Racism or Harmless Joke?

This post is a English translation of the last one I did in Portuguese.

There is a video in the Ill Doctrine website, which I find super cool, called "How to tell people they sound racist."

Recently, I was wasting time on Facebook, looking at pictures and such, when suddenly I came across a picture of a good friend of mine (who is white) dressed in Nega Maluca (or the Brazilian equivalent of black-face). I confess I was a little bewildered and, not knowing how to respond immediately, I stopped a little to reflect.

Should I leave a comment saying

I thought the picture was a little racist?

or

Should I leave it alone,

because it was only a joke?

I know my friend for years. I know she is not racist. But this picture seemed so problematic that I felt compelled to show my point of view. After all, it may be that my friend had not realized that what she considered a simple joke can be very painful or offensive to black people. But how could I talk about the problem without offending her?

For me, it was important not to accuse my friend of being racist; I know she is a nice person and has a good heart. Moreover, even if it were a stranger, it is impossible to take into account the intentions that a person has in their head. The best thing in this case is to focus on showing that certain things we do or say can hurt other people, even when the intention is simply to make others laugh.

I decided to go straight to the point and posted a comment on the photo saying: Ummmm Dude, this picture is very wrong, take a look at this: http://black-face.com/ This link has an explanation of the history of black-face, a type of U.S. comedy show in which white artists in black-face to do tricks and antics considered "typical of the race." (Of course, if we search a little deeper to understand why these "typical tricks" were considered typical, we come to the conclusion that it is because of the very popularity of "black-face" shows, and it becomes impossible to stop chasing our own tail. But this is subject for another post.)

After placing this comment, I kept reflecting on the history of racial prejudice in Brazil and the United States. What do these histories have in common and how do they differ? The link that I used in my comment explains the history of black-face in the United States, but what about in Brazil, how do people deal with this kind of joke?

Unfortunately, for many people, racism in Brazil is invisible. For others (the victims), racism is a hard reality that they face every day. Just take a look at the IBGE statistics and you will see I'm not making anything up, and I'm not making a tempest in a teacup. The reality is very different if faced from the perspective of Brazilians of African descent.

For people who do not experience racism in their own skin, a joke like this (using a Nega Maluca carnival costume, for example) is really just a joke. The Nega Maluca Carnivalblocks are there to give you an example. In Brazil, it is very common to see white actors in black-face and everything is taken with humor and lightness.

The problem is that these jokes objectify an entire portion of the population. What's worse is that this playful objectification cannot be reciprocal. How many times have you seen a Brazilian black actor dressed in white-face? And if you saw one, how would you interpret the intention of that person? It is quite possible that your reaction would be different in each case.

A response to my comment on Facebook (it did not come from my friend, but from someone else) was as follows: "Natália, if we have to be always 100% politically correct, there would be no more humor."

But is it true that, to have a sense of humor, it is necessary to give in to racist images or jokes that are offensive to an entire ethnic group? Moreover, is it really harmless to surrender to this kind of racist humor? Does it not contribute to perpetuate the stereotypes that affect ethnic minorities in Brazil (and worldwide)?

Of course it is possible to have a sense of humor without being racist!

Look, I understand that much of humor is based on making fun of another's misfortunes. However, we have to differentiate what is an insult/joke/play that satirizes a particular character (with their unique personal characteristics) and an insult/joke/play that generalizes and stereotypes an entire ethnic group. Neither case is politically correct, but the second certainly is racist and should be avoided.

A politically incorrect joke can be extremely funny (and even clever) if it is built based on a specific individual or a specific situation. This kind of humor can even have the power to educate.

But when those politically incorrect jokes are based on stereotypes of an ethnic group, and not on defined individuals, they run the risk of assigning pejorative and demeaning characteristics to the whole group, characteristics which are, in turn, very difficult to get rid of.

This question of ethnic costumes is much more complicated than we can imagine. I for one have dressed up as a Geisha, a Brazilian native, and Indian (from India) ... Considering what I think today about ethnic stereotypes, I regret having chosen such costumes. And not because I had the intention to offend, but because I contributed to the objectification of these identities without realizing it. It is important to have a sense of humor, but it is also very important not to reinforce ethnic bias through humor.