Is it Racist When You Make Fun of Yourself?

Russel Peters is one of my favorite comedians but given our classes discussions about racism lately, I have come to question the nature of his humor.  Peters is Indian and surprisingly most of his jokes are at the expense of his own race.

After watching the video to the right, do you think that Peter's is being offensive?  On one hand, Peters is making fun of a race of people, and one could think that the fact that he happens to be a member of that race is irrelevant.  He is still being racist because he is stereotyping Indian people in a derogatory way.

However, on the other hand, you could say that Peters is making jokes at his own expense and thus is not being racist or offensive.  I would be curious to know what your opinion is.  Do you think Peters is being offensive?

Criminal Minds Tokenism

Criminal Minds Tokenism

            Refuting Thesis-

            -refutes best dressed man

            -refutes the idea that minorities are underdeveloped stiff and distant characters

            -refutes the idea that minorities get less screen time

            -refutes the idea that minorities are only engaged romantically with other minorities

Supporting Thesis-

            -Minorities dealing with minority problem-father dying from gang violence, rough unsafe neighborhood, inadequate education,

Overall Opinion-

Over all I believe that Criminal minds mostly refutes Mr. Bolos’ thesis.  Derek Morgan is a fully developed character with a complex past.  He dresses casually and has a passionate, funny and loveable personality.  However I did notice that the show does support that minorities have to deal with minority problems.

Watch What You Say

Recently, an ESPN news reporter was suspended for using a racial slur that reefers to Chinese people while referring to Basketball’s newest phenomenon, Jeremy Lin.  It seems pretty straight forward, but here’s the catch, he used the slur in the following way.  “Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin's 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-Snapping Loss to Hornets.” 

While you could certainly argue otherwise, let’s assume for the purpose argument that the use of the slur was in fact a total, subconscious accident.  My question is was his punishment justified, and if not is it to harsh or maybe to forgiving?

On one hand, the phrase he used is a commonly used expression.  Let’s not forget that the word “chink” is in fact a word that is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “to crack” so given the context, its other meaning as a racial slur is completely unrelated.  Thus his use of it was perfectly justified and no punishment should be necessary.

On the other hand, as a person with such a strong voice in society, it is imperative that you watch what you say.  Obviously the word he used is incredibly offensive in certain contexts, so it could be argued that his punishment was necessary to teach him to watch more carefully what he says.

I think this whole incident really speaks to American Society.  What does it say about our society that one can’t even use a common expression without offending an entire race of Americans?  This is to the point that as soon as this announcer said the phrase, people immediately accused him of being a racist.  I think Americans tend to be so racially sensitive that they are actually adding to racism.