A (non) Racist Joke From the 1980's...

WORDZofWORDZCRAFT

Well-Known Member
When I graduated college, I went to work as an engineer (long ago). And after a couple months at that job, we had a memorable "all hands" meeting in the name of "getting to know one another better".

The project manager gave a speech, all rah rah go get 'em, and then took questions.

For effect, let me say that the first questioner from the audience was an older, savvy black man who was good friends with the white project manager who was at the microphone (and his name was XXX Coon). Ok...

So the black man asks this as the first question: "Hey XXX, can I just call you Coon?".

And the project manager replies (in front of the whole audience, which consisted of about 100 people of differing races): "Only if I can reciprocate."

We all laughed our asses off. Whites, blacks, foreigners, all of us.

And that was in the heart of racist Alabama in the 1980's.

So, does anyone see the humor in that? Or are the people of today so stern, serious, and with a lack of humor that blinds them from seeing the humor in the situation I just described?

Nah, today someone would file a hate crimes lawsuit against XXX, and the court would convict him and sentence him to life in prison, lest he offend a Ferguson family.
 

SmokeyDan

Well-Known Member
There is a similar joke, from the 1980s that happened to my uncle.

The world's fair was in the closest decent sized town. It was 1980, 82, or 84. I wasn't alive or was a baby baby.

My uncle had a food stand and he hired a local black guy to work there. He shot and killed an opossum and brought it to share as a sample of local hillbilly food.

Someone from some far off place came up to my uncle. "Is that a coon?" She asked. My uncle replied "yes mam he is and he is going to cook that possum."
 

WORDZofWORDZCRAFT

Well-Known Member
There is a similar joke, from the 1980s that happened to my uncle.

The world's fair was in the closest decent sized town. It was 1980, 82, or 84. I wasn't alive or was a baby baby.

My uncle had a food stand and he hired a local black guy to work there. He shot and killed an opossum and brought it to share as a sample of local hillbilly food.

Someone from some far off place came up to my uncle. "Is that a coon?" She asked. My uncle replied "yes mam he is and he is going to cook that possum."
 

BustinScales510

Well-Known Member
I dont think the joke was racist in a hurtful way but it was inappropriate. He asked if he could call him coon, so it was a double entendre because the guy was black and his name last name was coon. Kinda hacky but minimally funny, done in a light hearted way.

Jokes like that between friends are ok because there isnt any venom in them, but context and surrounding are important. Regardless of how friendly those guys were, they werent just friends, the white guy was the black guys boss, so regardless of how the black guy felt about the joke (that he had probably heard a million times already) he had to brush it off, because who wants to scowl in a situation like that. Also, what if there were other black people in the crowd that were less "savvy"?. Is it cool for them to work in a place where black people get called coon in front of everyone?

Either way it just seems like a small uneventful remark that wasnt witty enough to be funny, but probably didnt cut deep enough to be offensive..so it fails at both racism and comedy.
 
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Hazydat620

Well-Known Member
1 constant in riu there are trolls best to ignore them they wilt and die. that is unless admn gives mods the power to ban .
Why is that trolling? It was a funny joke, me and my friends got a good laugh about it. Why are you so uptight and offended, it only a joke, it was funny in my time, geez times sure have changed, Fucking twat.
 
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