I recently had the unique opportunity of watching "Chappelle's Show" with an audience of Hispanics, Asians, Caucasians and an African-American. You can imagine the diversity of responses as Chappelle, whose September HBO special attacked everyone from Koreans (mistaken for the Chinese), to American Indians and AIDS patients.
If the group wasn't my family, I'm sure things would have been a lot more heated. Nonetheless, seeing how members of my own family responded to the ethnic and racist comments made me question whether there can be a set standard for humor.
From what I gathered watching Chappelle's show and "South Park," the immediate response that came to mind is that it's quite all right to drag the most irreverent, dirty and painful topics into your performance, as long as you offend everyone equally. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to hold true on the individual level.
First, there is the individual's choice to view a racial or ethnic joke in the context of the show or in a larger societal, economic and historical context. It's also interesting to observe who is laughing at which jokes. Chappelle is at least an equal opportunity offender and is known for taking no prisoners when it comes to humor that plays on stereotypes.
Where do we draw the line when it comes to humor? I've heard every Polish joke there is, but I still get really upset when someone asks me if I've heard the one about the difference between a Jew and a pizza, or what you say to a woman with two black eyes. Before you try to impress your friends with such "spicy" humor, I strongly suggest you know to whom you're speaking. I'm not Jewish, but I have family members who suffered at Auschwitz, and believe me, no one was laughing then. And you really have to be a moron to tell a domestic violence joke to a woman.
Before you start defending yourself and telling me that it's all meant to be taken with a grain of salt, that you really don't believe it or that such jokes promote discourse and repudiation, think really hard what is so amusing about human misfortune, poverty and inequality.
You're either totally detached and unaware of the reality of the problem behind the joke, or you are using it as a means of coping with the problem.
If you're in the first category, turn off Comedy Central and go see for yourself how funny it is to be black, discriminated against, living in poverty or doing the dirtiest jobs for less than minimum wage in a country where you don't speak the language -- all so you can help your family survive.
If you make ethnic or racist jokes and feel you have the right to because you are of that particular group, try to look further into what you are actually saying about yourself. Is standing around perpetrating stereotypes really the best you can do?
I'm not claiming that programs like "Chappelle's Show" or "South Park" are bad or useless. In fact, in many cases they are the only way some people hear about the problems surrounding race, gender, religion and ethnicity.
The real issue lies with the audience that simply absorbs the humor and regurgitates it at the next social gathering to gain attention without considering its content or repercussions.
Be sure that the next time you tell the one about why Hispanics like low ridesr you can also explain the effect of NAFTA on northern Mexican states. Maybe then the one about Bush and the economy will finally make sense.
Lucia Bill is a journalism and political science sophomore. Reach her at lucia.bill@asu.edu.
