Bad Jokes & Ebonics

[Henry M]

I put to you that not all ebonics jokes are hate speech. I do think
that there is racism involved in the assumption that any reflection on
a "characteristic" of a "race" is funny even if, aside from reflecting
negative stereotypes, it is without discernible humor. 

"Cheap Jew!" just doesn't make me split my sides, no matter how 
amused a dinner partner exclaiming it might be by their witty
response to the large tip that I have left at a fancy restaurant. But
other people's mileage apparently varies.

On 19 Feb 97 at 12:55, Craig Clark wrote:

> Bonnie Kyburz asks:
> 
> > Doesn't anyone understand that ebonics "jokes" are hate speech? 
> 
> No, quite frankly I *don't* understand how Ebonics jokes constitute
> hate speech. Ebonics jokes merely indicate that those who have
> proposed that Ebonics be recognised as a language have made an
> unwise proposition.  If Ebonics jokes are an example of hate speech,
> then to use non-Ebonic English in any context is also hate speech,
> because it is equally disrespectful towards those who recognise the
> validity of Ebonics.
> 
> Craig Clark
> 
> "Living inside the system is like driving across
>  the countryside in a bus driven by a maniac bent
>  on suicide."
>    - Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"
> 

AsB4

Keep cool, but care. -- TRP
Moderation in moderation. -- Husky Mariner