You've heard the jokes before. Maybe it was the kid sitting next to you in psychology class, or someone across the lunch table at Selleck Dining Hall.
Q: Did you ever hear the one about five blacks who went over a cliff in a mini-van? Know what's wrong with that picture?
A: A minivan seats six.
Q: Or the one about the difference between Jews and bread?
A: Bread doesn't scream when you put it in the oven.
Q: How do Chinese parents decide on a name for their newborn?
A: Throw a quarter in the garbage disposal. Ching Chong Chin Chang.
Funny, right?
Not really.
"It's just a joke."
"It's satire, man."
"Lighten up, I didn't mean it."
Then why say it?
"But I have black friends!"
"A Chinese person told it to me!"
So what? Does that one, or even those two, three or four people speak for the entire population?
Or the popular response, "They use that word. They make those jokes about themselves."
While we don't particularly support this either, it's one thing for a Jewish student to make a Jewish-themed joke, it's another for a Catholic to do so. Self-deprecating humor has often been a valid form of wit, but we find the seeming rise in casual jokes tearing down others alarming.
Attitudes can be changed through a variety of ways, including humor and satire, but the vast majority of the time, racially or ethnically themed jokes are just that: jokes. Something told for a chuckle, not social change.
At first glance, jokes such as those above are clever. Most people probably initially laugh due to a combination of surprise, discomfort and insensitivity, but when you step back and think about it, the legacy of slavery and intense discrimination is not funny.
The Holocaust, in which more than 6 million people were killed, is not funny.
Spiteful stereotypes, violence and hate are no laughing matter.
Especially at a university with a student body comprising mostly Christian caucasians, some of whom have never had any friends who weren't Christian caucasians. Here's a scary statistic - about 16 percent of University of Nebraska-Lincoln seniors reported that "they had never had a serious conversation with persons different from themselves," according to the "Assessing Student Outcomes" study released this month by the Executive Vice President and Provost's Office.
It's not only crass but a sign of ignorance to poke fun at cultures one simply doesn't understand.
We encourage you to take a stand.
The next time someone makes an inappropriate joke, say something. You don't have to be militant about it - a simple "Hey, guys, I really don't think that's very funny," or "What's the point of a joke like that?" states your case clearly and calmly.
There is so much humor and wit that isn't based on hate. Let's make the world laugh for pleasure and not for prejudice.
staffed@dailynebraskan.com
