Blogging Against Racism Week

[sarahmichigan]

I've seen it noted in a few places that this is "Blogging Against Racism Week."

Of course, I think Racism is Bad. And I can come up with a fistful of personal anecdotes as well as statistics to counter anyone who says that racism is a thing of the past and isn't a problem today.

But there are so many issues where I just don't know what to think. Here are some issues I'm conflicted or confused about:

-Racism and humor. What's the difference between a joke about racism and a racist joke? Who's allowed to make jokes that are racially charged? Should white people lose their jobs over making racist jokes?

-Racism and "The N Word". For the most part, only white people who are rednecks (yes, I know this is a racially charged word as well- I come from redneck stock and think I'm allowed to use it) or blatantly racist use this term with any regularity these days. Should Blacks stop using it as well? Should there be MORE use of it to diffuse the charge of the word, kind of like diffusing other epithets like "bitch" or "slut" or "dyke"?

-How to talk about race. How do we start a dialogue about racism and race without ending up in accusations, shutting people down, and making people feel like they can't talk about it at all?

Maybe some of the blog posts I'll read this week will shed some light on one or more of those issues. I'm not sure if I'll post more about the topic or not; it seems like there are plenty Guilty White Liberals posting about race already.

Comments

[sylo-tode.livejournal.com]

I think a joke about race says, "Let's examine at this issue through humor."

A racist joke, however, says, "Let's degrade them by ridiculing them."

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

An excellent example of a joke about race (well, ethnicity, but the same basic conversation): Years ago, there was a Polish sports figure (I believe he was in football) who had a TV commercial for some product or other. In it, he said, "Sometimes people ask me what I think of Polish jokes. I'll tell you, I love Polish jokes! They're my favorite. Here's one, for instance..." and proceeds to tell a joke in Polish. It was a classic meta-joke, because on one level it showed him turning the prejudice on its ear, and on another it played off the "clueless Polack" stereotype (i.e., he was too dumb to know what a "Polish joke" was).

[purple-marf.livejournal.com]

Well said.