Ethnic joke
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Ethnic jokes are jokes that exploit ethnic stereotypes and are often considered to be racist and offensive. Some more offensive ethnic jokes, which may depict their targets as being inherently subhuman, criminal or depraved[citation needed], are usually explicitly, rather than implicitly, racist, often describing their subjects using ethnic slurs, and are generally regarded as hate speech.[citation needed]
Ethnic jokes come and go with social change, particularly with waves of immigration from one country to another; for example, Polish jokes, once common in the United States during widespread Polish immigration, are now little used[citation needed], as Polish and other Eastern European immigrants have long since been absorbed into the large community. Similarly, Irish jokes have become far less common in the United Kingdom as the social status of Irish people has risen with increased wealth in Ireland, the consequent reduction in Irish itinerant labor, and the absorption of Irish people into the community. As public awareness of racism has increased, racial and ethnic jokes have become increasingly socially unacceptable in recent years, and have become socially taboo to tell in public in many regions.
It is sometimes held that such stereotypes must contain a grain of truth; research suggests that this is most often not the case.[1]
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[edit] Targets
Ethnic jokes are often aimed at minorities within certain regions, or peoples from neighboring areas. A common ethnic joke format is the "stupid person" joke, where the stock character, who is the butt of the joke, belongs to an ethnic group singled out for abuse. Such jokes are often interchangeable, with the stigmatized group varying from region to region (e.g. the English tell such jokes about the Irish, Canadians about the Newfies). In other ethnic jokes, the targeted ethnic group is one that has historically been associated with the privileged ruling class, as in the "Jan van der Merwe" jokes of South Africa, which make fun of Afrikaners (Jan van der Merwe being a stereotypical Dutch name).
People with different skin color may be singled out for offensive jokes, with Black people being an example of a common target in certain countries.[citation needed] People of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi descent, who are a substantial minority group in England, are the target of similar jokes. Jews are also a common target of ethnic jokes within Europe and North America.[citation needed]
A closely related topic is the telling of jokes about people with disabilities, such as jokes making fun of the mentally ill, which often mirrors that of racist jokes. The same can be said for jokes about homosexuals and people of a certain gender.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Davies, Christie. Ethnic Humor Around the World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
- Draitser, Emil. Taking Penguins to the Movies:: Ethnic Humor in Russia. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1998. ISBN 0814323278.
- Charles Jaret. Book review: The Mirth of Nations. American Journal of Sociology.
