Overreaction towards supposed "Hate"

[xxcloud417xx]

So I constantly see people get antsy about quips and puns about a certain group (be it racial, religious or sexual). Now I understand anger if it's full blown hate being thrown into the person's face and that it's meant to be hurtful, but what I mean is the occasional stereotype (seemingly harmless) coming out and getting people all up in a ruckus about it.

Now another thing I notice is that more often than not, it's other people that get mad on the supposedly insulted person's behalf, while the latter doesn't really care. It's also these people that tend to start conflict where none would have normally arisen.

Now for what I'm trying to ask; should people maybe relax a bit and not cry out "Racist", "Homophobe", "Sexist", etc every time a comment is made? And as for the ones getting mad on another's behalf (as mentioned in the 2nd paragraph) should they just be quiet and mind their own business? And ARE those "seemingly harmless" stereotypes really that harmless?

(I know these are a lot of questions but I'd like to know the Escapist's point of view on this)

Personally I would like people to relax a bit and just take it as the simple harmless joke that it usually is. I'm French Canadian and I get a lot of jokes made about me being Canadian AND being French, but whenever those are made I usually will go with it (sometimes laughing at myself with them) and return the joke back to them.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

I'm tempted to reply to your post by calling you racist/homophobic names, but I wonder if the irony would be lost on other readers (and especially mods).

Personally I agree that most people should chill out when it comes to political correctness (unless of course, actual hate is involved), but then again I'm a white heterosexual male, so my opinion on this issue cannot be trusted.
for you see, I am the devil

 

[Applejack]

Yeah it's only safe to joke with your friends anymore. People are taught to overreact I think and the media loves "hate" crimes because it's easy news. People use the terms you mentioned because they were given those terms and it's easy to label someone.

 

[xxcloud417xx]

I'm tempted to reply to your post by calling you racist/homophobic names, but I wonder if the irony would be lost on other readers (and especially mods).

Personally I agree that most people should chill out when it comes to political correctness (unless of course, actual hate is involved), but then again I'm a white heterosexual male, so my opinion on this issue cannot be trusted.
for you see, I am the devil

A Handsome Devil?

Yeah, is it possible that political correctness went a bit too far? I mean, people were called a certain way before political correctness stepped in and said that was wrong. For example, I haven't heard of someone get pissed off for being called Black and not African American, so why would some people get offended now?

Is it the system that demands it? Maybe they introduced political correctness as a hate mechanism for the people. Turn em all against each other!
oooooooh the conspiracy!

 

[Thunderhorse31]

Yeah, is it possible that political correctness went a bit too far? I mean, people were called a certain way before political correctness stepped in and said that was wrong. For example, I haven't heard of someone get pissed off for being called Black and not African American, so why would some people get offended now?

Oh I've heard of people getting offended for that - I have black members of my family so we talk about these things from time to time. Like any other language, it has to do with the attitudes behind the word.

That said, the term "African American" is arrogant and and a bit silly to begin with, considering that many "black" people are neither African nor American, though I'm at a loss for a better alternative (and again, I'm not offended by being labelled "white," so I dunno). Language is definitely a funny issue. Why do you think so many comedians build their entire careers on the subject?

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I think that in a circle of friends, you only need consider the intent, saying 'you're a funny ****** at times' to a black friend, is obviously different to 'damn blacks, coming over here and taking our women and job'. Intent is far more important than the actual words.

Any statement needs to be considered, not just reacted to.

Trouble is nowadays, if anyone in any form of the public eye says anything even close to mildly controversial, the media grab it and twist it into 'xxx promotes slavery' or 'xxx calls for death to gays', or if it's someone they like, 'PC extremists harrass noble xxx'.

I also find it strange that there's levels of racism.
Blacks - no, very bad, of course there's the slavery thing to back up why we shouldn't.
Asians - seems quite bad but certain aspects of mockery seem to pass thru, while others don't.
Whites that are still 'foreign' - fair game, seems you can say what you like about the French, Canadians, Germans, English, etc.

I like to think we're moving towards a time when we can make jokes about anyone, so long as they're not rooted in hate.

 

[Random Argument Man]

The thing is that many people don't know the difference between funny and insulting. This does not only concern the people who makes the jokes and the ones who hear it. There's also the fact that some people take things seriously.


I'm also french canadian. I can accept a few jokes. But then, you have these kinds of things http://www.joe-ks.com/archives_mar2003/Living_In_Canada.htm

It's "supposed" to be a joke? I'm a french moron? How is this supposed to be funny?

 

[Squarez]

Unless genuine hate is involved and it's only there for the joke I'm usually not that bothered about things that could be considered offensive (e.g. Nigga stole my bike) however, there are things that some people need to realise can be offensive to certain people and that they should maybe watch what they say, even if that thing is "seemingly harmless", and in my eyes, that's not "political correctness gone mad" that's just basic manners.

You wouldn't call an asian person a Paki if you knew he was in earshot, even if meant as just a joke with no hate behind it. It's the same thing with the internet. Saying something on the internet is like saying it with him being right there. Either keep it to yourself and your friends or make sure that everyone is aware that it's a joke, otherwise you might offend someone.

But then you get people who don't care whether or not it's a joke, will be offended by it and that's not them being over sensitive, that's just down to people being different. Uma Thurman's monologue from Pulp Fiction comes to mind right now.

 

[Ertol]

Personally as long as you are just joking it is fine. My friends and I make horrible jokes about race, religion, women, ect, but at the end of the day we just do it because it makes us laugh. We don't actually believe in any of the stuff we say. As long as you know the line between haha that was funny and actually being racist then I don't see a problem with joking around.

 

[Haunted Serenity]

Jokes are funny but some people brought up with the whole your special thing makes them take offense. Especially when it's clearly a joke but they don't take it as such. Although when someone is clearly saying something against you then it's ok to get mad.