# Jokes that seem prejudiced, but aren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 28, 2013, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100 "2013-06-28T09:39:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/41 "2013-07-03T08:45:22Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > All right, I hope I’m not the only one: I still have a frozen half-smile on my face trying to get this. Help? I assume it’s walking into a ‘‘bar’’ as in a cylindrical length of metal or somesuch: bar1 [bahr] Show IPA noun, verb, barred, bar·ring, preposition noun 1. a relatively long, evenly shaped piece of some solid substance, as metal or wood, used as a guard or obstruction or for some mechanical purpose: the bars of a cage. **Leo** , was I right about your other joke? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/42 "2013-07-03T08:56:54Z")
Duh. Of course. Interesting about people who got it wrong. See my comments immediately above. Also: :smack: about **Der Trihs** ’s post. ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/43 "2013-07-03T09:12:06Z")
OK.\*\* Der Trihs\*\*, was I right about your joke? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/44 "2013-07-03T13:21:43Z")
> [@Molotok](#): > > OK.\*\* Der Trihs\*\*, was I right about your joke? 🙂 Yes; it’s actually a fairly old one with lots of variations. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/45 "2013-07-03T13:59:40Z")
> [@Molotok](#): > > Well, Leo’s joke seems to be aimed at racists who assume there is some valid time to refer to black people _that way_, and the punchline simply highlights the cowardice of people who say/do such things. IMO. If that is the explanation it still doesn’t seem to fit the category. ---
**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/46 "2013-07-03T15:11:41Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Tim Minchin plays with this in his song [Prejudice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw) > > \*In our modern free-spoken society > There is a word that we still hold taboo > A word with a terrible history > Of being used to abuse, oppress and subdue > Just six seemingly harmless letters > Arranged in a way that will form a word > With more power than the pieces of metal > That are forged to make swords > > A couple of Gs, an R and an E, an I and an N > Just six little letters all jumbled together\* > > ginger He has another song, “Cont”, that could also fit the thread. At first, it’s really blatantly racist: _I don’t like Jews Neither should you They’re ethically and spiritually poor That’s a fact I don’t like black people It’s just not acceptable There should be some kind of law That is that I get the shits with Inuits They get on my tits, the little bastards_ And so on. At the end, when the audience is staring at him in horror, he says “Wait, sorry! This is the first time I’ve performed this song, and I was so nervous I skipped a lot of the lyrics. I’d better start over, just so you don’t get the wrong impression. It’s not even called ‘Cont’, it’s ‘Context’.” _I don’t like Jews Who make and distribute kiddy porn Neither should you They’re ethically and spiritually poor That’s a fact I don’t like black people Who waste billions of other people’s money Gambling on future derivatives It’s just not acceptable There should be some kind of law That is that I get the shits with Inuits Who find out what job I do And regale me with a racist joke or two They get on my tits, the little bastards_ ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/47 "2013-07-03T15:17:44Z")
That’s a close call–definitely Sarah Silverman territory. Of that same type, I think, is in fact one of hers, which I’ve had occasion to use relative to some real comment or opinion. It’s something like: My nine-year old niece said that they killed nine million Jews in the Holocaust. I told her, no, that would be terrible. It was six million. I _think_ that’s kind of in the typology of your joke. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/48 "2013-07-03T17:59:57Z")
I’ve got a couple that I’ve always thought fall into this category: Two black men from New York are traveling through Alabama, and check into a hotel for the night. After a couple hours of watching television, one says to the other, “Hey, why don’t we call the front desk and ask them to send up a couple white girls?” The second man, horrified, replies, “Ask for white girls in Alabama? They’ll KILL us!” Confused, the first man answers, “But I just want to make love to them, not go to school with them!” A Chinese man and a Jewish man are sitting on adjacent bar stools. After several drinks, the Jewish man stands up and, without warning, hauls off and decks the Chinese man, knocking him off his stool. The Chinese man stands up, rubbing his jaw, and asks, “What the hell was that for?!” “That’s for bombing Pearl Harbor!” “Pearl Harbor? You idiot! The _Japanese_ bombed Pearl Harbor! I’m _Chinese_!” “Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese — it’s all the same to me!” explains the Jew. Grumbling, the Chinese man returns to his stool and drink. A few minutes later, he turns and punches the Jewish man in the nose, knocking _him_ to the floor. “Okay,” says the Jewish man, “What was _that_ for?” “That’s for sinking the Titanic!” “The Titanic? An _iceberg_ sank the Titanic!” “Iceberg, Goldberg, Steinberg …” ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/49 "2013-07-04T01:51:09Z")
Does this qualify? It’s a line of English comic Harry Hill’s: I went to a restaurant the other day called A Taste of the Raj. The waiter hit me with a stick and got me to build a complicated railway system. …Presumably the listener is primed by the name of the restaurant to expect a bit of mockery-of-Indian people, only to find that the true target is the British. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/50 "2013-07-04T02:29:13Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Does this qualify? It’s a line of English comic Harry Hill’s: > > I went to a restaurant the other day called A Taste of the Raj. The waiter hit me with a stick and got me to build a complicated railway system. > > …Presumably the listener is primed by the name of the restaurant to expect a bit of mockery-of-Indian people, only to find that the true target is the British. I’m not sure it really “qualifies” as to exactly what I was looking for, but it’s close enough to fit in the thread. What I was really looking for is where _no group_ is actually made fun of. A lot of the jokes here are just flipping the groups that are the butt of the joke. It’s not quite the same thing. However, I can’t think of any others that quite fit my criteria, so, well, close enough and let’s just keep going like we’re going. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/51 "2013-07-04T02:44:08Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I’m not sure it really “qualifies” as to exactly what I was looking for, but it’s close enough to fit in the thread. > > What I was really looking for is where _no group_ is actually made fun of. A lot of the jokes here are just flipping the groups that are the butt of the joke. It’s not quite the same thing. However, I can’t think of any others that quite fit my criteria, so, well, close enough and let’s just keep going like we’re going. This is why I hoped my jokes fit. I heard both of them years and years ago, and they always struck me as poking fun at racism/stereotypes, rather than poking fun at any particular race. ETA: Also, the black pilot joke in the OP: The first time I heard that joke, it was told to me by a black guy, and he delivered it brilliantly. He asked the question, “What do you call a black guy flying a plane?”, and when I said, “What?”, he rolled his eyes, got the most offended, exasperated look on his face, and yelled, “He’s a PILOT, you racist!” (Note: He was one of my regular customers at the restaurant where I was cooking at the time, so we knew each other and were friendly.) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/52 "2013-07-04T15:23:05Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > … A lot of the jokes here are just flipping the groups that are the butt of the joke… No, I don’t believe that’s true at all. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/53 "2013-07-05T00:24:50Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > No, I don’t believe that’s true at all. Right, most of the jokes in this thread aren’t simply flipping the groups being targeted for mockery/ridicule/general hostility. Instead, they’re providing the standard setup that leads us to expect “here comes a slam against black people (or against Latinos or against women or against Catholics or whatever)”. But then the standard follow-up to the setup doesn’t come. Instead there is a sort of meta-comedy phenomenon: the standard setup is completely undercut and short-circuited when the wording turns our attention on the setup _itself_. This undercutting is shocking; it’s what creates the joke. It works on the basic ‘humor comes from surprise’ theory. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/54 "2013-07-05T06:47:46Z")
A priest, a rabbi, and an imam walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this? Some kind of joke?” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100/55 "2013-07-09T03:38:20Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > How does Snoop Dogg keep his whites so white? > > He uses bleeotch. What’s brown and rhymes with Snoop? Dr. Dre. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-seem-prejudiced-but-arent/662100.md?page=2)