Is it racist

A couple of days ago my roommates and I were watching a TV show on comedy central called Tosh.0. There was a section of the show called is it racist? He first shows a stereotypical black person that is showing off his cash money and his bling. Tosh then responds with a stereotypical white person showing off his wealth. I found the video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNx73N3_qr8 and if the link does not work just search for “Tosh.O is it racist”.

The first question I would like to reflect on is the-is it racist aspect of the video. After the video of the black person was over Tosh says “it might be racist but then again maybe we are racist for asking.” Would we really be racist for even asking that the question of is it racist? I would say no, because you do not have to be racist to understand what racism is. With education one can gain an understanding of what is racist. I think when something becomes racist the “joke” insults an entire race by the use of racial stereotypes that have been socially constructed throughout history.

The next question I would like to reflect on is did the video cross the line. Was the video was a joke about race or a racist joke? It is a very hard question to answer because it requires an understanding of a person of a different race. I tried to put myself in the shoes of a black person and watched the video again. I concluded the video about the black person making it "rain" with his money was kind of funny and not a racist joke. However the next part of the video, where Tosh impersonates a white person with a lot of wealth, had a couple of instances where I thought he crossed the line. The first instance was I have my 2008 return here implying that black people are into illegal business and don’t pay their taxes. The second instance that I found insulting was the college degree joke. This part of the video would be insulting for a black person because it is making the use of a stereotype that black people are uneducated and as a result cannot advance in life. The third issue I have with the video is the last line about it’s a gentleman’s game. I think this could be insulting to a black person because it is implying that there is a difference in class between the black race and the white race; which stems from a stereotype that has been socially constructed in our culture as a result of slavery. I thought what pushed this video over the edge was his line about going and voting if it is racist on a website tosh.o/whites rule. This statement reinforced what stereotypes the video was portraying and for another joke to be so bluntly made about it is what pushed the video over the edge.

The last question I asked myself was why the people find were laughing at this video. I think the question can be answered by examining what Chris Rock was getting at when he showed the really racist video and everyone was still laughing. The mainstream American culture is so caught up in trying to fit in and not be the person singled out, that even if they think it crosses the line they will still laugh because everyone else is laughing at it. There comes a point when a joke will cross the line but most people will still laugh at it just because everyone else is doing it. A good analogy that can be made with is a trend observed in the fashion industry. Once a certain number and type of people start wearing a certain style of clothes everyone has to have it in order to fit in and the style becomes really popular. I think a similar analysis can be done with why people find Tosh’s video and Chris Rock’s video funny even when they cross the line. People start out by laughing at jokes about race and when the joke crosses the line and it becomes a racist joke people still laugh because the trend has so much momentum and people are afraid to be the person singled out and not laugh at the joke.

Duane Fuhrman