I’m not very funny. No, no. It’s okay. I realize I have my moments of hilarious repartee. Those are mostly based on my penchant for sarcasm, which sometimes bursts forth, evading my oral governor. But in the main, I am a serious thinker who uses a tell-it-like-it-is approach to conversation.
No one appreciates a good joke more than I do, though. I just can’t tell them well. Someone like Jon Stewart on a great night has me laughing out loud, wishing with all I have that I was capable of writing such satirical junk food.
However…
My sense of humor does not extend to an appreciation of race-based double entendre. Professional comics argue that the line not to be crossed in everyday social discourse is somehow pushed farther out for them. Maybe.
The other night on the NAACP Image Awards telecast, actor Terrence Howard, in a tribute to Hollywood legend George Lucas for fighting valiantly to get the film “Red Tails” to the big screen amidst protests that no one would want to see a movie with an all-black cast, said to Lucas: “Welcome to the dark side.” I laughed. The audience laughed and applauded. A black actor turned comic for the moment was poking droll fun at a characteristic attributed to members of his own race – darkness of skin. Was that okay? I’m not sure, but I thought about it for hours after the fact.
I was sure, however, that I didn’t like a couple of attempts at humor I spotted on Facebook two days ago.
Anyone who hasn’t heard of new pro-basketball phenom Jeremy Lin must have been on a total media fast for the past few weeks. Lin is the Harvard-educated floor-general of the NBA’s New York Knicks who rose from relative obscurity to being the first player of Chinese descent to play in the NBA.
One of my Facebook friends posted about the unforgivable “honest mistake” an ESPN editor made by writing a headline that included the phrase “…chink in the armor” for a story about Lin.
The headline - "Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin's 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-stopping Loss to Hornets" - appeared on ESPN's mobile website at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and was removed by 3:05 a.m. The editor, Anthony Federico, was subsequently fired.
What I find unconscionable are the comments that were made on this Facebook post, the author of which described in his introduction as “A really, really, really bad example of not proofreading your headlines.”
One person made the comment of what “a terrible..er…slant to take..” Another wrote that he was “slightly dis-Oriented.” Then one of the same two people went on to describe the ESPN gaffe as “an example of yellow journalism.”
Really?!? These were mistakes, alright, but there was nothing honest about them. Unveiled racism in response to an article bemoaning such cultural insensitivity is about as funny as a coronary infarction. When are we going to learn? We cannot run around quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Had a Dream speech, then turn around and “joke” about another person’s racial characteristics.
Maybe I should cut these commenters some slack because they might not have faced personal ethnic slurs of their own, so are not sensitized enough to avoid such mistakes . On the other hand, one or both of their surnames could mean they are of Jewish origins, making them just as susceptible to slurs and stereotypes as anyone else.
It is time for all of us to start paying more attention to “the content of the characters” of others, and less to their physical characteristics. Really.
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Comments
I'm with you on the ability to tell jokes, too. I keep forgetting how they go.
Belinda: I agree with you -- if that was a mistake, it was Freudian in nature.
jlsathre: It IS possible that Frederico never knew the way the word was used as a racial slur. I recently made a similar gaffe here out of pure ignorance. He gets the benefit of the doubt, but the FB folks? No.
BTW, I am a pretty good joke teller. Dirty ones, too :)
BTW, since one of the commenters is a well-respected member of the OS community, I hope you had the courtesy to inform him of this post so he has the opportunity to defend himself.
HUGGGGGGGGGG
ccdarling: Thanks.
Firechick: I’ll leave the joke-telling to you, then.
Cranky: We don’t often disagree, but this time we do. I don’t feel I owe anyone the courtesy you suggested. For one thing, no one has responded to the comment I left on Facebook, so I don’t anticipate there is any defense forthcoming. Besides, it is indefensible, in my opinion. I had no intentions of “outing” any of the people involved. Now that you have weighed in, anybody curious enough will find a way to find out.
Linda: Some believe he did it on purpose, because the same line had been used in a previous broadcast, according to the story I cited.
Joanie: I agree.
Belinda: I saw that, too. This is “the line” I was referring to in my post.
Abra: It is hard to imagine that there is anyone left who still thinks it is ok.
I suppose I separate ethic humor from racist humor, and to me, there's a big difference. I understand your perspective is different than mine, but I guess what I'm trying to say is it depends on the context and the intent, and on the time and the place.
I have a similar disagreement with some of my Native American friends about the use of NA words by sports teams. To me, calling a team the Warriors or the Braves is no insult. As I point out to my NA friends, that use calls to mind a rich heritage NA's would be wise not to have disappear from the larger culture.
But calling a team the Redskins is very much racist, and that the Redskins continue to exist in our nation's capital is abominable. That's tantamount to calling a team the Kikes or the Gooks or the Wops or the -- well, I won't bother with the obvious.
How about when the tables are turned? I watch black comedians routinely disparage whites on Comedy Central, and I laugh my ass off because there is at least an element of truth in what they say. I think it's healthy to laugh at our foibles -- as long as we aware that a person or a group is far more that just their foibles. More on that when I close this ramble.
Is "white men can't jump" to be banned as racist? How about the attendee at a Knicks game who shouted at Larry Bird, who was in the process of almost singlehandedly beating the Knicks, "Larry Bird, why you got to be so white?" Frankly, if I was Larry Bird, I'd have loved that crack.
I'm not ignorant of what concerns you, believe me, living in the mountains of East Tennessee, I am exposed to real racism every day, and I confront it whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head. That sort of thing is not funny in any way shape or form.
Finally ...
As I watched Whitney Houston's funeral, I wept for her, gone too soon. But I also wept for us as a nation, a nation with so many people trying so desperately to hold onto to an ugly past. I wept to see a stage at the funeral filled with so many bright, beautiful, talented, caring people, and I wondered how long, Lord, how long will we go on hating?
As our beloved Repubs are saying lately, your argument is a distinction without a difference, IMHO. You see the word "warriors" as an honorable designation. Your NA friends see it as a pigeon hole. They believe and rightfully so, I think, that the tomahawk wielding brave on horseback carrying the scalp of a "pale face" is the stereotype that endures in this country and is substantiated by team names like Warriors, Braves, Redskins, etc.
Historically maligned ethnic groups do not find anything funny about those seemingly innocuous "jokes." You know that, because you know how African Americans feel about being mentioned in the same context as watermelon, for example. There is nothing inherently wrong with watermelon. I absolutely love the stuff. But describing me as a watermelon-eating African American will elicit a very unpleasant reaction from me and many others with similar backgrounds.
Let me know if you are ever in Atlanta for a spell. I'll buy the coffee. :D
In agreement that it's not funny. What IS funny is that a Chinese dude is out ballin' the American ballers
That also sounds racist to me. The guy is actually a good basketball player. A very good player. That he's Asian is important, because he's breaking down color barriers.
But to say the above, that just minimizes his accomplishments. Its like saying Jackie Robinson wasn't a good ball player, just a good "black" ball player.
I don't know why everybody can't just sit back, play ball and have a good time. We're all Americans. At the end of the day that's how the world sees us.
Bin Laden made no distinction between African American, Asian American or White American when he hit us on 9-11.
Neither should we.
The most important thing I have learned is to register whatever it is and move on. What I mean is I try not to keep people to a standard of behavior of my own making, I try to see where they are coming from and understand the foibles and the missteps as part of their humanity. If it is very purposeful and hate filled and a pattern of behavior, I think I do know that too. That is when I take my toys and go home, but mostly I try to get on and go forward. By my example I hope to lead and make change for the good. I am glad you wrote this and glad people are thinking, whether they are defending or not, it is a process and that is critical to change.
Now that that's out of the way, I'll get to other stuff:
Warriors is not a term that designates a single ethnic group, so I don't think that one can count. (It could be preceded by Apache, Masai, Maori, or Yanomamo and that list covers four continents.) A mascot or emblem could, but not the term. I think taking offense at that one is reaching.
If SNL does it, they're making fun of the people who make the puns, not the object of the puns. Different targets.
The Lin puns are way overboard and it isn't cool.
The rules governing minority populations and the majority population are not the same because the relationship is so asymmetrical. Poking fun at vulnerable populations is not the equivalent of poking fun at non-vulnerable populations. Arguing anything else is the equivalent of arguing that discrimination and reverse discrimination are the same thing. They aren't. It's like bullying - it's only really feasible in one direction.
But you knew that.
I find humor in damn near every situation and this recent Lin lashing isn't humorous. It's when we don't say or do something we're just as guilty by association as are the original offenders. It's very much like what happens on a playground when a bully is bullying a kid and the others don't intervene.
I didn't respond to Tom's question about the movie "White Men Can't Jump." He asked if that should be banned as racist. I think that title was ill-advised and I always have. On its face, it is pure racism. The intent is only understood after one has viewed the film. The irony is lost on a person who merely sees the title. This is why I do agree context is important, but it would be far easier and much safer to just call it something else.
This is probably the most difficult concept for many white Americans to grasp. Some see it as tit for tat, and technically, it's not. I doubt we will ever be able to fully explain it to anyone who doesn't just "get it" organically. And for that reason, I believe it needs to stop across the board. No more N-word used by blacks only. No more "inside jokes" unless they are truly inside; i.e., out of hearing range for outsiders.
r./
However, I can tell you from experience that such a gaffe is a no-win situation for a large organization like ESPN. Back in the other century when I was a PR person for AT&T, an internal communications manager approved a stylized map of the world that used icons to depict the thing for which each major country was well-known. Africa was illustrated with a gorilla (some would say ape). All hell broke loose, and this was an INTERNAL publication. It made national news. I had to wade through anti-AT&T pickets being carried by people of color to get to my office. It went on and on and on. As a person of color myself, I was absolutely livid that no one was fired for suchs a glaring lapse in judgment.
Apparently, ESPN decided was more "profitable" for them to let the poor guy go. Whether he meant to do it or not (and I am inclined to think he didn't) the error was just too inflammatory to stand behind him. Or so they will tell you.
I agree completely with your take on the world's obsession with race, but I do understand how proud one can feel when someone from his or her culture achieves any kind of "first." It is only fitting that it be celebrated.
Having said that, an arseHole is an asshole however you ream it.
Rated with an Ug.
Yet on the Hierarchy of Slur, racial and gender terms are at the top. People need to know how these words are received if they purport to care. Several years ago, someone here used the C word to refer to a few female bloggers, and I have felt unable to visit his blog since. Women have long memories where this word is concerned, and I'm pretty sure all people who have experienced discrimination connected to a particular set of epithets will remember you, regardless of how intelligently you might rationalize and defend. Do you want a real conversation? Then practice more skillful speech!
As for the tit for tat....there is no tit for tat. As a white lady, I don't get to use certain words about race or gender preference, ever, and really, why in god's name would I want to? It's like licking a knife.
A lot of this behavior is displayed under the guise of "free speech," and if you question it, then you are a) an old fart or b) being "politically correct."
The whole PC counter-argument is the most mind-numbing, conversation-killing piece of rhetoric ever created by conservatives. It has wormed its way so deeply into the American psyche, that not even open-minded people stop to question its premise in the first place.
Have you seen how people just whip out the PC card any time they don't want to engage in honest, intelligent dialogue? Or they whip it out as a device to defend hate speech. Or they whip it out -- like some people whip out the Bible -- to justify their viewpoints, and refuse to listen to anything you have to say.
The headline in question was appalling, and another example of far American journalism has fallen. What passes for journalism these days is positively astounding.
. . .
I offend without effort. I was boar two?
I chuckle if I see an old kindergardener.
Classmates say:`
"You sure put on a pot belly." or "You idiot."
I Yale and say bitterly:`
"You want a box it out?"
"You know I's a boxer?"
huh . . .
They don't seem scared.
I tell about who I know.
-
hoe?
`
a boxer
referring to his son's school
as Duke
-
at the zoo
concurring that the baboon
is a presidential candidate
Santarium. Gingrich.
Romney, and Media.
`
-
I was made so insensitive stupid:
One day I said . . .`
"One thing that makes a long face
is a receding forehead. You bald."
`
Oh, sure enough I caught hell
`
"Oh, mercy my . . . You look sad."
A reseeding head makes long face."
-
In `Nam we told educated LT's:
LT's were trained to kill officers.
LT's were educated and scared.
Well. We all were. LT's pee pants.
They were extra scared and weak.
They're afraid to question creeps.
They were obedient to psycho generals.
That's why many die in war. Creeps kill.
Gaud - apology - I rant like? a Moronic.
Maybe I get a bit cranky? Respect who?
`
Focus . . .
In jungles/desserts
You hear Boom! Boom!
Then -
Incoming RPG's and AK- 47's
!
Thee drafted
Grunts would Yale `at COL's
This:
"Get Down! Hit the ground!"
`
We boondocks white hicks
&
Black poor grunts boogies.
&
Bodies go dancing in jungles
?
Then
We got riddled with 'rounds'
Rounds means bullet wounds
That why so many youth died.
We humans bled like pork pig
-
*
focus
`
a Jewish lawyer
seeking in the Talmud
a lobster loophole
`
*
In the Mad Hatter chapter:
Alice gets indignant at the
March Hair. Mad Hatter.
Door'mice. Adult Mind.
`
*
Whoa - I be grouch?
`
On my wed/death day:
silly
`
I got a haircut during work time.
I reason` I need mop chopped.
I could not look shaggy at 7PM.
I was getting wed after my work.
I worked in the 'Grease Monkey'
It's where one smell like diesel.
I was Yale`ed at by my editor.
`
He yelped:
`
"You can't get chopped mop on O'clock."
I insisted I could because my hair grew.
Hair grows at work when on the clock.
Not all my hair did not grow on the clock.
That's why I just some of my hair cut offs.
`-
huh . . .
no belch
as you
say`
I do
`
`
&
Local news
`
There's a neighbor who has a Big Sign.
The Sign reads
`
Lobster Tales - $0.50 each - 2- Tales -
$3.00
`
Presidents Day Bargain Sale -Buy Tales -
-
He made a bunch of money - Big Bucks -
`
Snow Skiers pass his house - White Tail -
White Tail Ski Resort is near - Buy Tales -
a Sign makes him rich. People stop SUVs
@
$.50 per Tale
3- Tales $3.00
Bargain Sale Day
`
The sliers stop for 3- Tales. Let's irritate?
okay
"Once upon a time there were 2- lobsters . .
...
Tales and they went into a bar ". . . He get rich.
Most folk like the Tales at two-For $3.00 -
Some ask about 3- Tales and pay $6.00 -
goofy
send
best
no
send
okay
greenheron: Like licking a knife, indeed. You’re such a smart woman.
Alysa: The internet is a haven for the mentally ill and the anti-social. They can hide behind the screen and spew to their hearts’ content. That’s the bad we are always told we have to take with the good.
Christine: Thanks.
Deborah: Free speech works both ways. If they have to right to spew vile nonsense, the rest of us have a right to call them on it. Re: your second comment: whenever I am asked to indicate race on a written form, I write Human.
Also, I find the term oral governor pretty funny, but I'm stupid like that.
Jeremy Lin is the shiznit...for an unproven, undrafted rookie out of the Ivy League who has yet to really do anything.
His popularity comes greatly from his ethnic origin...so will his detractors use the same trait against him. All the while, the kid is just trying to make it in the toughest city to make it in the NBA.
I sincerely doubt he gives a shit about all this silliness. You should take a cue from him and just bathe in the Linsanity. This crap is gonna come, one way or another, regardless. It will pass just as fast. A non-Yao Ming (non-7' 2") ethnic Chinese (Taiwanese...whatever) dude making sparks in the NBA is a big deal because of the fact that no other Asians have ever been big stars in that league.
Give it time (and, a few more Asians who don't stink up the court). This, like everything, will pass. Or, if it doesn't, then one should make the same production of this that Mr. Lin is making on the hardwood.
But my issue isn't whether Jeremy Lin deserves recognition or not. My issue is with people who are trying so hard to be clever and funny that they stay stupid shit without knowing (or possibly knowing it and not caring) they've said it. I'm not a fan of stupid shit.
The other reason that I didn't think of the Chinese slur is that he is of Taiwanese decent. Actually his parents are Taiwanese. He is as American as anyone else born and raised here.
Sarcasm is sometimes funny, but it really depends on the situation and the topic. That said, though, sarcasm generally leads to more hurt feelings and insulting comments than being truly funny. It's mostly a contextual topic sort of thing.
The FB comments are a prime example of sarcasm's uglier side. Witty, clever, insensitive, insulting. Yup, that's sarcasm alrighty.
We are not a civilized society. We do not live in a civilization. If we did, we would not use insults, slurs, ethnic double entendres in the mistaken belief that we're okay because we're only joking.
Shout it out that this sort of humor isn't funny. We're not laughing. Clever is not funny and funny doesn't require of us to laugh at someone's expense through humiliation. Ask Pfc Chen, who, while on duty in Afghanistan, took his own life, because he couldn't stand the abuse and humiliation of his fellow soldiers' 'joking.'
--r--
You've said similar things in previous blogs, which to me smack of the thought/PC police. I'm glad you're not the governor, or Chief of Police of Speech. You would censor speech; I would not. You judge; others do not. I'll give you one supreme example of someone who said the most vile (tho, to some humorous) things, without regard to being 'fired': Lenny Bruce. Would you censor Lenny? Just asking, with all due respect. I think you would, because you and people like you believe you Know what is good and proper.
The writers for most newspapers and the sportscasters hired by local teams are basically suck-ups for the team owners. They always take management's side in any disputes. And they have lousy writing standards. (Well, again, it's not as if the paper or TV station is paying them for writing - whatever they get are bribes from the team owners.)
Those headlines, especially the offensive ones, are indeed racist. Someone working in California, where a lot of Asian-Americans live, wouldn't get away with that. Out in the East Coast, there isn't that constant presence.
Yes, it's stupid. It's offensive. It's also as predictable as those kind of remarks from a Teabagger seeing "Flower Drum Song."
You asked “what about when somebody gets on stage and uses the term whitie or cracker? I hate that, too. We can argue all day about whether they are equal offenses, but the truth to me is they are both ignorant references that need to be filed away under “Outdated.” You will never have to worry about hearing me hurl a cultural slur at you or anybody else. But watch out for your politicians, bub. :D I have special names for them.
dunniteowl: People like Pfc. Chen are the exact reason I will never shut up about this topic.
TheBadScot: I fail to see what your second paragraph has to do with the line you cited from this post. Had you left it in context, it might be easier to remember that my point was that the editor who was fired for the headline on ESPN probably didn’t realize the unfortunate mistake he was making. I am not an advocate of government censorship, per se. I advocate SELF censorship, first and foremost.
Regarding Lenny Bruce: not my cup of tea, but I would defend his right to be as vile and crass as he wanted to be. As long as I was not required to buy a ticket to his show, he could knock himself out.
neutron: Cosell was one of a kind. Thanks for your comments.
be careful, is all...there's a lot of shit out there.
To be called a Warrior or a Brave is in no sense derogatory, tho I agree the mascots and depictions associated with those terms are often laughable, and sometimes downright disgusting. I say laughable because the "Indian" so often depicted is of the Plains Indian variety, usually Lakota and often with full headdress and residing in a tipi. The University of Illinois was one such example, proudly displaying a "chief" in full headdress, something not known to the Illinois tribe.
Such depictions are laughable because they put on display the utter ignorance of Native American history on the part of those who pass them off. Take the example of the mascot at Florida State, riding a horse and carrying a feathered spear. These were not part of the Seminole tradition (I could whip off about 3000 words on the subject of the Seminole tribe, but I'll save that for Starbucks).
To me, NA are missing a bet by not using these examples as teaching experiences. Further, a wise minority does not want positive symbols of that culture erased from the larger culture. The worst thing that can happen to any culture is to be disappeared thru "acculturation". That is one of the greatest dangers today's tribes face. Far better cultural appropriation than cultural disappearance. It's complicated; I'll save the rest of that explanation for Starbucks.
As for the other sort of name/mascot -- Chief Nokahoma and the Redskins being two glaring examples -- there simply is no place for such denigrating, disgusting images in a civilized society. Now -- if only we were a civilized society.
"Was that okay? I’m not sure, but I thought about it for hours after the fact."
I hate those moments :/
Have them often on both the bisexual and mental health fronts, more often than not with people I admire and like. Sometimes I joke back, sometimes I ignore, sometimes I seethe. Good for you for speaking out if you thought it should (and could) be addressed. I know I could be more aware.
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Better than a thousand hollow words,
is one word that brings peace.
Tom: You obviously know more about more NA traditions than I do (and arguably more than the average non-native American does.) And that is the problem, isn’t it? As my half-Cherokee grandmother Muzz used to say, “I know just enough about the Cherokee Nation to be dangerous.” You’d better plan on spending a couple of months at Starbucks! Maybe the two of us could start civilizing the country one caffeine-head at a time.
Algis: “…Give peace a chance.”
Willett: I have come to believe there are only a handful of people here who are deliberate with their attempts to “slip one in…” I couldn’t be here if I thought otherwise. The others are making thoughtless remarks; not sensitized enough to even question the implications of their own words. If only one person begins to do so as a result of this post and comment stream, then I will consider it time and effort well spent.
Desnee: Professional sports are definitely not for the thin-skinned. Mr. Lin will be called everything but a child of God before his career is over. Maybe that’s how they justify their ridiculously high salaries to themselves.
greenheron: Hi! Are you kidding? I already had one this month. I swear I’m on some kind of EP budget program. :D
Mary: Thanks!
"I advocate SELF censorship, first and foremost. "
L, on our time here the odds are high we will disagree on many issues and statements. This one is not going to be one of them. You also went on to make a statement about he can say it as long as you don't have to buy a ticket.
I think that's one reason I never see things that offend me being racism or sexism or any other ism is I just think the person is an idiot and I don't bother to read their stuff. Go back to the last election and all the stuff about President Obama and Rev. Wright. I heard enough of what Rev. Wright said to, in my mind, go he is an idiot and the president attended his church. I may have commented on it if it came up in a context that I wished to remark about. I don't hide my head in the sand. I just "self sensor" and believe that somebody has the right to be an idiot. As one who suffers from "foot-in-mouth" disease I also believe there is a difference between a full time idiot and an idiot because they didn't put their brain in gear before their mouth, or computer in this case. If we go to shock jocks like Stern and Imus or the large number of comedians, I don't buy their tickets but I don't know if they are real idiots or it's just what they were hired to do.
See you around the water cooler.
Didn’t think so.
And for the record, Lezlie, we do more than disagree on this. I'm infuriated that you took a casual, admittedly tasteless conversation from FB involving a friend of mine (and probably yours) who is a kind, thoughtful and generous man and posted about it just so you can score some easy holier-than-thou points.
Cranky: Ouch, that's pretty harsh. This isn't about you, Rich. And, for the record, I still have no idea who the man is who made those comments, except that he frequently makes comments on Facebook. I have no doubt that he is kind and all the other good things you mentioned. In fact, that's part of the point, which is the reason for the title of this piece. Facebook is about as public a forum as exists in this world. "Infuriated" is a good word to describe what I felt when I read those comments, especially because I knew you were posting that article as an example of what not to do and say.
That last crack about "... easy holier-than-thou points" was pretty hurtful, coming from you. I'm sorry you feel that way.