Yes, there are some Black folks (or insert minority of choice) who are think-skinned and are constantly looking for a fight about race.
The problem is that every time you give those people a national soap-box to spout from all it does is EMPHASIZE differences rather than smooth them over. This Imus thing would be a non-issue if it hadn't gotten the news media in a frenzy, and that frenzy has people picking sides largely by race, which does more damage to racial relations than that comment! Was his comment funny? To some people it was, to some it wasn't, but that's the case with any kind of humor. Find me a comedian who does NOT do any racially-charged jokes and I'll point out a comedian who doesn't have much of an audience. Almost all jokes have a "victim", whether it be slapstick or stand-up, but most of the victims laugh with the comic. You see jokes charged with gender stereotypes, racial stereotypes, economic stereotypes, class stereotypes, and so on, but that's just the standard. Hell, that's Carlos Mencia's stock-in-trade and he's a funny guy! He makes jokes about black people stealing the "bling" at the Olympics and the black people in the audience laugh with him because it's a compliment. Maybe it's a delivery issue, that Imus just isn't funny, but you can't say what he said was any more racist than Carlos's opening jokes.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-10 06:34 pm (UTC)The problem is that every time you give those people a national soap-box to spout from all it does is EMPHASIZE differences rather than smooth them over. This Imus thing would be a non-issue if it hadn't gotten the news media in a frenzy, and that frenzy has people picking sides largely by race, which does more damage to racial relations than that comment! Was his comment funny? To some people it was, to some it wasn't, but that's the case with any kind of humor. Find me a comedian who does NOT do any racially-charged jokes and I'll point out a comedian who doesn't have much of an audience. Almost all jokes have a "victim", whether it be slapstick or stand-up, but most of the victims laugh with the comic. You see jokes charged with gender stereotypes, racial stereotypes, economic stereotypes, class stereotypes, and so on, but that's just the standard. Hell, that's Carlos Mencia's stock-in-trade and he's a funny guy! He makes jokes about black people stealing the "bling" at the Olympics and the black people in the audience laugh with him because it's a compliment. Maybe it's a delivery issue, that Imus just isn't funny, but you can't say what he said was any more racist than Carlos's opening jokes.