# What makes a joke racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290 "2019-09-15T22:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/21 "2019-09-16T02:57:03Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Uh, no I didn’t. You’re nitpicking words. Let’s try again, and see if you can get past nitpicking: > > Asking why it’s racist to tell a joke about Kevin Hart’s skin color sounds a bit like asking why it’s racist to display lawn jockeys or wear blackface. > > Edit: racism doesn’t exist as an independent property of the universe, like mineral hardness or the speed of light. It’s about the relationship between different people situated within a social/historical context. A joke told by one person can exhibit racism, whereas it wouldn’t exhibit the same racism told by another person. A white person telling a joke with the n-word is way the fuck more of a problem than the same joke told by a black person, due to that context. > > If you’re not in a position where you feel comfortable telling a joke with a racist epithet, you probably aren’t in the position where you could tell a joke mocking a black person’s skin color and have it be copacetic. I agree with your edit and think its well-put. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/22 "2019-09-16T02:57:04Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > 😕 He’s comparing him to a piece of coal, hence the squeezing into a diamond reference. You’ve really never heard someone say that someone is so tight-assed they could squeeze coal into a diamond? > [@kirkrapine](#): > > Because it allows for Hart to be likened to a lump of coal. As we all know, Superman can squeeze coal into diamonds, and why not the Rock? The OP likens Kevin Hart to shit. > [@the OP](#): > > Dwayne here could squeeze you between his butt cheeks and shit out a diamond! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/23 "2019-09-16T03:55:21Z")
There are two parts to this awkward and not very good joke: Part 1: A small dark-skinned person is likened to a lump of coal. Part 2: A physically powerful (or in earlier forms of the joke, uptight) person is hyperbolically described as being able to compress a lump of coal into a diamond by constricting his ass. Part 2 is not in itself racist, but is sort of clumsily masking the racism of Part 1. If somebody told Part 1 of the joke separately, as in _“Damn Kevin, you so black and tiny, you basically a lump of coal!”_, I think it would definitely come across as rather racist. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/24 "2019-09-16T04:19:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The OP likens Kevin Hart to shit. No he doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/25 "2019-09-16T04:30:24Z")
Yeah, this clumsy joke can’t even make up its mind about what part of The Rock’s ass Kevin Hart is in. The original joke was along the lines of shoving a piece of coal **up** someone’s (tight) ass and getting a diamond shat out. But if you’re just squeezing something between your butt cheeks, it’s not in your rectum, so you don’t end up shitting it out. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/26 "2019-09-16T04:53:12Z")
The N word. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/27 "2019-09-16T05:06:59Z")
Is the joke shitting on someone because of the color of their skin? Is the white joke teller using the N word? If either of those are true it’s a racist joke. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/28 "2019-09-16T05:11:19Z")
Maybe this would have given a clearer example if you hadn’t rephrased the original joke? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/29 "2019-09-16T07:59:16Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > No he doesn’t. Do you have trouble seeing the word “shit” in the OP? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/30 "2019-09-16T10:58:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Do you have trouble seeing the word “shit” in the OP? Ehrmahgerd, TriPolar, you’re doing it again. The joke is a hot mess, yes–but something can be expelled from the rectum, i.e., be shit out, without being a piece of shit. To take a random example, if there’s a diamond in your rectum, and you shit it out, the diamond isn’t a piece of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/31 "2019-09-16T13:28:02Z")
I have in fact discovered an algorithm with no less than 1200 distinct inputs for attributes of the joke, including phrasing, spelling, timing and the elusive punchline-to-setup ratio which will determine a joke’s “racist or not” factor with 99% accuracy. It will be published in the February issue of _Not a Real Thing, What Kinda Silly Question is That?_ journal. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/32 "2019-09-16T13:44:56Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Ehrmahgerd, TriPolar, you’re doing it again. > > The joke is a hot mess, yes–but something can be expelled from the rectum, i.e., be shit out, without being a piece of shit. To take a random example, if there’s a diamond in your rectum, and you shit it out, the diamond isn’t a piece of shit. There is no other reason to have the word “shit” in this lame atrocity of a joke except to further insult Kevin Hart, specifically for his skin color. Did you notice any “shit” in what the OP considered the equivalent joke about his son? What kind of person tells a joke like this anyway? It’s possibly funny to a 10 year old because it has the word “shit” in it, otherwise it’s the kind of thing that racists say and giggle at. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/33 "2019-09-16T14:29:04Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There is no other reason to have the word “shit” in this lame atrocity of a joke except to further insult Kevin Hart, specifically for his skin color. Mhmmm…I mean, I guess so if you consider **any** reference to shit in connection with a black person to be a reference to their skin color? But I think that’s going a bit far. I’ll go along with you, though, to the extent of agreeing that it’s intrinsically degrading/disparaging to speak of a person being squeezed in another person’s ass cheeks and getting “shit out”, even in the form of a diamond and not actual shit. And such a joke is also kind of insulting to short people. > [@TriPolar](#): > > What kind of person tells a joke like this anyway? A person who is not very good at jokes. Some people just can’t really tell the difference between scatological/racial “edginess” and actual funniness. As offensive jokes go it’s not the worst of them, but that’s not saying much. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/34 "2019-09-16T14:51:31Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > There are jokes about race, and there are jokes about racism. The exampled joke is about race; therefore it is racist. If it were a joke lampooning that racism, it would be a joke about racism, and therefore not racist. > > Example: > > Why did the chicken cross the road? > Because there was a black dude walking toward him. > > That’s a joke lampooning the chicken’s racism, and is therefore not about race but about racism. Now you see, I would have figured that was a “fried chicken” joke, and therefore racist. > [@Kimstu](#): > > Mhmmm…I mean, I guess so if you consider **any** reference to shit in connection with a black person to be a reference to their skin color? But I think that’s going a bit far. Not when there’s extensive history of racist jokes making _exactly_ this comparison for any dark-skinned people. Cite: Growing up as a white guy in the 70s. These exact jokes were all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/35 "2019-09-16T15:29:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There is no other reason to have the word “shit” in this lame atrocity of a joke except to further insult Kevin Hart, specifically for his skin color. Did you notice any “shit” in what the OP considered the equivalent joke about his son? > > What kind of person tells a joke like this anyway? It’s possibly funny to a 10 year old because it has the word “shit” in it, otherwise it’s the kind of thing that racists say and giggle at. That is not even a tiny bit responsive to what I said. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/36 "2019-09-16T15:36:57Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > That is not even a tiny bit responsive to what I said. It is because it disregards your assumption that the words used in this joke are meant to be taken literally. I don’t know where the OP got this stupid thing he calls a joke, he may be simply humor deficient and came up with it by accident, but it takes the form of many racist so called jokes having the basic elements of ridiculing people based on their skin color and not otherwise being funny, they are intended for people who think any disparagement of people based on their skin color is funny as way of reassuring their self perception of superiority. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/37 "2019-09-17T00:26:48Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s racist because it calls Kevin Hart black, you know that he is brown, so you are using a racist term to separate him from other people, and then you liken Keven Hart to a piece of shit. Then you pretend that calling your son light skinned is the same as calling Kevin Hart a piece of shit. Then you try to compare a comment about the light skin of your son to calling Kevin Hart a piece of shit. This is a disgusting attempt too wave away racism as some kind of harmless humor. That is not an accurate characterization. He’s being compared to a lump of coal. And that’s obvious. And Kevin Hart would call himself black. Black isn’t normally considered a racist term. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/38 "2019-09-17T00:44:47Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > 1. The joke contains an ethnic slur. > 2. The joke contains a well-known stereotype. > _snipped_ > Am I wrong? I wouldn’t say either of those **necessarily** makes a joke racist. Those can and are both used as tools to parody racism as well. Blazing Saddles is a great an example of a movie that, by your criteria, is chock full of racist jokes. I wouldn’t call it racist. ---
**Author:** ![kirkrapine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@kirkrapine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirkrapine)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/39 "2019-09-17T00:47:21Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > The N word. I’ve heard black comics do a lot with that, but, you know, privileges. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290/40 "2019-09-17T00:53:40Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It is because it disregards your assumption that the words used in this joke are meant to be taken literally. I don’t know where the OP got this stupid thing he calls a joke, he may be simply humor deficient and came up with it by accident, but it takes the form of many racist so called jokes having the basic elements of ridiculing people based on their skin color and not otherwise being funny, they are intended for people who think any disparagement of people based on their skin color is funny as way of reassuring their self perception of superiority. That is also not even a tiny bit responsive to what I said. Did you read what I wrote, or did you just notice I was disagreeing with you and so restated your position with slightly different words, in hopes I’d be convinced by the restatement? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-joke-racist/840290.md?page=3)