I know I'm putting my neck out there, but I think this is a serious topic that should be addressed and not ignored.
Consider this video:
(Start watching at about 6:15)
I find it hilarious because it's true to a great extent. Anyone who says otherwise probably does not know very many African-Americans. I know that not
all black people talk like that, but enough of them do that when someone points it out, you laugh because you've heard an African-American talk like that before.
Exactly like that. It's the accuracy with which he imitates them that makes it so funny. Chances are, there were black people sitting in that audience. And chances are that they were probably laughing their asses off too. And he doesn't just make fun of black people--he makes fun of everyone. I'm Filipino, and I love his Filipino impersonations because he nails it right on the dot.
Then this guy on CAD posts a comic that takes a humorous jab at something that African-American males are known for doing (actually really tame compared to the N-bombs Mr. Peters was dropping all over the place), and he gets backlash in the comments by his readers. I don't understand it. Again, not
all black people yell in movie theaters, but I'd be lying if I said I've never seen black people yelling in a theater before. That's not to say that people of other races
don't yell in theaters, but I do tend to see black people yelling in theaters more often than I see people of other races. Is that a coincidence? Is it racist, or is it an objective observation?
He's not lighting a torch and getting a pitchfork and noose ready for a lynching. He's just acknowledging the differences in races that make them unique, and putting a humorous spin on it. Professional comedians have done it for a long time and they get paid well.
Maybe it's just my upbringing. I was born in Hawaii and raised in California, arguably two of the most culturally and ethnically diverse states, in the most culturally and ethnically diverse country in the world. Ethnically, I'm Filipino, but culturally, I'm Filipino
and American. Maybe it's because I've spent my entire life bridging the gap between these two very different cultures that I have a different outlook from someone who was born and raised in a more homogeneous country, or even in a more homogeneous (or rather, less diverse) part of the US. I've grown up with friends of all races, and if I were to put all of my friends in a room, not one race would stand out as dominant. My girlfriend is a different race from my own (she's actually a mix of two different races, and so is everyone else in her entire family). Most of my relatives in my generation (brothers, cousins) are in relationships with people who are not Filipino. I take jabs at my friends' races, and they take jabs at mine. Does that make us racist? What's better, turning a blind eye to our differences, or seeing the differences in each other and making light of them? You tell me.
Racism does have a malevolent side, with the intent to harm and dehumanize. That, I do not condone. But there's another side to it that I believe actually brings us closer as humans. This comic was of the latter persuasion. There was no intent to harm, only to make others laugh. Perhaps at the expense of a certain race, sure. But surely every race has some unique quirk that may be unusual enough that others can't help but notice it and maybe joke about it.
Where I'm from, the word "Jap" is extremely offensive. I would never even think of calling a Japanese person the word "Jap," because that word was used in WWII propaganda against the Japanese-Americans living in the US at the time. The word was used to demean the Japanese and they were placed in internment camps. That word carries a hurtful connotation in California, where the majority of those internment camps used to be.
But here on this forum, everyone throws the word "Jap" around freely when referring to the Japanese version of a ROM. There's no intent to be racist, it's just a word that's faster to type than "Japanese." If I were to stand on a soapbox and preach about how you shouldn't be using the word "Jap," I'd get flamed for crazy talk. When someone says "will the Jap version of
DQMJ2
be translated into English?" I know he's not hating Japanese people when he says it.
My point is that intent is everything. The author of that comic didn't intend to hurt anyone, only to inject some humor into a certain behavior that perhaps many of you, myself and the author included, have witnessed before.
Back to CAD--I'm not a regular reader of that comic, so I don't have a good idea of what the content is usually like, and I have no idea about the demographics of the reader base. So if I'm off-base, then I'd like to be corrected.
I can understand peoples' indignation at jokes such as these, and I even appreciate it because it shows that (most) people on this forum are defensive of
other peoples' races. It shows that we won't stand to see our fellow man be dehumanized, regardless of what color they may be. It tells me that we've all got each others' backs
But really, it's okay. You guys can make fun of my race, and I'll even laugh along with you if you're good enough, just like I (shamelessly) laughed my ass off when I watched Russell Peters' stand-up routine up there. I won't be angry as long as you don't seriously think I'm genetically inferior. But if you're of the minority who actually believes in ethnic cleansing and what-not, you can GTFO, you inbred motherfuckers
