Is there on double standard on racism?

Of course not hehe.

Any minority. I'm Alaskan Indian, and you would not believe the **** I can get away with towards white people. I've even gotten away with it towards black people.



Right. It's almost like payback. "They treated us this way, so I can say whatever I want about them."

Not exactly fair. Definately not right. And I find as I'm older I don't do it as much as I used to. Sure, it still happens. But not like before.

Turner_727- I really appreciate your honesty. I don't think that the majority of minorities would be as open as you have been. Thank you!

Craven, He who knows all and is quick to spread his infinite wisdom. Check Turners post. If it is possible you may learn something about the real world.

You shouldn't try to get away with ****, because that is what starts ****....

Native Americans, Blacks, Hispanics are all majority minorities. Sometimes there is a token asian person (usually Japanese) When's the last time you saw a Yugoslav stand up comic? A Thai? Someone from Spain? Latvia?

Any person has as much capability of being rascist as any other person does. Doesn't matter what color you are.

However, because of past transgressions of "white" people (in my country, that means anglo-saxon immigrants from Britain - non-Irish non-Russian non-Spanish non-Italian light skinned male patriarchial rulers.) Because of the way they delegated society, the now equal people they discriminated against (Native Americans, blacks, hispanics - and in terms of sexism women against men) feel they have a special liscence to be rascist. I think they have every right to say whatever they want (1st amendment) but that there is a clear double standard and that they are just as rascist as anyone else talking about a skin color or sex group negatively.

Quote, "Yugoslav stand up comic? A Thai? Someone from Spain? Latvia?" Maybe there's nothing humerous in their lives that can be translated into a joke.

Or maybe there are less people in the crowd who relate to them. What do you mean, nothing humorous? A great deal of humor comes from dealing with tragedy.

Not when it's overwhelming.

We have Asian stand-ups...

1 is a cast member of MadTV and he is unbelievably funny!! I think his name is Bobby Lee or something like that.

I'm Asian, and I also stand up. Funny, heh?

You're pushing it, CI........






heehee

I know, I know.....sorry for that 'cheap' shot.

The richness of humor seems directly proportional to the amount of perceived truth involved in the comic's observations. This is what speaks towards the successful jokes that employ stereotypes.

But the simplicity of elegance adds to the humor. Such seems the basis for the success of Jerry Seinfeld's humor and especially the three pronged comedic approach (In the classical dramatic sense) in those classic episodes of "Seinfeld". The ultimate in simplicity: a show about, well, nothing! Even three story threads about nothing resolve to the former result.

The magical prestidigitation involved in the mental misdirection of such Henny Youngman type jokes is legendary in its simplicity. As an example take my wife's mother...Please!

The less the humor has to be analyzed the more chance it will generate a good laugh. This, of course, explains why this bit of text has little humor...if any.

JM

Cicerone - in many ways, -all- race/ethenicity classifications are problematic. You say you are "Asian," but were you born in the Asian continent? Did you live there for a long time? Are you a descendant of people born on the Asian continent but were not born there yourself?

And then you have to ask, what part of the asian continent? Surely, Noth Korea is drastically different from Japan or Thailand. Heck, throughout Asia people speak different languages, have different governments, different religions, and different genetic heritage (ex: China conquered by Monguls, Japan's extreme isolationism in both geography and mating ideals.)

So, when we ask ourselves, what is Asian (as an ethninicity?) I think it is a loose description of visual qualities. The same is true of "White" and "Black." Asian is not a homogenous geographic place so much as it is a labelling of a specific set of stereotypical features against which others can judge. Native Americans are all different, so are "Blacks", Africans, "Whites," etc.

Sweeping statements about homogenity in groups do apply - where the people who are members of those groups feel they apply - areas where there is a shared or imposed culture. But these assumptions should never be adhered to on an individual level. For example, after you meet your friend "Paolo" who is, let's say from Singapore, and you saw that he got a "56" on his math test, you would no longer make the assuption "Paolo is Asian, therefore he is good at math." I think at that point it would be stereotyping. But if you said in general, "Asians are good at math" it would be noticing geographic trends.

The reason I don't think the government, public colleges, or standardized testing should make laws based on stereotypes is because they deal with people on a case - by - case basis - on an individual level. For the government to do so is rascist, biased, and wrong.

If comedians want to do it, they have every right to. But I won't pretend that groups who were discriminated against in the past have to follow the same p.c. standards as those who weren't. There is a definate double standard, and a reason for it, but I don't think that makes it morally right.

PS, I know "all" that! These descriptors we use today were all created by our government. When I volunteered into the US Air Force back in the fifties, we had to identify our race on many forms, even though our grandfather came to the US in 1893. It was never just "American," and it still isn't.

What's even funnier is that CI is more American than I am, but I'm considered "white"..... ok not all that much more, but still.

I never said otherwise. In fact I said you were living proof that minorities can espouse racist ethnocentric drivel. Your oft stated hatred for the French is one such example.

In short, I never denied that a minority could be racist. On the contrary! Some vociferate the most bigoted and ignorant claptrap that I have seen.

What I did do is reference your frequently stated bigotry and hatreds, setting off this snit of yours.

Now I suggest that if you don't like your bigotry to be repeated back to you, that you address it in your own expression, without the lame exhortations.

You're welcome.

While I have embraced my Indian heritage more in the past twelve years or so, I was basically raised 'white'. Now, that's what I call it. My mom's half portugese, half mutt, and my dad is about three-fourths Tlingit, and I think an eighth Irish and an eighth Russian. I don't recall how much it is on his side, but that's sounds right.

But I grew up just like most kids do. Lived in a court (what we called a cul-de-sac). Played CYO basketball. Went to Catholic school. Public High school. Worked at the movie theater and bowling alley. Vacationed in Oregon at my grandparents house, and the odd weekend in Reno. It was a typical, suburban youth. And I'm raising my kids the same way.

So one might say I think white. One might say that I'm more white than indian. In fact, both statements are accurate. However, I look indian, and have a lot of physical indian characteristics. So while I acknowledge my Portugese heritage, and while I take as much pride in my other heritage as I do my Indian, it's what I choose to be.

I really see the difference in how I was raised and how others are when I go to pow-wows or the time I spent at the Indian college in Lawrence, KS. But I also find that I'm not quite as white as I used to be. I'm not what one would consider active in tribal activities, but I'm also not in a position to do so. Both my father and my sister are, and one day I hope to be in a position to do so to.

But what does this have to do with racism? Not much. Just shining a bit of light upon my persona. That being said. . .

COTL - It's not a matter of trying to. It's a matter of being able to at the drop of the hat. It's extremely easy to get away with. All I need to do is rant on and on about Mr. White Man (I can't call him whitey - that was my grandfather's name. (Long story. No, he wasn't indian)) and when someone says something start ranting about hundreds of years of persecution at the hands of the white man. About being locked up away from your historical lands and being refined to little better than animals. Usually this allows me to rant on and on. On the rare occasions I've had confrontations with black (or african-american, if you will) people, a simple "You think you got it bad, try being indian" was enough to quiet him a bit. Of course, this was in response to weeks and weeks of listening to him go on about slavery and general minority oppresion. That was a special case.

But the fact of the matter is I generally don't do this. Why? It's just not me. Oh, sure, there are times when I go off on just about anyone about anything. While there is the odd time it can be racist, it's directed at one person, not a race. Does that make it right? No, it doesn't. Does it make it any less racist? Certainly not. But it's also not something I do on a daily basis.