I was thinking the other day about how a sense of humor is perhaps the most universally admired quality. Some people want so much to be thought of as funny that they’ll say or do almost anything to get a laugh.
It led me to an insight about a problem I seem to encounter far too often these days – casual racism. My insight into casual racism is simple. I think most people who get caught up in these minor, completely unnecessary incidents of casual racism are not guilty of being bigoted – they are guilty of being unfunny.
I think this is explained partly by how we seem to be in general agreement that if something is really funny, it is OK to make the joke, and those offended need to just ‘lighten up’. I’m not here to agree or disagree with that idea, reader – I think I’ve ‘lightened up’ on plenty of occasions in my life (and sometimes I'm glad I did, but not every time).
I will instead add this caveat – though the above theory might be OK, I think very few people are actually funny enough to transcend the offensive nature of their jokes. So when I don’t laugh at something that is borderline offensive, I'd like to clarify that I probably didn't laugh because the comment wasn't funny.
And yet, this train seems to barrel on from station to station. It leads me to a theory, or maybe just a pre-theory for now as I work out the kinks – most people would rather be incorrectly considered racists than correctly considered not funny. If my theory is right – which I think it is (which means it probably is not) – then I think I can understand a little better how casual racism comes about: it is far easier for a good and decent person to clear up a misunderstanding about allegedly being a racist than it is for an unfunny person to change accurate perceptions about a poor sense of humor.
