# White man makes fun of blacks, everyone laughs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 6, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114 "2003-02-06T02:45:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/41 "2003-02-06T20:55:43Z")
> [@](#): > > monstros, I can’t help it. I’ve been thinking about you in drag all morning !! Surely you would put these other guys to shame !!! > … > > BTW, I’m a he (is there a way to change our names? I initially just threw two irrelevant words together and now I’m ready to give my moniker a bit more thought ). Maybe we can switch names? Cuz everybody’s thinking I’m a guy. I don’t know **pizzabrat** makes me think female. It’s not like women have a monopoly on pizza or brats. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/42 "2003-02-06T21:56:53Z")
In honor of this thread, I think you should change your name to Brian Fellows. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/43 "2003-02-07T00:00:02Z")
That’s CRAZY! ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/44 "2003-02-07T02:00:50Z")
My apologies, **monstro**. Lots of times I too get mistaken for a guy on-line. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/45 "2003-02-07T03:39:37Z")
's okay. **monstro’s** not the most feminine name in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Pucky\_Schumer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Pucky\_Schumer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pucky_Schumer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/46 "2003-02-07T06:08:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by monstro \* > **At least pizzabrat has provided proof that no one gets upset when white comedians make fun of black people.** Not really. Pizzabrat provided one special instance that obvious was an exception. \*\* > [@](#): > > The people who insist–and with such vehemence, I might add–that there would be trouble have provided no such proof.\*\* Well, let’s see: There was a Cabinet secretary – Earl Butz, was it? – who got fired for telling a joke about what black voters want. And Jimmy the Greek, who lost his contract. And a professional golfer who got into a hell of a mess for making joking remarks to Tiger Woods about stereotypical “black” foods. And a professional football or baseball coach who was canned for saying blacks didn’t have the “fundamentals.” There was even a white guy in D.C. who was fired for using the word “niggardly.” And commentator Andy Rooney was once suspended because someone accused him, without proof, of making anti-black comments. Other than this, it hardly ever happens. \*\* > [@](#): > > Her case may very well be an “exception”, but there’s no way to know this unless people provide examples that substantiate this claim. \*\* Under U.S. law, certain minorities are considered a protected class. Note that this applies to minorities. ---
**Author:** ![SLASH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SLASH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SLASH)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/47 "2003-02-07T06:10:50Z")
Well there’s a difference between making jokes and making racist comments like “blacks don’t have fundamentals”. Anyway, I don’t see why people would be upset about black jokes, as long as they’re not being singled out. ---
**Author:** ![Pucky\_Schumer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Pucky\_Schumer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pucky_Schumer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/48 "2003-02-07T06:37:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SLASH \* > \*\*Well there’s a difference between making jokes and making racist comments like “blacks don’t have fundamentals”. > > Anyway, I don’t see why people would be upset about black jokes, as long as they’re not being singled out. \*\* These people would not get off the hook by saying they were joking. And besides, I’ve read numerous articles about people and companies being sued for making jokes about protected classes. ---
**Author:** ![SLASH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SLASH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SLASH)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/49 "2003-02-07T06:43:05Z")
> [@](#): > > And besides, I’ve read numerous articles about people and companies being sued for making jokes about protected classes. Wow I hope to God that isn’t true, or is at least very isolated. So much for freedom of speech. The only way I could see that happening though is that if the comedians signed a contract specifically promising not to tell ethnic jokes. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/50 "2003-02-07T06:59:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Giraffe \* > \*\*This is truly a brilliant OP. I can’t wait for your views on what the next episode of Fear Factor exposes about gender politics in our society. \*\* You saw that one, too?!? ---
**Author:** ![Pucky\_Schumer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Pucky\_Schumer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pucky_Schumer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/51 "2003-02-07T07:04:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SLASH \* > **Wow I hope to God that isn’t true, or is at least very isolated. So much for freedom of speech.** It is so common in the U.S. that many companies now require employees to take sensitivity-training classes after so many of them were sued. Under U.S. law, such jokes can be classified as creating “a hostile working environment.” Under the law, intent is not the issue. If a person feels harassed, that person was harassed. Saying “it’s just a joke” doesn’t get an individual or corporation off the hook. As this applies to the OP: I’ve heard plenty of so-called protected-group members use racist language and not face any sort of censure. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/52 "2003-02-07T13:40:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, let’s see: There was a Cabinet secretary – Earl Butz, was it? – who got fired for telling a joke about what black voters want. And Jimmy the Greek, who lost his contract. And a professional golfer who got into a hell of a mess for making joking remarks to Tiger Woods about stereotypical “black” foods. And a professional football or baseball coach who was canned for saying blacks didn’t have the “fundamentals.” There was even a white guy in D.C. who was fired for using the word “niggardly.” And commentator Andy Rooney was once suspended because someone accused him, without proof, of making anti-black comments. > Other than this, it hardly ever happens. None of these examples include commedians! You don’t see why a politicial would get in trouble for racist remarks? You don’t see why a baseball coach saying blacks don’t have “fundamentals” is more than just a joke? How it might affect his behavior towards black players? > [@](#): > > It is so common in the U.S. that many companies now require employees to take sensitivity-training classes after so many of them were sued. Under U.S. law, such jokes can be classified as creating “a hostile working environment.” Under the law, intent is not the issue. If a person feels harassed, that person was harassed. Saying “it’s just a joke” doesn’t get an individual or corporation off the hook. A workplace where people are throwing around racist jokes IS a “hostile working environment”. I don’t come to work to be insulted and singled-out by my co-workers. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/53 "2003-02-07T14:50:15Z")
**Pucky Schumer** , your analogy is inappropriate. Compare politicians with politicians, sport team owners with sport team owners, TV commentators with TV commentators, and comedians with comedians. It will make more sense this way, believe me. ---
**Author:** ![Pucky\_Schumer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Pucky\_Schumer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pucky_Schumer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/54 "2003-02-07T17:19:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > \*\*None of these examples include commedians! [/b Then please cite more than one example of a white comedian doing this. And it was not specificied in the OP that the show was one that specifically catered to racial humor. I have to agree with the poster who said that if this had been done on a different show, it would have generated protests. > [@](#): > > A workplace where people are throwing around racist jokes IS a “hostile working environment”. I don’t come to work to be insulted and singled-out by my co-workers. According to the government, it doesn’t seem to be a hostile environment when the racists are black. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/55 "2003-02-07T18:17:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Pucky Schumer \* > \*\*According to the government, it doesn’t seem to be a hostile environment when the racists are black. YMMV. \*\* Got a cite for this law? I’m dying to see it. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/56 "2003-02-07T18:23:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Then please cite more than one example of a white comedian doing this. Please cite a SINGLE example of a white **comedian** getting in “trouble” for making fun of black people. Maybe then **pizzabrat** will respond to your assertion that his case is an exception. ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/57 "2003-02-07T18:49:16Z")
Well, there’s the case of [Sarah Silverman](http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.01.03/fast1.html), who is a white, Jewish comedian, who has some rather raw material, including: > [@](#): > > Thanks to Silverman’s sly timing and cocky attitude — not to mention her coltish beauty — the Yo La Tengo crowd erupted in guffaws of titillated disbelief. Silverman went on to tell equally jaw-dropping jokes about how Mexicans love to pass wind and how her half-black boyfriend was upset when she told him he would have made “an expensive slave.” Some people have been upset over her act. One protest is mentioned on the linked page: > [@](#): > > In July 2001, she told a joke on the talk show “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” that went like this: When Silverman received a jury-duty notice, she complained to a friend that she didn’t want to serve; the friend suggested she send back the form with something racist written on it, like “I hate chinks,” because surely she would be ruled out as a juror. Silverman’s reply? “I didn’t want them to think I was racist, but I did want to get out of jury duty, so I wrote, ‘I love chinks.’” Guy Aoki, president of an Asian-American media watchdog organization, demanded that Silverman apologize, and a week later she was embroiled in a nationwide controversy over the joke. Although NBC officially apologized, many leapt to the comedian’s defense (including O’Brien), suggesting she was a victim of political correctness. Silverman said she felt bad about the incident and even sent Aoki a “well-thought-out, with-all-my-heart letter” that didn’t apologize for the joke, so much as for hurting his feelings. The comedian is accustomed to confrontation, though it doesn’t happen as often as you might think, even when she performs in racially diverse crowds. However, given that her career doesn’t seem to have been hurt by incidents like that, and she certainly hasn’t been forced to stop telling such jokes, the amount of “trouble” she’s gotten into is rather limited, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/58 "2003-02-07T19:58:18Z")
by Pucky: > [@](#): > > Then please cite more than one example of a white comedian doing this. What? You’re ass-backwards here. When people make a claim, they need to back that claim up. Basic science 101. Last time I checked it was you that was insisting white comics get shafted while black ones get applause. Where’s your evidence? Prove your hypothesis. That’s all I want. > [@](#): > > Well, let’s see: There was a Cabinet secretary – Earl Butz, was it? – who got fired for telling a joke about what black voters want. And Jimmy the Greek, who lost his contract. And a professional golfer who got into a hell of a mess for making joking remarks to Tiger Woods about stereotypical “black” foods. And a professional football or baseball coach who was canned for saying blacks didn’t have the “fundamentals.” There was even a white guy in D.C. who was fired for using the word “niggardly.” And commentator Andy Rooney was once suspended because someone accused him, without proof, of making anti-black comments. And my cat likes to lick her crotch after visiting the litter box. Your point would be…? ---
**Author:** ![Purplefloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7cd45c/32.png) [@Purplefloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purplefloyd)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/59 "2003-02-07T21:12:20Z")
I think its great that we can make fun of anyone in good spirit wether your black, white, chinese, etc… It means that we are really getting somewhere with equality in this nation. Its great that we can treat blacks and whites the same way without fear of being politically incorrect or having to make a big deal about it. We are all different and sometimes jokes can be made about these differences that are genuinly funny, its nothing personal. I think the best way to defeat racism is to stop giving it so much attention, come together as people, and move on to the important things. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114/60 "2003-02-07T21:51:53Z")
I thought **pizzabrat** was lesbian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-man-makes-fun-of-blacks-everyone-laughs/153114.md?page=4)