Xref: utzoo soc.culture.jewish:8595 news.misc:2279 alt.flame:3331 Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!topaz.rutgers.edu!clong From: clong@topaz.rutgers.edu (Chris Long) Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish,news.misc,alt.flame Subject: Re: Do ethnic jokes CAUSE bigotry? Message-ID:Date: 6 Dec 88 06:42:20 GMT References: <1748YZKCU@CUNYVM> <275@acheron.UUCP> <130@verdix.verdix.com> <4204@cs.utexas.edu> Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 29 In article <4204@cs.utexas.edu>, Dan Berleant writes: > Do ethnic jokes cause bigotry? > Sadly, the answer appears be a definite yes. No. I can see it now, "Hey Sally, check this joke out." "Gee, I guess Jews must be stingy!" Spare me, please. If anything, said jokes have exactly the opposite effect. Wanna agrue this 'til you're blue in the face? I'm game. > There have been examples right here in the current discussion of ethnic > jokes. A number of anti-semitic slurs were sent in reaction to rather > moderate posts. "A number of anti-semitic slurs ..." I believe this "number" was a whopping 2; and it must be painfully obvious to all expect the completely brain-dead that they were sent out by an immature twit (who may or may not be an anti-Semite) who was looking for attention - the comments were apparently chosen for maximum shock value. > Promoting ethnic jokes in rec.humor.funny (by the moderator, an official > agent of usenet) has no benefit whatever, and promotes bigotry as well. I consider laughter to be a benefit; do you disagree? -- Chris (Munson)-Long "The proofs are so obvious that they can be left to the reader." Lars V. Ahlfors, _Complex Analysis_