Blog Post #2

What does it mean to be a racist? If we laugh at a racist joke are we racists? What is the connection between racism and the act of discrimination?

When I look at what I feel makes a person a racist there are many different factors that go into the concept of someone being a racist. This goes beyond just looking at the way people react but instead it points to a set of beliefs that was conceived either by parents, elders, teachers, media or from their own experiences.

If you look into racism it would seem that it affects everyday life for all of people.  Subconscious even at times it takes preconceived notions about others and projects them onto people that the person sees. This happens based on race only because of visual differences and the tendency of humans to judge just about everything by its appearance, Just how people try to understand animals by making judgments about them based on the group as a whole and not as an individual animal.

If someone laughs at a racist joke it does not mean that they are racist. A joke is…. Just that a joke and is never meant to be taken too seriously. Just because you may laugh at a joke with an overweight person doesn’t mean that you don’t like people that are overweight. At the same time there is another side such as when a joke is meant have an explicit malicious message that is meant to hurt I feel like that’s where the line should be drawn.

The connection between racism and discrimination is simply put. A person may use an opinion of a race or culture and use it against them in a negative manner. The person uses this reasoning as a reason to treat the group that is different to treat them differently from others. Racism is ammunition to discriminate against all races in our everyday lives.

All in all racism and discrimination seems omnipresent in our society to this day. Is it human nature to judge each other based on visual differences? Sadly it seems there is no fast track to eradication of racism from our lives.

Blog Post #1

The playwrights in the first four plays have appropriated stereotypes created by others for themselves and then used humor to diminish the sting of the stereotypes.

So, what is the role of people who are not in or of a particular culture or ethnicity when it comes to humor? When is it “ok” to laugh? When is it not?

Does humor help perpetuate stereotypes? 

Humor is something that we live with every day and can really make your day or your drive a little easier to live with. At any point in time there is a comedian performing, a comedy show on TV or just one of your friends making the moment feel a little “lighter” with humor.  But not all humor is in “good fun” such as racist or demeaning jokes.

Stereotypes are as according to Wikipedia ” A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups based on some prior assumptions.” We generalize people but at the same time we find upon a closer look that all become false and just generalize a large and even diverse within their own group that people are generalizing as everyone is different from one another no matter what ethnicity you happen to be.

Jokes that are made about stereotypes are a fine line of humor. I think that sometimes such as the case with the past Comedy Central show Chappelle's Show did a good job of balancing stereotypes and really instead of further bringing out the stereotypes it made you realize how stupid it is to even think they are true. Not only concentrating on his own race but many others and making the stereotypes outrageous

If you have close friends that are multi-cultural joking around about things it probably would be okay to let a joke that may have some racial connotations as long as you know it isn’t going to offend anyone. This also can lay on a fine line that would be tough to distinguish if what you are about to say is ok or not.

That having been said I feel like comedy is the one place where you can bring up topics that may never be talked about. Comedy is all in the eye of the viewer. Some can watch comedy that brings tough stereotypes to the forefront of our attention where others choose to ignore. Also another major factor is the age of the person that is watching the show. Younger children may not be at the point where they can fully understand and it could possibly affect them in such a way that would make them “copy” the behavior.

Overall I think that an important part of understanding stereotypes in humor is the fact that most comedians just really make you feel like they are showing you how ridiculous it is to stereotype people.

First Blog Post!

Ready for Playwrights of Color!