words, they weren't so sensitive that they couldn't see the humor in a few innocuous manifestations of witty dialogue.
My old buddy, Leroy Spivey, a cop I worked with in a radio car for a few years, didn't have any hang-ups about racial comedy. In addition, he wasn't so narcissistic about his color that he wouldn't get a kick out of a funny story.
One story he used to tell was about a black guy who was crossing a street and got hit by a car driven by a white guy who was speeding. He said the black guy was thrown about fifty feet because of the impact. The people listening to the story would be appropriately shocked, asking, what happened to the driver? "Well," Leroy said, feigning outrage, but readying the punch line, "when the cops got to the scene, they picked up the black guy and arrested him for leaving the scene of an accident." After the initial look of bewilderment, everyone in the room, including Leroy, would bust our laughing.
They were laughing not at the authenticity of the story, which was in fact apocryphal, but at the silliness of it. My erstwhile partner was making a joke out of the serious issue of race discrimination. It was a clever way of illustrating actual race prejudice by using an absurd example.
There's a trait attributed to the Irish: they have a propensity toward liquid vegetables such as barley, corn, rye, and hops.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
To those of you FReepers who are of a certain ethnicity, may I ask if you find these jokes offensive:
* If I asked an Italian if he was going to put a horse’s head in my bed ...
* If you’re a Jews and you’re depicted as stingy and greedy.
* If you’re Puerto Rican and I ask you if you dance sensually
Q: how was copper wire invented?
A: a Jew and a Scotsman found the same penny.
Growing up here in Montana we told North Dakotan jokes.
Example:
Q: How did Montana win the war with North Dakota when they had all of the T.N.T.?
A: The Montanans lighted the T.N.T. and threw it back!
I’m guessing this is not the Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, but I’d love to be wrong.
RE: Growing up here in Montana we told North Dakotan jokes.
How did the North Dakotans take it?
“...A: a Jew and a Scotsman found the same penny.”
What’s the famous Scottish football cry?
“Get That Quarterback!”
Ask ‘em...
Watch some of the old Dean Martin Roasts. You’ll hear a lot of ethnic and racial jokes, and no one gets their feathers ruffled. It’s also fun to watch the roasts of politicians like Ronald Reagan and Hubert Humphrey. It’s refreshing to watch people with political differences poke fun at each other and yet still respect each other.
They had a blast!
Film Zootopia focused on stereotypes and
bigotry. Nick Wilde the fox was seen as a
con artist because all foxes are, animals
thought so he wound up becoming a criminal
because “I might as well, if people were going to see foxes that way...”
Cheetahs are the fastest animal but
ZPD dispatcher Clawhauser was big and
fat, bursting that stereotype..though
he loves donuts, a cop stereotype. The
film spoofs the Godfather by having a
Vito Corleone like character known as
Mr Big.Yet Mr Big is an arctic shrew.
Bunnies are meek and afraid.Judy Hopps
aims to prove that theory wrong.
The film also has one moment when
Clawhauser calls Hopps “cute”. Judy
says ah, it’s one thing for a bunny to
call another bunny cute but when someone
of another species does it....”Oh! I am so sorry!,” apologizes Clawhauser. Is that
kind of like rappers saying the N-word as a term of endearment or something, but if a non black says it? Racist!
People of one ethnicity can make fun of it
but not anyone else. Mel Brooks can show
Indians who are apparently Jewish.
“Schwartzes!,” one says, seeing black people.
That's the way I grew up, and because there wasn't a hint of malice I never made the effort to change.
Not true for some. Look up the comedian named Fluffy. Beyond funny.
RE: It’s refreshing to watch people with political differences poke fun at each other and yet still respect each other.
Well, there’s still the annual Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner where politicians of both parties attend and poke fun at themselves and their opponents, making the event similar to a roast.
This dinner is to raise funds for Catholic charities supporting children of various needs in the Archdiocese of New York ( Millions of dollars are raised every year ).
Since 1960, when John F. Kennedy (who would become the first Roman Catholic president) and Richard Nixon were speakers, it has been a stop for the two main presidential candidates during several U.S. election years.
In 1976, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford spoke; in 1980, Carter and Ronald Reagan; in 1988, George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis; in 2000, Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2008, Barack Obama and John McCain in 2012, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in 2016, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump; and in 2020, Trump and Joe Biden. Since 1945, only two presidents have not spoken at the dinner: Harry Truman and Bill Clinton. Candidates have traditionally given humorous speeches
Sticks & Stones may break my bones but words will never harm me. Where is the Constitutional right not to be offended?
N word popped up on Sanford and Son
and All in the Family.
Sammy Davis Jr on AITF:”Archie, when I
came through that door you coulda called
me a coon or a n——r.But you didn’t do
that.Right straight out you said..colored.”
Archie:”Yes that’s what I done.”
And Sammy says if Archie were bigoted
“You woulda gone around saying you were
better than everyone else in the world, man.But I can
say after spending these marvelous minutes with you...you ain’t any better than anybody!”
Archie agrees.
Actually I think Sammy said prejudiced
not bigoted
> One story he used to tell was about a black guy who was crossing a street... <
There’s nothing wrong with this ethnic joke as it actually doesn’t make fun of the black guy. And it doesn’t reinforce any negative ethnic stereotypes.
So is it ever okay to tell a joke that does reinforce a negative ethnic stereotype? Sure. It’s a free country (or it used to be, anyway). But as for me, I stay away from those kind of jokes. And that’s because some folks take the joke seriously. As in, “Yeah, they really are like that.”
This country is divided enough as it is. So I’d rather not contribute to making it worse. For those who disagree, I would defend your right to say what you want.
What differences? Hater.
On an episode of the “Dean Martin Celebrity Roast”, Foster Brooks did a hilarious routine about Muhammad Ali. When the “Decades” channel recently reran that episode, it was so heavily butchered by the censors that it made no sense at all.
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