Ok, so I know the general rule of thumb is that if you have to ask ‘is this racist’, it probably is. But this is a bit of a disagreement between my dad and myself. We have very different views on society and usually the emails he forwards me I just delete. But today he specifically sent me one and told me to go read it because it was funny. The name of the joke is ‘Colin the Aborigine’. Of course the first words out of my mouth were ‘well that sounds completely PC’. He got a bit annoyed and assured me the joke was not racist and to just read it. So this is the joke:
Now, I can see how it’s a bit funny from the punchline but it just seems to have a lot of racist undertones in it. Mainly pointing out he’s ‘aborigine’(black) and the ‘only one in the neighbourhood’ (something you often hear about black families). The fact that he called the man ‘boss’ also kinda seemed a bit off key to me too. I’d like to also add, there was a photo attached of a very stereotypical aborigine man.
My dad insists I’m being the ‘liberal PC police’ and that there’s nothing racist at all in that joke. While I agree it’s not a blatantly racist piece, it just kinda gives that vibe underneath it all. So what do you guys think? Am I right or am I just over thinking things?
It isn’t racist. You could take the aborigine part out and the joke would still be funny but it is put in as a distraction. It gives the listener a reason to suspend disbelief about why he is beating the crocodile (because he extreme outdoor skills). You could tell the another version of the joke with a cowboy if it was an American fighting an alligator.
I think it’s borderline. I assume that joke is meant for Australian audiences. Not sure if that matters, and I don’t know what the stereotypes of Aborigines is. I assume it is being primitive - and that seems to fit with the joke. I don’t see Aborigine as being black. Maybe someone attached a racist picture, but without the picture - told to an American audience - I think it is not that bad. I think the aborigine part is needed to impart the idea of someone who has the skills to fight a crocodile.
To me it sounds like the joke is just that you’re supposed to think Colin jumped into the pool when he was pushed. You’re laughing at that misunderstanding, not at Colin. So it doesn’t seem racist to me. But I will say it’s hard to evaluate something like that with a culture you don’t know anything about.
Yeah, I realize that the joke is more at the fact he got pushed in over anything. But it just seems it’s a case of too much info. Like, where it wasn’t really necessary to put in a race? Given the spelling of ‘neighbour’ in the joke, it probably was started in Australia. As for the picture, this was it, for those who are curious.
Right. And then Colin ended up getting the best of it in a couple of different ways. Not only does he kick ass, he’s humble enough not to want a reward. It’s almost anti-racist.
Why do you need to know if it is racist? So you have permission to chastise your Dad?
It’s definitely not PC. It hinges on racial stereotype assumptions or at least awareness, but the joke could have been told without race involved by substituting one of those famous naturalists or survivalists.
And the use of “boss” sounds kind of racist to me, but I don’t know how it’s used in Australia so I can’t say.
But it’s more derogatory of the person who is surprised because of their racial stereotype expectations getting overturned, than of the the aborigine in the story. So I’d call it more meta-racist than racist.
The image itself isn’t racist, but its inclusion seems kind of odd and superfluous.
I don’t think so. I have heard several different versions of that joke before and many of them don’t even include a non-white person. They just have some character that would have a semi-plausible reason to have such good skills. In some of them it is a cowboy, in others it is a Cajun. The Australian version is just modified to include people they have there. Sure, it is based on cartoonish stereotypes but they aren’t unflattering to the group in question (who wouldn’t like to be able to beat up a crocodile?). The character in the joke is just meant to lead people away from the eventual punchline.
I think it’s reverse-racist in a sense – all throughout you’re waiting for a denouement that will include something to explain why Colin has to be an Aborigine; and it never comes.
Sort of like a shaggy-dog version of "What do you call a black man flying an airplane?"A pilot
That would be my assumption. Change “aborigine” to Mexican, the setting to a town in Texas, and make the croc an alligator and see how the joke works.
While the joke is racial in nature it isn’t exactly racist, since the aborigine gets the best of the situation in the end. It is a comment about the prevalence of racism in that society.
It reminds me of the following joke (which doesn’t work out so well for the victim):
An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Texan, and a Mexican are in a small plane trying to fly over the Andes in a storm. The pilot explains to the passengers that the plane is too heavy to make it over the mountains, and that unless someone sacrifices himself by jumping out they will all die. So the Englishman stands up, shouts “Long live the Queen!” and jumps out of the plane.
The plane climbs and climbs, but still doesn’t have enough power. The pilot tells them that someone else will have to jump. So the Frenchman stands, shouts “Vive la France!” and jumps out.
But it’s still not enough. The pilot says someone else will have to go. So the Texan stands, shouts “Remember the Alamo!” and throws the Mexican out.
I’m glad to see all the different insight on this. I can definitely see what you guys are saying about it maybe offering a more positive view on the aborigine. I didn’t want to know just to chastise my dad though. It was more because he very often tells me that I’m way too PC and that I get offended over things that are completely innocent. So I was just wondering if perhaps this was a good example of that. It seems that, while I wasn’t completely off to catch some undertones, the mention of race wasn’t meant in any sort derogatory way.
Is “Nah, you all right boss” a stereotypical speech patter for aborigines? I can see how that could be racist, but it’s not integral to the joke. One could certainly tell the joke in a way that isn’t racist (and still have Colin as an aborigine)
Right. Humor is only offensive if it isn’t done well and that is pretty funny joke in it’s many incarnations and there are many for that one.
I have a test for you to see if you are too PC. Have you ever seen the movie Airplane!? It is almost universally acclaimed as being one of the funniest movies ever made and a lot of the jokes depend on stereotypes based on very non-PC subjects. It is equal opportunity however. They present everything from the silly gay guy to the African tribe that can play NBA level basketball within a day of learning the game exists. They make fun of straight white men too. If you get offended watching something like that, then maybe you are way too PC. There’s Something About Mary is also a very non-PC movie that most people find innocent in its own way but also extremely funny.
