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From: rccall@dartvax.UUCP (R. Christian Call)
Newsgroups: net.jokes.d
Subject: "Offensive" jokes, &c. revisited
Message-ID: <1691@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 25-May-84 17:16:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: dartvax.1691
Posted: Fri May 25 17:16:40 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Jun-84 03:15:31 EDT
Organization: Dartmouth College
Lines: 55

A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter in response to my article
entitled "'Offensive' jokes, minorities, real men &c.".  I was going to
respond to it via mail, but there are some points I would like to make
which I feel are relevant to the discussion going on in this net right
now.  I take no responsibility for spelling, punctuation, or grammar in
exerpts quoted from the letter.

> you know it would be nice if life was like that but its not.  would you like
> to be the blount of a joke over and over again.
 
> can we learn to tell jokes without directing toward people????
 
Yes, we can; and one of the points in my article is that ethnic jokes
are NOT directed toward people -- they are directed toward a particular
stereotype.  A joke is not a personal attack.  If someone makes a joke
about my particular ethnic group, I don't feel as if I personally have
been attacked; nor do I feel any need to be offended.

> we always hear about this minority joke or that minority joke.  when
> will we start hearing about this majority joke or that majority joke?

Actually, I know several good WASP jokes.

> how many times do we read how a joke turned into a horrifying reality.

Actually, never.  It's usually the other way around.  Take the following
joke, for example:

    Q: What's the difference between a pizza and a Jew?
    A: A pizza doesn't scream when you throw it in the oven.

The Nazi atrocities were not brought about by this joke; rather, the
joke was invented long after Hitler's time.  Some people would call
this a "sick" joke; but actually, in a way it's quite healthy.  It
is proof that the horrible things Hitler did during WWII and that
kind of terrible and cruel prejudice are far enough behind us that
we can laugh about them now.  In other words, we've come a long way
since then.

> maybe if we stop joking about minorities, we can start accepting minorities.

I find this a very disturbing statement because of its underlying assumptions:
first, that "we" (whoever we are) have NOT accepted "minorities"; and
second, that "minorities" are somehow different from the rest of us
(you imply a separation between the "we" doing the joking, and the
"minorities" that "we" are joking about).  Your statement to me
reflects a lot more prejudice than any of the jokes I see on USENET,
and suggests to me that perhaps you yourself are having trouble coming
to grips with some kind of prejudice of your own.  It is the kind of
mentality implicit in this statement that we should watch out for.


Comments from other folks out in netland are welcome.

                              R.C.Call