5 ms·
'Ironic' racism is still racism.
by bjl 9y ago
'Ironic' racism is still racism.
- ziggysak 9y agoActually, it isn't. Racism is based in the belief that one group is superior to the other. If one is making an ironic joke, it does not imply any intent of racism on their part.
- bjl 9y agoRacism is not simply about belief, otherwise there could be no such thing as racist action. Personally, I couldn't care less what people believe, I care what people do. And in this case what they did was clearly racist.
- ziggysak 9y agoSo should black comedians be jailed for their jokes when they generalize about other groups? Should Dave Chapelle be in prison for making jokes about white people, since that's what you're implying? Racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. What these kids did was not racist.
- bjl 9y agoFirst of all, where did I say anything about prison? Second, this was clearly antagonism directed against someone of a different race, and is therefore racist.
- ziggysak 9y agoAntagonism is hostility. You're actually the one who even mentioned this being black humor, so this can't be antagonism if we both agree these are jokes. Trying to make people laugh using taboo subjects is not antagonism. As for prison, I'm implying what consequences you would assume for individuals who would be so vocal about what you would call their racist acts.
- Houshalter 9y agoSee my comment above. It's not any more racism than joking about dead babies means you actually want to kill babies. It's not any more racism than playing cards against humanity makes you an unforgivable monster. Black humor is extremely common and as old as time.
- bjl 9y agoBlack humor can still be racist. Something being (ostensibly) a joke doesn't mean it can't be racist/sexist/whatever.
- ziggysak 9y agoBlack comedy or dark comedy is a comic style that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo. So no, if you define a joke as 'black humor', the taboo IS the joke. If the intent of the joke is sincere racism, it's not black humor.
- metaphorm 9y agohumor with the intention of ridiculing something by using its own tropes to the point of absurdity to show the wrongness/badness of the thing is a well-established form of satire and commentary. a satirist is emphatically NOT in concordance or agreement with that which they are satirizing. I find it unreasonable that you are arguing against this basic premise. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. I hope I am because If I am really understanding you correctly it seems to me like you are making something far worse than a fallacious argument, but really something that rises to the level of destructive of the meaning of words.
- eropple 9y agoYou're assuming the people employing that black humor don't believe what they're saying. I, and I expect the person to whom you reply, don't adhere to that assumption. I think that "just a joke", in this context, is the exhibition of profound naivete. And even if the speaker realizes it's a joke--the listeners often don't. See the /pol/ commentary elsewhere in this thread; /pol/ was "just joking" until those jokes were taken as articles of faith and became the core of a literally fascist movement.