I recently got an email from a reader about an interesting topic. He’s a white guy and his question was how come when a white person makes a joke black people find it inappropriate but if a black person makes the same joke, they find it funny.
I actually think this is the wrong question ask. See, the answer to that question is very simple. The reason Black people react differently is because we are overly sensitive to things white people say, especially when it comes to “jokes.” The real question should be, “Why are we overly sensitive?” I don’t think anyone has really done a good job explaining it. Usually when a white person tries to explain it they come off as having “white guilt” and when a black person tries to explain it they simply say “Because of slavery you racist asshole” without really explaining what that means. The short and simple answer to the question is that white people can’t make those kinds of statements and jokes because black people are extremely distrustful of the context behind what they are saying. In order to answer this question we need to take care of some history first that, thanks to our shitty public education system, seems to be either not taught or misconstrued.
The first thing we need to address is the fact that Lincoln didn’t free the slaves. Actually let’s take it a step back further. The Civil War wasn’t about slavery or freeing slaves. That is a myth that seems to be taught to young kids in public, private and home schools these days and now these kids grow up really believing the North was fighting “The good fight” of freeing slaves. This is false. The making slaves free men wasa useful by product of the Civil War, much like horse byproduct (feces) makes good fertilizer. The Civil War was about what all wars are about, money. The North couldn’t afford to have the South break off as its own country (with all the agriculture? Please).Lincoln’s speech which “Freed the slaves” was about healing the country, not giving equal rights to all. Plus, when they say Lincoln “Freed” the slaves, its not like he went around plantation to plantation saying “Thou Art Free”. A lot of people, particularly white people, forget that ending 400 years of slavery didn’t mean much back then. What they neglect to realize is that even though slavery ended, black people still weren’t treated as equal human beings. From the time Lincoln outlawed slavery to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, black people had to deal with blatant systemic racism (Don’t get it twisted, its still going on, just round the clock blatant). Jim Crow laws where enacted from 1876 to 1965. From using ridiculous grandfather clauses and violent intimidation to keep blacks from voting, to segregating schools, buses and lunch counters, black people were still not treated as equals after the Emancipation Proclamation. I need to reiterate that these egregious acts of racism not only were accepted by society as a whole, but that they occurred in relatively recent memory. Not only were these just tough emotionally…but people where killed simply because they wanted equal rights. These are things that happened IN OUR LIFETIME. I love hearing white people say things like “But my family didn’t own slaves.” Okay, but you and your family benefited, whether you agreed with it or not, from rules and laws that severely limited what blacks were allowed to do. We have family members we can still talk to that will tell us what it was like to have to sit at the back of the bus, drink from the colored water fountain and what it was like being “separate but equal.” See, what white people see as an ugly scar that happened “a long time ago”, we black people see as a fresh wound.
In addition to that history, it’s also the dismissal of that history by white people that makes blacks so sensitive. Just think about the different ways people react to Jewish people taking offense to something as opposed to a black person. No one tells a Jewish person to “Get over” the Holocaust. But when a black person says something is crossing the line, we’re told that “slavery happened a long time ago. Get over it.” Never mind the fact that the Holocaust occurred in the 1940’s and in 1960 black people were still sipping from different water fountains.
There’s also one other factor I want to throw in real quick and that’s the “Denial Syndrome”. This is when a white person does something bigoted or racist and instead of apologizing for it, they act like they can’t possibly see why people are offended. This adds to the distrust of the context of a white person’s joke. In our mind we’re thinking “Are they just telling a joke or are they mocking us.” Take the instance where those teens in Louisiana mocked the Jena 6 incident by covering themselves in mud and shouting “niggers put the noose on.” Yeah, instead of just apologizing for racist behavior, they tried to claim they were just “joking.” Then there are cases like the Don Imus case. On face the Don Imus comments could be seen as just a joke from shock jock. But when you dig a little and see that his producer has made racists comments before, as a black person, you then have to question the context behind the “joke.” And no…just because a black person makes a stupid, retarded joke or comment, it doesn’t make it okay for you to do it too. We’re adults. The “But they did it too excuse” doesn’t work.
So that is why the same joke told by a black person is found funny by blacks and is viewed as crossing the line if told by a white person. There are ways to make racial jokes and not be labeled a bigot. I say all the time “White people can’t use the word nigga.” But I’ve been in the audience of a comedy show before, heard a white guy use the word…and laughed my ass off. Why? Because he was able to do so in a context that made it clear there was no malicious attempt (Warning: Using the “N-Word” as a white person can be very detrimental to your health and is not recommended. Use at your own risk). Also, it’s very hard to read context, particularly online. So yes, when the white Mayor of a California town sends out an email to a black person with a watermelon patch in the White House front lawn, it sets off an alarm in our brain. Think of it this way. You have a little brother or sister and growing up you might have teased them endlessly, beat them up and generally been an ass to them. But if someone else decided to do the same thing you did, you would defend your brother/sister with your life. Its the same way with racial/cultural jokes.