Humour and Its Effects

Quite the interesting conversation the other day concerning racism, humour and when they are combined.

Talked about the infamous Russell Peters. All of us basically said that we thought that his stuff went to far, made us a little uncomfortable.

And yet, almost all of us, including Prof. Sandhu, laughed watching his stuff (or have in the past)

Is that ok?

Is that hypocritical?

We say that we don't agree with it, and yet we laugh.

Now I was one who said, having heard Mr. Peters in interviews, I believe his intentions are the opposite of promoting racism. He believes that by laughing at the absurdity of stereotypes, maybe we can see that they truly are absurd, and that we can laugh at that.

But, does it matter what his intentions are?

What is the influence of intentions on racism? Having not been the victim of racism, its not a question I feel I'm equipped to answer. Someone who is unintentionally racist can't be held in the same light as somebody who is openly racist, can they?

The effect is the same... so, is the actual deed the same?

Very difficult question. I would say the safe answer is that, even unintentional racism should never be tolerated, and so where does humour, such as Mr. Peters' come into play.

Its a very murky issue.