It’s OK, I didn’t mean it

So here’s an interesting discussion on “Ironic Racism.” And it’s a bit of a can of worms, because making a subject taboo to joke about gives it a special kind of power..yet there’s often a bit of truth in feelings behind even the tongue in cheekiest of jokes.

I’m a feminist, but I make “get in the kitchen” “math is hard” jokes. And I don’t believe that I can make them solely because I’m a woman. And while it’s true some of the “black people are like this” jokes that Chris Rock makes are jokes that maybe wouldn’t be AS funny coming from a white dude, what makes them funny is that they are not so much mocking the race in a hateful way as they are making a commentary on the absurdity of racism itself.

There’s a reason The Man Show was mostly not funny—they were supposed to be mocking sexism, but the ironic veil was too thin-it’s doubtful that any their audience was really only pretending to agree.

Satire is a tricky thing to pull off, and you do have to wonder if “pretending” to be the type of person who effects stereotypical accents and uses racial slurs is really a mask for saying what you really feel. Nobody thinks Stephen Colbert is actually an overzealous right wing nut job (except for maybe whoever booked him to speak at the 2006 white house correspondents dinner), partly because he’s so absurd that he has to be kidding and partly because he’s actually funny.


Which is part of the problem with comedians using so-called ironic rasism/sexism/homophoiba. Not only does the use of such biting words like nigger, chink, whore, etc instantly take the joke from funny to uncomfortable, they also take the relatability away. You aren’t laughing with people, you are asserting your superiority over them and laughing at them. And that just makes you an asshole.

The main problem with this brand of “ironic hipster racism” is the problem with doing anything ironically; it’s a cover for something you don’t want to admit you actually like/feel.

Take, for example, one of my personal pet peeves: “white trash” themed parties. The people throwing them are mocking a stereotype “ironically” but the place the joke comes from isn’t one of understanding or self deprecation, it’s an “I’m better than this, these aren’t real people.” But because they are liberal they would feel guilty saying such things so blatantly.


The bottom line is jokes about race can be funny, as can jokes about women, gays, class, and yes even rape. If told in the right way by someone who is actually funny. Take Wanda Sykes jokes about rape, a subject that most would be loath to find anything funny about.