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May 10, 2004
Lighten up! Or Light up?
Over the weekend I was reading some posts in a web group I belong to. One person posted a cartoon joke that seemed kind of offensive to me. It doesn’t really matter what the joke was, it could have been anything. To me it was similar to racial jokes, to ethnic group jokes, to sexist jokes. In our society, we have heard many of these jokes, which seem innocuous enough and we often find ourselves laughing at them. But what are we laughing at and why? Too often jokes like this are at the expense of someone else. And, we often do it when we are not part of the culture or group we are making fun of.
So, I posted a note explaining how I thought it was offensive, and I even put a caveat on the end, saying I wasn’t angry and that I knew that someone would tell me to lighten up but that I was speaking from the heart. If I put myself in their shoes, I probably would not like a joke like this. The very next post was someone telling me to lighten up, that it was just a joke, and no harm was intended.
When I was a child, growing up it was nothing to hear jokes about how stupid polish people are, or how lazy blacks are, or how dumb blondes are, or how untrustworthy Native Americans are, or how they are a bunch of drunks or Indian givers. I’m sure my parents and Aunts and Uncles didn’t mean any harm to others and overall they are good, loving people. But they are jokes that now don’t seem as funny. Probably because they aren’t really funny when we realize what we are laughing at and why.
Many times when confronted about the jokes, I’ve heard ‘white’ people tell ‘blacks’ that they should lighten up and have a sense of humor. But then again, those telling the jokes aren’t on the receiving end of them and don’t see any problem with them. It’s all in good humor right?
At a time with so much conflict, violence and hatred between people in our world, we can ignore the meaning behind these seemingly harmless jokes, and lighten up, as someone told me to do, or we can light up, and speak from our hearts. If we don’t speak what is in our hearts, who will? I tell you that I’m not against laughter and humor, which is incredibly healing and helpful to us. Just not at the expense of others. Have a heart, light up, show others you walk the talk. We are all in life together.
Posted by carl1236 at May 10, 2004 08:50 PM | Love your Neighbor