Friday, February 15, 2008

MAKING FUN OF WHITE PEOPLE: IS IT OKAY TO?

Okay, so there's this weblog: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.org

It's basically a site that makes fun of the stereotypical white person. Take a look at it if you want. I think it's funny....but is it offensive?

At first glance, one might think that it's "okay" to make fun of white people because hey, they haven't suffered the inequalities that other races have. Making fun of them is just harmless fun.

But I thought about it and I don't think it's fair to make fun of someone even though it's not based on years of oppression or injustice.

Maybe stereotyping of this kind is harmless if it's taken ironically by all parties involved (the joke bieng how obviously racist and ridiculous said stereotyping is) but that can easily be misconstrued and taken literally under the former context. (it's okay to make fun of white people)

Honestly, there would never be a weblog called "stuff black people like" because...wow. But THIS blog has been made....and it seems just as bad to me.

I dunno, maybe I'm suffering from "non-white guilt" (i.e. I'm just as bad a racist white person back in the day, only worse because we all should know better)

What do you all think?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If we're taking our cues from black comedians, then yes, it is okay to make fun of white people but in comparison to another culture, which also becomes a butt of a different joke. eg., "Black people do [x] like this, white people do [x] like this!"

But I'm going to stick to my convictions and say that the jokes can't be on a middle ground of racism. It either has to be harmless or waaaaaaaay over the top. Or even prefaced with the disclaimer, "this is a racist joke, but..."

I think you can be safe about racism as long as you're well aware of it - otherwise... well, you're a racist.

yeaaahtoast said...

I generally think it's ok to make fun of everyone, all races, all ages whatever (which is why i do it).

I think that the term "racism" has connotations of malice involved, something should be absent from a joke. Sure, you can make fun, mock, mimic, but outright malice is easy to spot and that's where it gets iffy when you try to categorize it as "ok" or "acceptable". Humor is, after all, a matter of opinion.

I think it's OK to make fun of white people, but not because "they haven't suffered the inequalities that other races have" but because, as i said before, you should be able to make fun of EVERYONE.

White people may not suffer from "oppression" in their history here, but i think they suffer from a label of "oppressors" which is almost worse!

White people have long been thought to be keeping the minorities down, that they have better opportunities, and are treated differently from us brownies. While i can't deny that this does still happen, it's a very close-minded view of white people, which as a "term" is racist in it of itself.

When i was in the multi-cultural dorm in college, I tried to get into an intellectual with some African American students about why they were baggin' on whities all the time. They ended up telling me "You're like 1/2 white so you get treated like a white. you're not minority enough to understand the discrimination we face." Needless to say, we didn't get far into the conversation.

Anyone who knows me knows that most of the time, i get treated like a human and if people do categorize me, i get put in the Mexican lump, which isn't exactly to highly thought of in this country either. I used to hate it because i'm very proud of my actual BLOOD hawai'ian heritage. However, i've now written it off to ignorant people with no desire to understand their fellow humans and are generally just closed-minded individuals plugging away through life without a creative thought in their head.

With that rant over, i'll say that in terms of races and humor, there should be no sacred ground. If you don't have the mind, decency, and tact to choose when it's inappropriate to take it so far, then i hope you're allergic to peanuts cause those damn Thai's put that shit on everything!

SnrIncognito said...

im going to generally agree with mahea's statement.

the only thing i'd add is that i do see racism directed toward whites as realistically less harmful, and therefore less in need of being kept under check. i think im less willing to let racism towards blacks and hispanics go because i fear for the wellbeing of those individuals. you can say "white people eat babies" and it won't hurt white individuals' abilities to be taken seriously by those who they need to be taken seriously by.

the day that it does is the day i say that saying so "isn't cool, man."

to me it's not about respect. its about harm.

yeaaahtoast said...

Just a follow up... here's one of my favorite sites.

Stoodert said...

More....more!

http://stuffwhitepeopledontlike.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Ha-Ha it's all in fun...until that crazy over in the corner takes offense and beats the shit out of you on your way to your car after work.
Or that nice Islamic guy at the coffee shop screams at you and threatens to kill your children for your offending Allah.
Have a good day.