Poking fun at ...

[LBernier at tribune.com]

     The difference is whether the group whose accent you are ridiculing is 
     perceived as an oppressed minority or has gained a foothold in 
     society.  Thus, poking fun at African-American dialect = BAD (unless 
     the person poking is also an A-A) and exaggerating a 
     Norwegian-American's accent (a la Fargo) is just fine, no matter who's 
     doing the jesting.
     
     Now, what does one make of (Latino, oppressed minority) John Leguizamo 
     doing a Rabbi schtick?  What if Lequizamo was black?
     
     Course, my family's from the south, and funny as I find Foxworthy to 
     be, I do hate the way it plays into Northerner stereotypes of 
     Southerners as 
     1st-cousin-marrying-truck-driving-moonshine-drinkin'-barefoot&pregnant
     -possum-eatin' hayseeds.
     
     Cause we ain't (oops, aren't)
     
     Jean.


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Bad Jokes & Ebonics
Author:  Joe Varo <vjvaro at erie.net> at Internet_tco
Date:    2/19/97 9:06 PM


On Wed, 19 Feb 1997, David Casseres wrote:
     
> As for Ebonics "jokes," they're just the latest in a long American 
> tradition of using exaggerated dialect to portray blacks as mentally 
> inferior.  In this context, they are unmistakably hate speech.
     
But doesn't a hell of a lot of humor use the exaggerated dialect of many 
other ethnicities (southern American, Italian, British, German, even 
Canadian)? Are we no longer allowed to use this for humorous or satiric 
purpose? What about the Jeff Foxworthy "you know you're a redneck if..." 
schtick? Is this "hate speech"? Or is it hate speech only when certain 
groups are being lampooned?
     
This discussion is leading me to one of two conclusions: either I am in 
fact a racist or a clueless naif.  And I don't care for either.
     
Joe