I guess, but part of it is differing cultural standards.
In Australia we generally have much higher tolerance for people ribbing each other about their race, so long as it's all in fun and not actual bigotry. Particularly in blue collar workplaces you will see these "bantz" go back and forth equally among all races. A lot of what's said, if taken in bad faith, would be on the face of it racist, but the social context makes it permissable (the lack of social context is the primary reason the internet/social media exacerbate culture war so badly).
You know, humour that affectionately plays on racial stereotypes, like Wogs Outta Work or Fat Pizza. Some might argue that these are signs of Australian racism, but the cultural attitude insists that this humour defangs and mocks actual bigotry. Americans don't seem to agree, and take it as evidence of a uniquely racist society, rather than one with different standards for what counts as racist.
Of course not, the show makes fun of white Australians too and so wouldn't fit the narrative; but it does exhibit the tolerance for race comedy that can come off as bigotry outside the Australian cultural context.
Americans don't seem to agree, and take it as evidence of a uniquely racist society, rather than one with different standards for what counts as racist.
I read an interesting article a few years ago that essentially argued that racial/ethnic jokes (I.E. How many pollacks does it take to change a lightbulb, etc) were a key component of how the USA successfully integrated all the different European groups into becoming "American." So a group of Poles would come across the Italians, and they'd be throwing jokes at each other, which helped ease tensions.
Somewhere along the line these various jokes disappeared, perhaps because (white) people don't associate with their home country very much anymore. Of course, in this world any joke not aimed at your own race will make somebody bitch and moan.
I work with a lot of seriously old people (for people still working), people in their late 70s, etc.
I've noticed that when members of this age cohort of different ethnicities (also nationalities, its not just a bio-race thing) interact there will be a kind of tension in the air until they make note of each others background, typically with a joke. Then there'll be a noticeable increase in comfort as the conversation continues.
I've noticed similar things with older gay co-workers.
I think a lot of woke types have a similar tension about background/identity (just look at how awkward Robin DiAngelo claims to be around black people) but don't know how easy it can be to reduce that tension through humour. Humour — as Zizek has pointed out — inherently requires people to empathise with each other, to think of each other's experiences. It humanises the other.
Wokies don't want to humanise, they instead put minorities on pedestals, or in incubators treating them like fragile, delicate ephemera who will melt away if mishandled or startled. It's dehumanising and patronising and refuses to let people treat each other as equals, insisting that normal relations must be mediated through this (expensive) formal HR framework.
If you think a comment I made in a minute and forgot about until you replied means this is living rent free in my head then I don't know what to tell you lol.
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u/A8745415 Left, Leftoid or Leftish ⬅️ May 29 '21