A good 'sense' of humor

How Black actually are you? How Asian, Mexican, White? \nThe creators of www.sacwriters.com offer their advice in discovering the answers. According to them, I'm a combination of Carlton Banks, Bill Clinton, a mariachi band leader, and apparently I "speaka no engrish." \nThe site's Web masters examine how one scores on their online quizzes. They ask blatantly stereotypical questions to discover the degree of each ethnicity you have within you. For instance, on the "How Mexican Are You?" quiz, they ask: "You make money by: A) Picking tomatoes B) Playing my trumpet C) Going to work and getting a paycheck D) Selling drugs E) Selling popsicles and churros."\nI, of course, laugh heartily. Though I think they left out F) "Refilling my water glass."\nMany other people; however, take a sharp turn away from such "racist" humor. They feel it bears no merit, cultural value and, in fact, contributes to the general ignorance of society at large.\nRacism fits this description. I agree. \nRacist humor; however, I feel does the exact opposite. Save for those who overreact and don't "get it."\nAs racist humorist extraordinaire Don Rickles said, "Don't make it a rally … God put us on this earth to laugh ... We're human beings. Jew, gentile, Irish, Negro, Puerto Rican. Laugh at bigotry … Bigots and morons and dummies. People say, 'How can you make fun of religion?' Why not? What's to fear?"\nExactly. What's to fear? Only those who are comfortable in their lack of fear, those who are willing to accept all races and creeds -- they can comfortably laugh at such jokes. \nFear makes us nervous, and it's fear that makes people lash out against edgy humor. Why? They're afraid that deep down inside, they just might believe what everybody else knows should only be a joke.\nThe beauty of racist humor is that for those cognizant of what's at stake, one realizes the absolute absurdity of compartmentalizing individuals into "ethnic groups," stereotypes and palates of color.\nAfter all, as Tone Def of the New Human Formantics put it: "When you doo-doo, is your shit not brown? … I'm just a human being."\nBut some people simply cannot take away those socially constructed lines that separate us from our unity as humans. These are the people who are not laughing at race and religion. They are the same who are imposing their "correct" race or view upon the world. After all, if these divisions were such solemn subjects, then someone must be right, and someone must be wrong. Right?\nWrong.\nKnowing how to laugh at ignorance, being mentally grounded enough to laugh at the ridiculous nature of intolerance -- that is what is known as having a good "sense" of humor. \nIt's humbling. It lets the world know, "Yes, I'll laugh at these divisions, because I know that neither mine, nor somebody else's is any more different, intelligent or clean. Nor can anyone do math better, make a better pizza pie or jump higher than the next."\nIt's funny how we pick and choose our buttons. It's funny what we're allowed to make fun of and what's off limits. It's funny how we can suddenly become the propriety police when a subject close to us is joked about, but sensitive subjects we're divorced from can be laughed at freely. When white kids make fun of Mexicans, it's ok, but one Jesus joke and the protesters take to their picket signs. \nIf we can't laugh, we're hypocrites, arrogant. We assume we know how to properly handle a situation that as evolved beings, we should be light years beyond. Giving these issues weight gives them legitimacy. \nI say racist humor is social diplomacy. We refuse to recognize the authenticity of that state of racism. It is dead to us.\nIt's just a little bit funny.