Black Humor is the composition of stereotypical ideals that are dramatized in order to make fun of a distinct group of individuals. In the video clip, “BLACK PEOPLE VS WHITE PEOPLE 2,” YouTube user iSekC does not construe but identifies distinctions between individuals that are black and white through exaggerated and dramatic humorous scenarios. Specifically, iSekC utilizes a common topic known to most males of all skin colors, implies a distinction of jargon utilized by individuals that are white and black and theorizes that black males possess a higher level of barbarity than white males through the comical clip to humorously probe at the stereotypes of black and white individuals, which can be interpreted as a form of black humor. Through these points, the author of the clip suggests that there are common stereotypes imposed on both black and white individuals, that degrade the black race, which in turn pushes an image which eventually becomes true. The clip is humorous because it works on touching on topics that are common to most males, such as in the sensuality of females. The clip contains two …show more content…
Blacks are perceived to possess a higher level of barbaric behavior when confronted with difficult situations, for they are known not to act in a civil manner or know how to act at all, while whites are the seen to be the complete opposite. In the scenario of the altercation of two white males one male is attempting to stop the fight to reconcile by saying, “we’ve been friends for so long.” This act is interpreted as the right action to take, whereas when the two black males are fighting neither of them attempts to civilly solve the problem. The only manner in which they believe they can solve the problem is through physical force, not through talking about it in a civil
The article “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples, originally published in Ms. Magazine in 1986, under the title “Just Walk on by,” depicts the existence of racism within the unconscious prejudice of people. The main idea of this article is the fact that blacks are perceived as a violent and disastrous people, and this, in turn, puts them in danger. Staples uses a detailed imagery to illustrate the stereotype of individuals based on black people. In the article, the author portrays the poignant events that black people face and uses pathos to describe his melancholy of people judging him by his skin color. He attracts the focus of audience towards the main idea of this article by using onomatopoeia as well as diction. The usage of such rhetorical strategy has successfully clarified the main idea of the article and widened the approach of this article towards public.
Strausbaugh, J. (2006). Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Strausbaugh, John. Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture. New York, New York, 2006. Penguin Group Inc. Print.
The assumption that black people have lesser moral values and have a greater inclination towards violence is not new. According to Herman Gray, “Blackness was constructed along a continuum ranging from menace on one end to immortality on the other, with irresponsibility located somewhere in the middle.” (Gray) T...
For years’ black comedians have been stereotyped by black humor using racial slurs in their jokes to communicate with audience an about the social and political issues in the black communities. Although a diverse audience might catch on to most of the contents in a joke that have black humor, some people in American may take it in a harmful and unintended way to avoid controversy with the audience so people need to understand how to identify what is humorous and what is offensive in racial and ethnic humor. I will attempt to prove that living in such a diverse society with the freedom of speech it does not always mean using the word Nigga is a racist thing to say in comedy.
Raskin (1985) introduces his approach as being concerned with ‘verbal humor’, but his analyses are based on all types of humor conveyed in language, that is, our ‘verbally expressed’ humor. The widely-cited general theory of verbal humor (Attardo, 1994), which we have not space to discuss here, is about humor expressed in language, not merely humor dependent on specific language devices. To complicate matters further, Norick (2004) uses non-verbal to describe jokes which cannot be effectively conveyed in written language, since they are dependent on audible material (e.g. tone of voice) or on non-linguistic devices such as gestures; ‘verbal’ jokes would then be those which can be expressed successfully in writing. In this chapter, we will stay with the terms outlined earlier: anything conveyed in language is ‘verbally expressed humor’; ‘verbal humor’ is dependent on language-specific devices, ‘referential humor’ is based solely on meaning.
On the other hand, the Chief, in “The Laughing Man”, experiences a situation in which his hopes slowly died and, in turn, changed into a never-ending path of despair, much like Seymour and Sergeant X. His hopes, in this case, are set within his girlfriend, Mary Hudson (95). Despite having a god-like effect on the children, the Chief is nothing more than a skinny law-student, and must create a fictional in order to compensate for his love-less life. This is exemplified when the narrator states, “his hair-line extremely low, his nose was large and fleshy, and his torso was just about as long as his legs were”, implying that he was less than fortunate when it came to girls (85). However, once Mary Hudson is introduced, she changes the Chief by
In The Marrow of Tradition, author Charles W. Chesnutt illustrates examples that signify the thoughts that whites had of and used against blacks, which are still very much prevalent in public opinion and contemporary media. Chesnutt writes, “Confine the negro to that inferior condition for which nature had evidently designed for him (Chesnutt, 533).” Although significant strides have been made toward equality, the media, in many instances, continues to project blacks as inferior to whites through examples observed in television shows, music videos, films and newscasts.
The author of Everyman manages to engage us in this religious drama through the use of humor, using humor keeps the reader entertained. There are many examples in Everyman that show how the use of humor entertains the reader and conveys the moral lessons embedded in the play. Examples of this humor is evident in the responses Everyman receives when he summons his various qualities to ask them to accompany him on his journey to death, an example of such humor is when Everyman reveals the journey destination to Fellowship who initially agreed to accompany him, “Now, by God that all hath bought, If Death were the messenger, For no man that is living today I will not go that loath journey! Not for the father that begat me!”(Everyman), here we see
In saying this, it displays how an inhumane society tries to discourage the individual growth of the black community. Those who try to change this are reprimanded and are seen as outcasts. The black community is seen as inferior and when this community tries to integrate into a society full of “whites” , aggressive violence and words of hatred are used by the stereotypical whites to try and keep them seen as superior. This was also the type of behaviour that was displayed during times of slavery.
Some are still fighting to conquer racism and stereotypes may have stepped over racial boundaries to resolve the struggles between them. However, in the article “Put on a Happy Face: Masking the Differences between Blacks and Whites” by Benjamin DeMott, he argues that only when the suffering of all races are accounted for should they be portrayed by Hollywood as equal. He also argues that the media is trying to force the friendship of black and whites. “The history of Black America fully explains – to anyone who approaches it honestly – how the disaster happed and why neither guilt money nor lectures on personal responsibility can, in and of themselves, repair the damage. The vision of friendship and sympathy placing blacks and whites ‘all in the same boat’ rendering then equally able to do each other favors, ‘to give rides to one another,’ is a smiling but monstrous lie” (DeMott 597). DeMott strongly believes that nothing about the medias claim that everything is fine between the two race. I have to disagree on that because no one is forced to do anything that they do not want to do. Three does not always have to be tension between the two races. The black and whites can be friends if they want to. Believe it or not there are still nice people out there in this world that are not racist. These can change between the blacks and
“She’s pretty for a dark skinned girl”, “Light skins are winning” and “dark skins females look like burnt French toast”. These are a few examples I found while doing research, of what black men, say about their own black women in society. Not only do whites make blacks feel less, but individuals of the black community put each other down as well, by failing to realize being black is one. Being black should not have its own racism of light skin and dark skin. Society and media play a huge role as to why this colorism between different shades of black
Humor is not only to entertain, but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly” as argued by Alain de Botton, a Swiss philosopher, writer, and television presenter. Humorists sometimes use their platform in order to send their arguments and/or messages across. Because they say things in a joking matter, they are able to touch upon a topic, which at times can be inappropriate or politically incorrect, and give their opinions and comments while they come out of the argument and the fight with minor scratches. Many subjects such as, sexual orientation and race, are just a few of the topics humorists talk about, which make them a vital function in society.
The study with Race, Ethnicity and Intercultural Communication takes place within Canada. Although it takes place in Canada, one can still see just how much this information is valuable within race and ethnicity and public health. Faiza Hirji, the author of this article, studies how the issue of humor and race fall within race and ethnicity. He looks at the comedian Russell Peters as an outlet for humor within racism. During both of my interviews, they did not mention humor and comedies, but I feel as if this would have been a good topic to see their views and see whether or not they would believe this as a form of communication in racism. “Comedians who incorporate race and ethnicity into their acts can be alternately popular and offensive” (Hirji, 2009, pg 544). Who would have ever thought that comedians would incorporate race and ethnicity in their comedy routines? It just shows how communication in different forms such as comedy will still get their points across when it comes to race and
Similar to many other lively pleasures, humor can only be experienced if it resonates with a person. Without some kind of comprehension, there cannot be any type of reaction. Only once an outlandish statement, inappropriate remark, or unexpected situation, is remotely understood will a person be able to label it comical or sober. Since there are billions of people worldwide with their own languages including it’s respective idioms, euphemisms, the age old saying of “there is truth in every joke” applies to each culture individually.