let me put it this way. i have numerous friends who are black, gay, and jewish (not all three at once). these three minorities are the subject of a lot of hatred, racism, and bigotry. but all of my friends who are of these minorities will not be offended by, and will often laugh at so-called “racist jokes” like the difference between a black man and a pizza, a jew and a pizza, etc. if i tell a black, gay, or jewish joke, i mean it as a joke, nothing more. my friends understand this, and either laugh or not, whether they find it funny. if im in a room full of strangers, who happen to be black, jewish, or gay, im not going to start telling “racist jokes” because i dont know the crowd, and its possible someone will be offended, which i dont want to happen. thats tact. but i think for someone to be offended by it is oversensitivity. in this situation, i forgive this, and hold my tongue, because i dont know them and they dont know me, so for all they know, i could be a racist trying to be inflammatory. my tone should clearly give me away as just a joker, but you cant rely on that. so here, i look past what i consider over-sensitivity because of the situation. same thing with one of my friends, who happens to be black, and has a mother who died from cancer. a black joke wont bother him, nor a gay joke (most of us suspect, but dont know for sure that he is gay), but a cancer joke will. so i dont tell cancer jokes. i look past this “over-sensitivity” because i think its less that he is offended but that it reminds him of his mother, which upsets him, and as a friend, i dont want to upset him.
but jokes are jokes people. how come a black comic can go up and tell racist jokes, but if a white comic does it, its “edgy” or “taboo”? some of the jokes some black comedians like chris rock tell, if a white boy said them, hed be called racist. come one. its racist if whitey says it, but not a black guy? a joke is a joke. this is what i mean when i talk about offensive, and overly sensitive.
CC: i dont consider the jokes offensive. i didnt find them funny, and clearly neither do you. to you, they are in bad taste because you see the condition every day, or often at least. but i dont find it offensive. time and place, certainly, and you need to know your audience before you make a potentially controversial joke, but a joke is not racism, bigotry, hatred, or anything else if it is told with good intent.
