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8 comments:
Being as i'm of pretty mixed heritage, and my children even more so, i get this.
Mimi- There are some who won't, I imagine, so I thank you!
In my earliest years of growing a functioning brain, My friends often called anyone we didn't like a "dirty Jew." I had no idea who or what a Jew was, but I knew it was not a good thing. In the third grade we moved from a highly Christian white California neighborhood to a Long Island town that was around 30% Jewish. I was quite astonished to learn that most of my newly acquired best friends turned out to be "Dirty Jews."
I was such a schmuck!
Well, you know, we're all pink on the inside. . .
I'm younger than Joe, but when I was a kid (say, under 7), 'n****r' was just a generic insult. I mean, there were no black people within 100 miles of us.
There was no substantive content to the word; it wasn't remotely a racial term, as we used it. It was just an insult, like a nastier version of 'booger-head'.
Of course, in the fullness of time, I came to learn the actual meaning behind the word, and it looked and felt much different, once I did. . .
The town I grew up in was also heavily Polish, and the ethnic Polish joke was a staple of the local humor base. I think that there's a valid distinction between ethnic humor that's basically affectionate, and almost honors its targets, and the nasty, demeaning kind. But I might be a minority in that regard. . . (you see what I did there?)
Craig- Your last paragraph is spot on, unfortunately too many people today can't spot the distinction...I guess for the most part those jokes are best left to professional comedians.
At this point in time I agree that we are all related in one way or another, growing up where I did I heard my share of the offensive jokes but I am proud to say most of us has outgrown that now.
I grew up in a small village where everyone was white. We never made ethnic jokes about anyone cos none of us had ever seen anyone who looked any different!
I love this! Thanks, Jim!
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