What makes racism so funny?

Question

Now I know a lot of people find racism hilarious. Some base the majority of their jokes on the denigration of other races. I guess what I'd like to know is, why do we find racist jokes so amusing? A friend of mine told me a joke about the Jews being gassed a few weeks ago, and everyone instinctively laughed. But later, when I thought about it, I started to analyze why exactly people laughed so hard. If a Jew had been there at the time, he'd have been offended. Laughing at people dying just because of their race or ethnicity isn't as funny as it first seems. It's as though we're able to distance ourselves from their suffering in order to focus on the humor. People think AIDS is a funny disease because it's rife in Africa, but if it were rife in Europe, people wouldn't laugh. I think maybe it's a saftey valve: people can more easily discharge their darker impulses when they feel they have less in common with the object of their joke. Foreign races provide that opportunity. So I'd like to know some other opinions on the matter. Thanks.

Answer 1

NOT CUTE, NOT FUNNY IM MEXICAN AND JEWISH ..40,000000 people dying of AIDS is funny..wow.. why is everyone busting on Africa? and yes the Holocaust did exist. im sure your family dying in ovens is funny??? wow. then i'm hearing whites or so called whites are scared of being a minority? so tasteless and imature and tactless. im sure if there was 24 hours left on earth you wouldn't laugh then!

Answer 2

Of course its funny.  If not then why was Dave Chappel so successfull.

What about the Boondocks?

Racism is funny and the best way to beat it is with humor.  Look at Mel Brooks and all of his n**i humor or the whole Inquisition dance.

Humor is dismissive..and when we make fun of things it diminishes the capacity of them to harm.

Darrell Hammond doing his Jesse Jackson impersonation is another good one.

Answer 3

I'm not sure why, but other people's disabilities and occasionally your own can be funny, and i think that it is a good thing to find humor in such things from time to time, however it can be offensive and obnoxious at an excessive rate.  Also, I'mm not sure that the Jew would have been offended.  I have friends from many ethnic groups that make fun of their own cultural backgrounds and laugh along when others and myself make fun of them.

Answer 4

I rarely, if ever, find humor in racist jokes and do not prefer the company of those who do.

Answer 5

excaitly i mean i'm Racitets

and hello didn't you guys pay attention on history that's what started the HOLUCUST

Answer 6

It depends on the degree of racism. I mean like, if you're joking around about how a white person acts or how someone of another race does a certain thing, then it's entertaining because we are basically poking fun at the way we act and stuff. However, the jokes that you're talking about don't seem to be funny at all. Maybe the people laughed because they were uncomfortable in the matter? Then again, I'm not really sure. Everyone finds different things entertaining.

Answer 7

i dated a black guy before he was an amazin person..ill never meet anyone as nice as him....but our race destroyed our relationship completely...i am white an my family never agreed to me dating him i tried so hard 2 get them to accept him.but it was too big a factor for us....its not funny seeing your boyfriend getting beaten up..or hit because hes black xxxxx

Answer 8

you got it. thats why racism jokes are not meant to be fuuny. some are horrible and its just not nice.  

Answer 9

I don't think it's funny at all.  I've learned from my mother to respect all human being.

Answer 10

it depends on the person's sense of humor i guess. i find some racist jokes humorous, but some just take it too far. and i can laugh at jokes about my own race too (mexican) not just other people's races

Answer 11

People laugh at racist jokes as much as they laugh at blonde jokes, blind jokes, deaf joke, dead people jokes, political jokes, handicap jokes, white people jokes, mexican jokes, g*y jokes....etc...etc...etc.  

Sure many, if not all of them, are mean and awful, but lets face it, jokes make us laugh and ALL of them have potential to offend someone.  We can't walk around not laughing at things because it is wrong to laugh.  It is proper etiquette to be aware of who you are telling the joke to so you don't offend that person or others within earshot.  You wouldn't walk up to some random person and tell them a Jew joke.  You tell a joke to your friends and family and people you know well.  It is all in fun and if done properly no one gets hurt.    

Life would be a horribly boring place if we couldn't laugh and have fun!

Answer 12

its not funny! if you laugh at racism you a jerk!  so there its not its just jerks!