why is it ok for a black movie star to make fun of white people?

Question

im sick of this hypocrasy - racist comments either way or not at all. Sure, the stuff in the films is funny and i find it hysterical, but there is no longer a balance - are black people so touchy?

to me a person is a person - i dont give a toss about what colour they are unless they are covered in red polka dots and i might catch it. I was thinking along the lines of Eddie Murphy (who i think is an amazingly funny man, and i still enjoy watching Raw), but i dont understand how it cannot work both ways. White people have quirks and mannerisms that can be so easily parodied and it is funny, and so can other races - surely we should be able to laugh at ourselves and one another inoffensively? Political correctness is stifling all of us.

i also think that blacks in america have a different experience than anywhere else - but they are not the only ones that have been victims of racism throughout history - jews and gypsies in the 40s, scottish farmers and crofters were cleared brutally from their lands during the "clearances", muslims were "cleansed" in the balkans conflicts, africans captured and sold people from neighbouring towns and villages to the whites, the irish were left to starve with no help from the british when the blight took their crops, tale after tale of racist acts that will never stop.

Answer 1

What pisses me off the most is the double standard! Back in the 70's TV sitcom "The Jeffersons" George used to always call his upstairs white neighbor (who they portrayed as being married to a black woman) "honky" and it was accepted. Yet, in one episode, he got mad, and told him not to call him that, and how would George like it if he called him "******" (I know Yahoo just bleeped out the racist word I just used for blacks. Why didn't they do the same for the white racist word I used prior?? Again, the double standard!) and you could hear the crowd gasping in disbelief and anger that a white man would dare to even think of calling a black man that. His neighbor never used the word again during the rest of the series, but George would call him "Honky" (again, notice what racist words were and were not bleeped out by Yahoo! DOUBLE STANDARD!) at least four to five times in every episode!

Answer 2

This is something that has happened for years. Comedians like Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy in the 70's and 80's would ridicule and make fun of white people all of the time, but if a white comedian said anything about black people, it was the end for that dude, he would be crucified. It's just the way it is. Racism goes both ways, and the most racist people I have ever met have been minorities. However, since they are a minority, they usually get away with it. Just like the fact that Christians are the majority in this country, but the Anti-Christian minority does anything and says anything they want against our civil liberties, but if a Christian says anything against an immoral group, it is a hate crime. Grow up, people.

Answer 3

No one has the right to make racist comments. We are now far too civilized to fall back in to that era which is best forgotten as a night mare. In a democracy people have their rights to make comments with responsibility and should be accountable for the same. This is not to say that one should make mountain of a mole hill reacting to a comment made in lighter vain which should be taken in true spirit and forgotten. There are no true/ perfect white or black in today's global world with so much inter-mingling and inter-race marriages and associations that these differences are diminishing and one day nothing will be black or white but all will be different shades of Grey!

Answer 4

You are right-- in a way. Historically, caucasians have had control over the USA and most of its social environments. Therefore, white people have more of an obligation to use caution when talking about other races. Blacks get away with quite a lot these days; they can pretty much say what they want, and it's OK because to some extent they are still struggling for equality. But the balance is tipping the other way, and I think it is high time for all races to quit dumping on others. We shouldn't have to cowtow to blacks just because their great-great-great-grandparents were slaves. Many of them were raised with more privileges than many white people, and they shouldn't get all the breaks.

Answer 5

Could you go back into your question and add more specific details please, maybe pinpoint a movie or two in particular? Blacks, we make fun of the truth, we not only make fun of Whites, we make fun of the Asians at the nail salons that WE patronize, Chinese food that WE eat week in and week out, WE mock Hispanic accents, WE mock African accents and most of all, WE pick on ourselves. I say WE because I am black and I cannot exclude myself from my race although I'm not the one making the jokes on national TV. We are naturally funny people. If you sufferred through certain things that our culture is prone to face day in and day out in America where we do not fit in even in 2006, maybe you and your race would be "touchy" as well and find solace in turning these everyday happenings into comedy. I've heard some Whites try to make fun of Blacks and they'll say stereotypical things that are NOT ALWAYS true. Yes, those of us who are not vegans eat a lot of fried chicken, watermelons, collard greens and so forth, but is that really something to joke about when all Blacks don't like these things in particular? I read a statement from a former NYPD officer who was Black that said how she overheard her White coworkers referring to her as "Watermelon Wanda." Just because she is Black, does that necessarily mean that she enjoys eating watermelon? But we make jokes in particular because Whites do have advantages over us in this world, plenty of them, and you all do not realize it because you are so used to getting better treatment. That's why we have to open our own clothing boutiques and record shops so we don't have to be followed around in Parisian, Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue. You all walk into jobs lacking skills and education and are hired on the spot while some of our applications are trashed and we are told that they company found "another suitable candidate" when we may have been properly trained for this position and possessed adequate education. If you are so sick of the "hypocrisy" but yet you still find it "funny and hysterical" it must not be too bad of a problem. When I get fed up with how things work, I boycott them. That means I would no longer pay my money to go see these movies or comedy shows if I were you. Just my opinion and I'd appreciate it if it is respected like I respect everyone else's opinions, comments and questions here on Yahoo. Thank you.

Answer 6

It's very difficult to decide just when a humorous comment which could be interpreted as racist goes too far. If the joke is really funny, most people will laugh at it, whatever their 'ethnic origin'. However, there are always likely to be a few who will take offence, even if none was intended. Of course, sometimes, the scene is intended to be ironic - making fun of racists - and those who fail to realise this are offended. Tricky!

Answer 7

Black people think they have a right to make fun of white people. I can't stand all this anti-white comedy. It's racist but nobody ever says it. Why?

And that's just a myth that black people believe, that white people are automatically nice to each other and that we don't have to try hard to get jobs (yeah, right, that would be great if it were true!) The two World Wars were mostly fought between white races.

Answer 8

Fun question.This is due to the incredibly racist backround of the United States. The U.S. was built on racism and actually exports it. In most other "enlightened" countries, the everyday racial comments of Americans would be considered rude at best.
Be not dismayed. There are plenty of white folks poking fun at Blacks, and no one pokes more fun at Black folks, than Black folks!
Black people are not touchy. We are resilient, artistic, survivors. If you understood the kinds of daily racism Black men in particular have to contend with daily, you wouldn't ask this question this way. We just have fun with it all, because we can, because we're used to it.

Answer 9

The opinion of a white european...

They're just giving back a little of what they've taken for however many hundreds of years. How often is the white person the victim? Rarely!

Yeah it's not really right but big deal, 9 times out of 10 it's good natured.

Answer 10

There is a limit to anything, and we have passed it in this land years ago. It is not OK to be racist at all. Africans act as if they are exempt from such considerations, and some Lunatic Left Europeans uphold them. Africans are not the only minoriity, and they should not have special priveleges. It is not bad for a "White" to make racist comments but OK for a "Black" to do it. Everyone is wrong if he is racist.