But race jokes have never made me laugh. Don’t care who’s telling them. I think it’s because I don’t believe society can use humor to alleviate these deep wounds and disillusioned distinctions because we can barely discuss race issues openly and seriously. Humor is seemingly used as a band-aid to pretend that stereotypes and prejudices are just so beyond our progressive thought that it’s comical, except it’s not. Except racism is still rampant and I know because I experience it everyday in this damn city with the cops, with the people working behind the counter at delis, and the daily sideways glances I get by merely existing in certain spaces. Yes, I enjoy shopping at Trader Joe’s, too you bitter, lousy old women who are blatantly staring at my skin and whispering to each other. Sigh. I don’t even remember what triggered this rant. Oh, someone said something about their teeth being so white they only shop at farmer’s markets and quote woody allen movies. Dammit, that’s kind of funny. Ok, so maybe “never laugh” is a bit extreme. I am constantly contradicting myself. Hey there, I’m ~~an alien~~ human. Shoot me. Wait. Don’t. Honestly, though, race jokes do bother me 80% of the time because we are definitely not there yet. However, it can be argued that humor is a stepping stone, but look at Dave Chappell. He used racial humor with vigor and intellect, but people just didn’t get it and his humor became something ugly and gnarled coming out of the mouths of ~~assholes~~ repressed racists in denial. I guess what I’m saying is there is a fine line between trying to change the views of others through humor and unknowingly encouraging- even perpetuating- stereotypes. Ok. I think I’m done for now.

Rant Over.