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 ...
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.
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 ...
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.