Humor or Racist?

What is racism? Is racism simply making fun of another race/ethnicity? No. Racism involves a power dynamic where a member of the dominant race believe in and works towards the dominance of that race over others. It is literally like imagining every 'race' as a runner in an actual race and trying to win or maintain their status as the winner with all the benefits, social, political, and economic, that winning naturally comes with. Either you want equality and equal opportunity for people of all races or... you want one race (typically your own) to succeed to the exclusion or disadvantage of others.

Making fun of other races isn't, on its own, racist just like telling jokes about women or men, isn't, on it's own, sexist. But racists are more likely to make insensitive jokes and sexists are the same about gender. But what really makes someone a sexist is that they (typically males) believe the opposite sex (typically females) are inferior and that's the motive behind the joke. And not only are they making jokes but they aren't hiring females for good jobs, negatively impacting the lives of women and their opportunities. Or they may pay a woman less because they don't value her contribution the same as a man. The same is true of racists.

When a racist tells a joke the motive is to make fun of members of that race in such a way that other people have negative thoughts and feelings about that race. If, for example, you make fun of the a southern accent... while you could just be talking about the accent itself there is a chance you might be implying that people in the south are less intelligent or less sophisticated. That's wrong but it's not meant to be serious. It's an exaggeration and that is what most comedy is about.

One of the best comedians who makes fun of black people without offending us is Gary Owens. Normally, a white comedian can do it but results are mixed depends on what he says because of the ugly history where racists were making fun of black people and even imitating black skin, lips, and body parts in order to denigrate. It wasn't in "good humor" or "just for fun". It was mean spirited and exaggerated make these thing seem ugly and ridiculous. And when people are trying to get jobs and get bank loans and build wealth, that kind of portrayal has an impact. Imagine that it would be hard enough if you were a white kid from the suburbs and you suddenly had to live in a black country. You may not know what to expect or how you're going to be treated. But what if at the same time, people start snickering when you enter a room and people are making fun of you? It still may not be the same because your history is different. But that's not necessarily "Racism". Racism would be the Houtous vs the Tootsies who, just like Cain and Abel, separated over a hunter vs gatherer sort of lifestyle which made one more wealthy and thus led to classism which turned into one treating the other as an inferior "breed". It's ridiculous but it had real consequences.

Now when you compare real racism, with its consequences and implications, to something like making fun of how Asians pronounce things in English as a second language? There's no comparison. No one thinks Asians are bad employees or wants to kill them or anything like that as a result. Just like if an individual did something stupid or hilarious, making fun of them doesn't mean that you hold yourself superior to them nor does it mean you are plotting against them. That's not racism and shouldn't be confused for racism.