Why do some people find racism funny?

Question

Now I know a lot of people find racism hilarious. Some even 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 and a group of friends a story about a black person being raped last week, and everyone instinctively laughed. But later, when I thought about it, I started to analyze why exactly everyone laughed so hard. If a black person had been there at the time, he'd have been offended. People dying or being raped 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

People who can't tell satire from honest racism should probably steer clear of comedy.

Also, anyone who has ever used the phrase "I'm offended by..." or "People shouldn't joke about..." should probably steer clear of comedy.

There are few things sadder than someone stabbing a sense of humor to death in order to reiterate a point that no one needs any clarification on in the first place.

Answer 2

This question would generate better responses in the philosophy section. It's an excellent question. I agree.

Answer 3

Because it's funny.

No one thinks AIDS is a funny disease. You're trying to associate all kinds of stuff with racism to make it into a bigger deal than what it is.

Answer 4

I think it is because racist jokes are universal.

You can replace the race in a joke and it is still funny.

You can say, "an Irishman walked in to a bar and..."

or if you don't want to insult the Irish, you could say, "a Mexican guy walked into a bar and..."

or if you don't want to joke about Mexicans, you could say, "a Polish guy walked in to a bar..."

The joke would still be just as funny and exactly the same no matter what ethnicity you plug in.

My point is: Racial jokes are funny because you can always change who it is joking about.

Jokes aren't racist. The way people choose to use jokes is what is racist.

I think you should work on your sense of humor! :)

Answer 5

That reminds me of my favorite feminist joke.

How many feminist does it take to change a lightbulb?

A) thats not funny.

Edit: Katherine is spot on.

Answer 6

People laugh at the horrors of the world (racism, rape, murder, sexism, holocausts, segregation, etc.) because if we didn't we would commit mass suicide from being so serious and depressed all the time.

At some point in our lives we've all laughed at a joke that someone would find offensive.

However there is a difference between laughing at a racist joke that truly means no harm and laughing at blatant racism perpetrated in our society.

If we can't laugh at ourselves and the world we live in then what can we laugh at?

Answer 7

Like race, sickness and s*x and disease and poverty and religion are all heavy issues that cause much heartache all over the world every single day.  For some, it causes much mental anguish.  You wrongly assume people think AIDS is funny because it's rife all across Africa.  You couldn't be further from the truth.  

As humans, we make light of the most devastating things in our lives in order to make it seem like it isn't controlling us.  Making jokes about religion and race and s*x makes it easier to deal with the conflict and heartache that goes along with all of those things.  It lightens the gravity of their implications.  

I'm not saying it's right.  In fact, I believe humor is one of the most important things in any culture.  And many times humor tries to take on the most terrible of issues in our culture so that we can come to terms with it in a light-hearted way.