Bigoted Am I; A Discussion on Racism, Homosexuality, and Humor - General

Salutations, Facepunch! I was recently surfing a board that I used to frequent years ago, and I came across a thread named "Most Embarassing Thing You've Ever Done". Naturally, I found it interesting and I replied with: [quote] Any one of the few times I have said a race joke, and unbeknownst to me, there was one of the race that the joke was aimed at behind me. I felt bad, but it was all in good fun. [/quote] The next poster, however, quoted me and used the common "Fixed." reply and had changed my post to say this: [quote] Any one of the few times I have said a race joke, and unbeknownst to me, there was one of the race that the joke was aimed at behind me. I am a racist, but it was all in good fun. [/quote] This started a small little debate between me and the other poster on why or why not racial jokes make you a racist. This other poster was a moderator, and eventually he called it quits and just gave me a suspension for three days (let me be clear, I was being very civil while he was being especially aggressive). That, however, isn't the point of the thread. Do racist jokes make you racist? Among his points were: -"it legitimizes the discourse that stereotyping is okay" -"it is okay as long as you have experienced the struggles that you are poking fun of (I assumed he meant 'it's okay as long as you are part of the race that you are making fun of' using Tracy Morgan as an example, more on that later) Some of my points were: -"The definition of race varies in different parts of the world" (I cited Hutu's and Tutsi's) -"You can't back up the fact that telling racial jokes makes you racist with facts and figures therefore it's a subjective statement and not fact" But really, I couldn't understand how being part of the race you are making fun of makes it 'more' okay than not being part of that race. If you (an african-american, let's say) call yourself "black" and then they are offended when a person of another race calls you "black", why should you be offended? You are both saying the same thing, I would think that the fact that you take into account the race of the person saying it is LEAGUES more racist than the word said itself. But then, you have a case such as Tracy Morgan. Among the things he said, as described by Kevin Rogers: [quote]He said if his son that was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N (one word I refuse to use) to death. [/quote] [quote]He took time to visit the bulls*it of this bullying stuff and informed us that the gays needed to quit being pussies and not be whining about something as insignificant as bullying. He mentioned that gay was something kids learn from the media and programming, and that bullied kids should just bust some ass and beat those other little f*ckers that bully them, not whine about it. [/quote] [quote] Tracy then said he didn't f*cking care if he pissed off some gays, because if they can take a f*cking dick up their ass... they can take a f*cking joke. [/quote] [quote] [referring to gays] "God don't make no mistakes" [/quote] What Tracy Morgan said was unmistakably hateful. I looked at this, and I wondered... "If I'm defending ethnic jokes... am I technically defending this?" I searched and assessed the situation some more. Eventually, I ran across this video: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-0JDiYMyVs&feature=related[/media] I'll direct you to 1:03 in the video. Bo Burnham simply states "I do not think there are any boundaries in comedy" but does attest that he thinks "it must be more funny than it is offensive." You can watch many videos on Youtube of comedians making jokes about any ethnicity you can think of. Many times, you'll see people of that race laughing along. Conversely, you can see some people indeed getting offended if a joke is made at their expense, and storming out of the comedy club. The fact of the matter is, I think they are both in the right. You have a right to get offended at something that makes you feel, well, offended, and you also have the right to laugh at something if you find it funny. Where people are in the wrong, however, is placing labels like "bigot" on someone who does find it funny and "pussy" on someone who doesn't isn't the proper way to handle things. If you don't have the same sense of humor as another as another, the jokes they laugh at might seem strange, inexplicable, or even strange to you. That's not to say there isn't a threshold where humor can delve into hate speech, such as calling someone's race or sexual orientation as "a mistake". Thanks for reading!

If you think something is racist, it probably is.

Not matter what you say or do, someone will be offended by it. Some people are just offended by everything, just don't worry about it.

I think if everybody got a sense of humor the whole world would be a lot nicer. Stop letting words control you, for fuck's sake.

Most important one: "it's a joke". I do all kinds of fucked up anti-group things jokes but only with my friends, and obviously I don't imply any hate towards that one thing we mock at that one time, it's all in good fun. With my friends. Nothing else.

if he ragebanned you, try contacting a higher-level moderator or something.

[QUOTE=GrabbinPills;30731924]if he ragebanned you, try contacting a higher-level moderator or something.[/QUOTE] It is a very small board, and most of the people in it have been friends on it for five years. They all jumped on the wall calling me asshole and racist and bigot and such, so I don't think I'm very welcome there. My last account I had here was compromised, so I'm not that new here btw.

During my grade 12 exams, for our 'Global Issues 621' class we were assigned to write an essay about any subject we discussed in class. I wrote 2 pages about racist jokes. Got an A.

I still don't even understand why Tracy Morgan's 'jokes' were even considered jokes. It's like me going: HEY FUCK BLACK PEOPLE ASIANS TOO THEY'RE ALL A BUNCH OF FAGGOT PRICK PIECES OF SHIT HAHAHAHAHA I'M SO FUCKING FUNNY RIGHT GUYS? I mean for fucks sake his 'jokes' didn't even have punchlines.

if you say a shitty racial joke that doesn't make anyone laugh it doesn't mean you are necessarily racist it means you're really shit at being funny that's how CK Louis can say, and I quote, "Nigger Cunt Deer" without anyone making a stink about it

[QUOTE=Snail562;30732204]I still don't even understand why Tracy Morgan's 'jokes' were even considered jokes. It's like me going: HEY FUCK BLACK PEOPLE ASIANS TOO THEY'RE ALL A BUNCH OF FAGGOT PRICK PIECES OF SHIT HAHAHAHAHA I'M SO FUCKING FUNNY RIGHT GUYS? I mean for fucks sake his 'jokes' didn't even have punchlines.[/QUOTE] wanna hear a joke??

[QUOTE=thisispain;30732226]if you say a shitty racial joke that doesn't make anyone laugh it doesn't mean you are necessarily racist it means you're really shit at being funny that's how CK Louis can say, and I quote, "Nigger Cunt Deer" without anyone making a stink about it[/QUOTE] I mean, I consider myself funny and everything. I normally only say a joke if I'm positive it'll get some laughs. These people on the board automatically assumed I was shit a being funny, called me an asshole, etc. This felt good to write though, and hopefully it'll bring some positive discussion on the matter.

[QUOTE]He took time to visit the bulls*it of this bullying stuff and informed us that the gays needed to quit being pussies and not be whining about something as insignificant as bullying. He mentioned that gay was something kids learn from the media and programming, and that bullied kids should just bust some ass and beat those other little f*ckers that bully them, not whine about it.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Tracy then said he didn't f*cking care if he pissed off some gays, because if they can take a f*cking dick up their ass... they can take a f*cking joke.[/QUOTE] what the fuck? tea party much?

[QUOTE=TBFundy;30731690]Salutations, Facepunch! This other poster was a moderator, and eventually he called it quits and just gave me a suspension for three days (let me be clear, I was being very civil while he was being especially aggressive). [/QUOTE] Was the moderator TH89? [editline]27th June 2011[/editline] *Mentions black people* User was Banned for this post (Racism)

[QUOTE=TBFundy;30732317] These people on the board automatically assumed I was shit a being funny, called me an asshole, etc. [/QUOTE] probably because you aren't funny it's not their fault they don't laugh at your shit jokes for instance i hate misogynistic jokes because i don't find them funny, and i'll tell anyone who tells them that

[QUOTE=thisispain;30732400]probably because you aren't funny it's not their fault they don't laugh at your shit jokes for instance i hate misogynistic jokes because i don't find them funny, and i'll tell anyone who tells them that[/QUOTE] I didn't make a racist joke on the board. I mentioned in a thread about embarassing moments that I made a racist joke in front of someone part of that race. This is how the discussion started, not because I made some racist joke and it wasn't funny. It wouldn't be their fault if I made a shit joke in the first place, but I didn't.

[QUOTE=TBFundy;30732452]I didn't make a racist joke on the board. I mentioned in a thread about embarassing moments that I made a racist joke in front of someone part of that race. This is how the discussion started, not because I made some racist joke and it wasn't funny. It wouldn't be their fault if I made a shit joke in the first place, but I didn't.[/QUOTE] well then in that case they're dumb and have plenty of time to waste

[QUOTE=thisispain;30732400]probably because you aren't funny it's not their fault they don't laugh at your shit jokes for instance i hate misogynistic jokes because i don't find them funny, and i'll tell anyone who tells them that[/QUOTE] by the sound of it, he didn't make the joke on the forum, he just said that he felt bad for making the joke in front of the race he was making a joke out of. perhaps you should read more into it

[QUOTE=Oecleus;30732508]by the sound of it, he didn't make the joke on the forum, he just said that he felt bad for making the joke in front of the race he was making a joke out of. perhaps you should read more into it[/QUOTE] perhaps i should

[QUOTE=thisispain;30732530]perhaps i should[/QUOTE] No problem, it was an honest mistake.

[QUOTE=Communist Cake;30731760]Not matter what you say or do, someone will be offended by it. Some people are just offended by everything, just don't worry about it.[/QUOTE] Actually, you should worry about it. When you notice you've offended someone you should make an attempt to find out why. You don't necessarily have to heed their opinion but if you notice that you're offending a lot of people perhaps it's time to start blaming yourself instead of them

are you sure you were as calm and rational as you are portraying yourself to be? i would ask for the thread and site but i don't want to risk being banned for "raiding"

I used to have a teacher that was generally fucking cool, always told jokes and shit, and one day on the last week of school we were all just chilling with nothing to do she told us this joke about women, I think it was that "what do you call a woman with only one black eye? a quick learner" or similar and we all laughed, then another kid told a joke about women, I think it was "A man runs over a woman, who's fault is it? His, what was he doing driving in the kitchen!" and she just went crazy and started calling him misogynistic and all this shit I don't get why groups of people will act a certain way around others then get offended when people that aren't in that group try to act the same way. I was in track in high school and there was this kid named Tony, he was black and always used to tell racist jokes (there's that kind of chocolate black person, then there's the kind of black person that would look like space if you sprinkled salt on him!) and sing racist songs (first one I thought of was an original piece by him called "nigger hunting") and all that shit, but he beat a kid up that year for making a racist joke. I have no idea where I was going with this post

I rarely get offended by things and often think people get too worked up over things, but I like to respect people's feelings so I never push things too far.

[QUOTE=TBFundy;30731690]If you (an african-american, let's say) call yourself "black" and then they are offended when a person of another race calls you "black", why should you be offended? You are both saying the same thing, I would think that the fact that you take into account the race of the person saying it is LEAGUES more racist than the word said itself.[/QUOTE] I read to here, but this really made me question how much you know about racism. "Black" is not an offensive term at all, it's the correct term to call someone who's... well... black. If you were to call all black people "African American", that might actually be worse, because you're also assuming they are American citizens of African descent. (It might be true, but it might not be true) If you really want to be politically correct about it, call them black. There's nothing wrong with that.

All the time I have Nazi and Hitler jokes made about me and my home country, some are in good fun and funny, others are tasteless and cruel. Their is a clear fine line when it comes to jokes like this, usually if you are a descent person, you can feel it in your gut if the jokes crossing any lines. If your just a dick then well... Yeah.

I'm half Jewish, and sometimes I'll make an occasional light-hearted Jew joke, normally when someone reaches over for a penny or something. One of my friends who is barely religious, but is officially fully-Jewish gets really angry at me for doing so, but his only reason for doing so that I'm not Jewish like him. I've talked with him, and he says he isn't even offended by the jokes himself, he just gets mad because I'm "not allowed" to make those jokes. I think that's stupid.

Discrimination jokes are a gray line I tend to avoid unless I'm being sarcastic.

[QUOTE=Jo The Shmo;30733021]I'm half Jewish, and sometimes I'll make an occasional light-hearted Jew joke, normally when someone reaches over for a penny or something. One of my friends who is barely religious, but is officially fully-Jewish gets really angry at me for doing so, but his only reason for doing so that I'm not Jewish like him. I've talked with him, and he says he isn't even offended by the jokes himself, he just gets mad because I'm "not allowed" to make those jokes. I think that's stupid.[/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV7m6IIN_tI[/media]

[QUOTE=Ninja_Blue;30731730]If you think something is racist, it probably is.[/QUOTE] That's racist! :argh: