Is there such thing as an acceptable racist joke? If so, how would you define it?

My friends and I were discussing racist jokes over lunch. Some are harmless fun, merely poking at the stereotypes American society emphasizes. But some, we came to realize, are just plain mean and downright horrible. Take, for example:

Acceptable or innapropriate?

Acceptable or innapropriate?

I would lable the above highly innapropriate. And then there are some I just don't get. Like this:

Huh? Is that supposed to be funny? I just don't get it.

So once again, is there such a thing as an appropriate harmless racist joke, and if so, how do you define it?

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"But, after all, who knows, and who can say whence it all came, or how this creation came about?
The gods, themselves, came later than this universe's creation, so who truly knows whence it has arisen? Whence all creation had its origin, only He, whether He fashioned it or not,
He, who surveys it all from highest heaven - He knows.
Or perhaps even He does not!"
-Rig Veda

None of these jokes are appriopriate.

The first talks about violence againsts blacks. Wrong. Why would anyone find this acceptable.

The second is poiking fun at the Holocust of WWII. The ashtray part. There is nothing funny ot entertaining about the deaths of thousands in an attempt to exterminate a rcae of people, Again who would find this behavior acceptable.

The third also advocates for violence against balcks and uses a word that should be banned from the English language as just wrong.

If you andf your frinds find any of these jokes funny, it may be time for you to
1. Read more about slavery and the civil rights movement to see how the "N" word has been used and bad it is.

2. Read up on the holocust and see why the ashes of so many people isn't something to laugh about. Pay attention the concentration camps.

3. Read up on lynching, and how that pratice has been an embarrasing part of America's past.

Maybe then you will see none of these jokes are acceptable.

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"It is never freedom of religion and freedom of speech when you use your religion as a guise to demean other people."
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I have joined the world of blogging...at
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Maybe you misinterpreted my post.

I never said those jokes were appropriate or acceptable or funny. Those were examples of jokes I didn't find amusing. And trust me, my friends don't appreciate those kinds of jokes either.

My question was whether acceptable racist jokes exist, and if there is a way to define them.

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"But, after all, who knows, and who can say whence it all came, or how this creation came about?
The gods, themselves, came later than this universe's creation, so who truly knows whence it has arisen? Whence all creation had its origin, only He, whether He fashioned it or not,
He, who surveys it all from highest heaven - He knows.
Or perhaps even He does not!"
-Rig Veda

Ok, think of it this way. If being racist is unacceptable, how could there be acceptable racist jokes?

__________________
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"It is never freedom of religion and freedom of speech when you use your religion as a guise to demean other people."
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I have joined the world of blogging...at
www.joebrummer.com

I agree with the rest of your post, but why do you think we should ban any word from the English language. Is not saying it going to make all the racism of the past go away? It is a series of sounds made with your mouth, and you think we should ban it? Yes it's mean but to call someone an XXXXX is too, why don't we ban XXXXX?

On the topic of funny racist jokes, there are many jokes about people living in the south. Not exactly racist, but steriotypical.

I don't see callin someone an XXXXX and cqalling someone a "n" is anywhere near the same thing. Many words from the language have died. I am hoping we can speed the death of that word.

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"It is never freedom of religion and freedom of speech when you use your religion as a guise to demean other people."
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I have joined the world of blogging...at
www.joebrummer.com

Not the same thing. These are jokes about cooking, ways of living, not about a person's heritage and make up.

These are jokes about where you are "from" as opposed to "who" you are.

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"It is never freedom of religion and freedom of speech when you use your religion as a guise to demean other people."
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I have joined the world of blogging...at
www.joebrummer.com

You know, some people are so hung up on being political correct that they miss so much in life. Now I think are society has become so soft and over sensitive it's pathetic. If anyone said a joke about me, my race, my background, or any other characteristic about me I really wouldn't care a less. Yes I am a white male, but really it's time for people to grow up. Do I think some jokes go to far, yes but then it is no longer a joke and the person saying it should be reprimanded. If I knew a certain type of joke may be to offensive to someone I was joking with I obviously wouldn't say it.

I think if people just learned to get over being babies and use common sense they would enjoy life so much more.

That's my opinion.

I find your opinion valid, but misguided, Ther is a big differnce between jokes that poke at one's race and jokes that may have a historic background that infers violence. Many if not all racists jokes have an underlying fell of violence about those being poked at....

It is not about what is PC, it is about what is human.

__________________
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"It is never freedom of religion and freedom of speech when you use your religion as a guise to demean other people."
---------------------------------------------------

I have joined the world of blogging...at
www.joebrummer.com

If a joke could be construed as offensive by a listener, why say it? Somebody could be hurt and there is absolutely nothing to be gained. If the price of getting your giggles may be offending somebody - that is pretty dang pathetic.

And I am talking about racist jokes, blonde jokes, southern jokes - all of 'em.

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“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most? ” ~ Mark Twain

"Those who are easily shocked... should be shocked more often" ~ Mae West

I think it's only a racial joke if it's said in a mean and melicios way. Inside, let's say, a blonde group, it might be funny to hear a blonde tell a blonde joke to a blonde, but not ok to hear a brunette tell a blonde joke to a blonde. Get it? A lot of people take offense too early. The person who is saying it might not realize they are hurting your feelings. It's all a matter of perspective.

Well, actually I am Blonde. And if I hear that ANYONE has a new good blonde joke, I WANT to hear it.
That's why it's a joke. It's supposed to be funny. There's a difference between a joke and an insult. A joke is where you can make a point, and laugh at people's differences instead of taking them serioulsy, worrying about them, crying about them, fighting over them, etc...

Also Like Black Phoenix mentioned earlier, we're all becoming.. well, all soft and mushy. If everyone cared about simply hurting everyone elses feelings, NOTHING on this planet would be accomplised.
Jokes, both racist and non, help us look at bad things (racism, stupidity, being considered dumb because you're blonde and the like) and laugh at them.
I'd like to say that racist jokes have even made me less discriminant, because it's taught me not to take the stereotypes SERIOUSLY.

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"You can see the stars and still not see the light"

Personally I don't mind racist jokes.

Racist jokes make fun of the misconceived stereotype of a race/religion etc. They rarely make fun of the actual race/religion etc.

For example:

How do you know if a black man's had sex?

Cos his eyes are red from the mace.

The joke makes fun of the stereotype that black people are all rapists, not that black people are all rapists.

It's a subtle, but hugely important difference imo.

-Wez

if you are a nazi you would truly hate me for the following reasons

1.i am a commie, your sworn enemy
2.i am partially Roma(gypsy), though i'm norwegian-german-dutch-danish-HUMAN
3.i had a great-grandpa who was a jew
4.i actively promote anti racism-fascism-sexism
5.i hate your fuhrer, hitler, a dead man, and mussolini(killed by my comrades, the Italian Communist Party)
6.i am an atheist

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The working class and the employing class have nothing in common, there can be no peace as long as hunger and want exist are found among millions of working people, while the few, who make up the employing class have all the good things in life.

So long as the state exists there is no freedom. When there is freedom, there will be no state.

Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.