Researching the effects of racist humor in our culture.

1. THE EFFECTS OF
RACIST HUMOR
ALEX COLBERG

3. WHY IT MATTERS
From personal experience and observation, racism in the
form of humor can be damaging to those that it targets and
the overall perception of those individuals.
Here are some pictures of myself with a few (of many) of my
black friends and family that have been personally
deteriorated due to racist humor.

4. WHY IT MATTERS
I believe that it is important to understand the consequences
and reality of the jokes that we make, as they may not be as
funny as they seem.
People tend to have their minds made up about this subject,
so I wanted to conduct my own research to see what I could
find. By better educating myself and others, we can come to
a greater understanding of the ramifications of our words.

5. BEGINNING MY
RESEARCH
I began my research by conducting a Google search of the
question “What are the effects of racist humor?”
For my first 3 sources I clicked on the top 3 articles that came up
in order to get a general understanding of the issue, before
diving into more complicated information.

6. LETS GET STARTED
From the first website I reviewed, I learned an abundance
about not only racist humor but humor overall
First of all there is a conference (the ISHS) where people can
discuss the research of humor in a serious manner ("Does
Racist Humor Promote Racism?”)
One of the most popular studies talked
about at ISHS was conducted by
psychologist Thomas Ford ("Does Racist
Humor Promote Racism?”)
Thomas Ford

7. FORDS STUDY
Ford conducted a research study to see if people exposed to
various forms of disparaging humor would discriminate
towards those groups ("Does Racist Humor Promote Racism?" )
The results were clear, “for groups of people such as doctors
and farmers, disparaging humor did not foster discriminatory
acts” ("Does Racist Humor Promote Racism?" )
Yet for groups of people where
popular prejudice is shifting (such
as black Americans, females, and
gays) disparaging humor released
inhibitions of negative feelings
towards that group within the
subject. ("Does Racist Humor Promote
Racism?" )

8. ITS NOT JUST FORD
Along with Ford, countless other studies show that people
who either are racist, or accommodate racist jokes as normal
show higher tolerance levels for racist jokes and events, and
show greater willingness to discriminate by race ("Does Racist
Humor Promote Racism?" ).

9. AN ALTERING VIEW
The second article that I read was written by Thomas Ford
himself.
It also agreed that racist humor can be damaging However it
shared a different perspective than the first, shedding light
on a point that is important to keep in mind:
“Humor is not always fun. Humor is not always positive.
Humor is not always good for us. In fact, it has a dark side
that can leave to negative and dark outcomes.” (Thomas E. Ford)

10. THE DARK SIDE
To sum up what Ford was trying to say, sometimes humor is
funny to certain individuals while it simultaneously hurts
others. In other words, just because something is funny,
does not mean that it is morally correct. (Thomas E. Ford)
For example, think of bullying. For the bully it may be
hilarious to make fun of a kid who seems different than the
rest. Yet for the victim, this would be no lighthearted
situation.

11. REFLECTING
I found Ford’s perspective of the dark side of humor
interesting. To me this was a breakthrough in my research as
it points back to lack of understanding that not all humor is
appropriate, even if it is funny.
It also poses the question of why do us humans think that
terrible things are/can be funny?
This thought reminds me of the countless
9/11 jokes that I heard in high school,
which made fun of the mass deaths and
terrorism that occurred.
Dark humor does exist, and perhaps in
many more forms than we may realize.

12. DISPARAGEMENT
HUMOR
To start it defines disparagement humor as “any attempt to
amuse through the denigration of a social group or its
representatives” ("The Psychology behind the Unfunny..”)
Disparagement humor is paradoxical, meaning that is
communicates two conflicting messages, one that is hostile
followed by a message that says “it’s okay it’s just a joke”.
("The Psychology behind the Unfunny..”)
For my next source I wanted to look
more closely into disparagement
humor and its relationship to
prejudice.
I stumbled upon Raw Story, which had
a great amount of information.

13. DISPARAGEMENT
HUMOR
By disguising demeaning humor as fun and lighthearted,
racist jokes seem harmless ("The Psychology behind the Unfunny..”).
“Most of the time prejudiced people conceal their true beliefs
because they fear criticism” making jokes the perfect segway
for these individuals to safely express their prejudice ("The
Psychology behind the Unfunny..”).
Consequently disparagement humor affects peoples
understanding of social norms, such as what boundaries
are/are not acceptable ("The Psychology behind the Unfunny..”).

14. CONTINUING MY
RESEARCH
To continue my research more adequately I searched for peer
journal articles on the issue. These were tough to find as
there are not many sources available on racist humor. In fact,
most were focused on sexism in humor rather than race.
The articles that I drew from were the best (and practically
the only) that I could find.
The first article that I found discussed the pilot episode of
popular television series, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
‘The Gang Gets Racist’ (Ladenburg, Kenneth).
While it was not focused on direct racism in humor (which I
was looking for), it did open my eyes to another form.

15. ITS ALWAYS SUNNY
IN PHILADELPHIA
In this episode, “the hidden transcript of whiteness is made
visible through the casts humorous treatment of the divide
between political correctness and racial naiveté (Ladenburg,
Kenneth).
In other words, the cast shows a form of white ignorance, as
they are unable to address black individuals in a normal
manner due to tension (Ladenburg, Kenneth).

16. WHITENESS STUDIES
“Whiteness studies work to explain how
racism has changed or adapted since the
end of the Civil Rights Era” (Ladenburg,
Kenneth).
The idea of a hidden kind of racism is
often directly related to and/or used in
racist humor (Ladenburg, Kenneth).
Although the episode of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia may
not seem racist, and maybe it isn’t, the kind of humor it
displays encourages the normalization of actions between
whites and blacks (Ladenburg, Kenneth).
This articles primary focus confronts the idea that racism has
been structured within our society to be hidden (Ladenburg,
Kenneth).

17. UNDERSTANDING
POWER
The next two reviewed articles discuss the power that is
brought forth through racist humor. The message between
the two was rather identical as their reasoning corresponded.
This articles specifically discusses the effects of white
subjects making jokes towards black people (Raj, Senthorun Sunil).
For these two ethnic groups, emotional meaning behind a
joke can mean completely different things (Raj, Senthorun Sunil).

18. UNDERSTANDING
POWER
These jokes draw a line between two classes of people
leaving one individual feeling superior, and the other feeling
ashamed of who they are (Fulmer, Ellie Fitts and Nia Nunn Makepeace).
Racist humor is problematic because it can be conveyed in a
way that we think is not serious, but at the same time marks
people into troubling categories (Raj, Senthorun Sunil).

19. UNDERSTANDING
POWER
Due to this, normal people are thought of as violent,
dangerous, stupid, incapable, repulsive, strange, and so
much more do to our overuse of stereotypes (Raj, Senthorun Sunil).
One of the articles also states “It is important to understand
that humor is an area of uncertainty, and can seriously
trouble minority groups. Is your joke really that worth it?”
(Fulmer, Ellie Fitts and Nia Nunn Makepeace)

20. WHAT DOES THIS
TELL US?
From the course of my research, it appears that targeting
individuals because of their ethnicity not only personally
hurts them, but can halter the progression that society is
making towards complete equality.
Research also points that many forms of racism have been
hidden, and therefor discretely accepted by society.
How are we as a country of united people supposed to grow
and flourish as one if we continue to create barriers between
one another.
Although racial humor may seem like a small matter, it is
important that each and every individual understand the
appropriateness of their words and actions, from the
perspective of their subject.

21. WHAT DOES THIS
TELL US?
During my research the question “why do people think that
terrible things are funny?” arose. I believe that compiling the
information that I gathered can help to answer this question.
While this question could have its own research project, I
find that the answer can be summarized (but not inclusive to)
• lack of understanding
• a desire to feel superior
• life experiences (or lack thereof)

22. QUESTIONS I STILL
HAVE
Through my research I have obtained a stronger perception
of the effects of racist humor. However I still have many
questions about the topic.
First of all, I wish that there were more studies done on the
matter, and personal interviews with comedians. Finding
information was sometimes a difficult task.
I also would like to study the common connections between
sexist and racist humor.
Another great question to look into would be, “How does the
increasing popularity of racist humor effect our children and
the generations to come?”

23. HOW I DID
I did my best with this project, to not only find solid and
reliable information, but to present it in a clear way.
I think that expanding this project into a multi-layered
question and media presentation could give a more accurate
understanding to the effects of racial humor.
Of course, I do think that there is room for improvement. As a
researcher, I could improve on understanding scholarly
written articles, which can often times go right over my head
or take far too long for me to comprehend.

24. REFERENCES
"Does Racist Humor Promote Racism?" Psychology Today. N.p.n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.
Thomas E. Ford Professor of Social Psychology, Western Carolina University.
"Psychology behind the Unfunny Consequences of Jokes That Denigrate."
The Conversation. N.p., 05 Apr. 2017. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.
"The Psychology behind the Unfunny Consequences of Racist and Sexist Jokes." Raw
Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.
Ladenburg, Kenneth. "Illuminating Whiteness and Racial Prejudice through Humor in It's Always
Sunny in Philadelphia's 'The Gang Gets Racist'." Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 48, no. 5,
Oct. 2015, pp. 859-877. EBSCOhost,
cwi.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=s3h&AN=110404953&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Raj, Senthorun Sunil. "Just Joking: Is Racist Humour a Form of Vilification?." Legaldate, vol. 21, no.
3, July 2009, p. 9. EBSCOhost, cwi.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/
login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=43453668&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Fulmer, Ellie Fitts and Nia Nunn Makepeace. "It's Okay to Laugh, Right?": Toward a Pedagogy of Racial
Comedy in Multicultural Education." Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education, vol. 12, no.
1, 01 Sept. 2015, pp. 38-53. EBSCOhost, cwi.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/
login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1085193&site=ehost-live&scope=site.