Forbidden Coop

So, this black guy walks into a bar... No, that's wrong, I could get hurt for saying that, and at least labeled a racist. Ok, so this African-American walks into a bar... Actually, now that I think about it, he wasn't really African, he was from Puerto Rico, he just had really dark skin, so with out talking no one in the bar knew he was Puerto Rican. Ok, lets try that again: So, this Puerto Rican-American walks into a bar... Come to think of it, he wasn't even American. This joke takes place in Ireland. One last try: So, this resident of Ireland who's mother was from Puerto Rico, and father was from Britain, two grandparents were from Puerto Rico, one grandparent from Britain, and the last grandparent from Germany, but got his predominantly dark skin genes from his mother's side of the family walks into a bar.

Ahh forget it, the joke just isn't funny anymore! Let me try another joke. What do you call someone from Ethiopia? An Ethiopian. What do you call someone from Lybia? A Lybian. What do you call someone from Nigeria? A Nigger. Wait, why did that get censored? Did I say a bad word? All I did was refer to someone's nationality. Odd.

On a related topic, I was watching the Blue Collar Comedy Tour on Comedy Central the other day. For the most part it wasn't all that funny. You could hear Jeff Foxworth getting REALLY tired of the "You know you're a redneck" jokes after 15 years. Guess what Jeff, so are we! They do this one part where they sit around telling each other "true" things that happened to them recently, demonstrating how redneck their friends and family really are. And in the end those things really weren't all that funny except that it was done by a redneck. Actually redneck could have been interchanged with Pollock, or stupid nationality of your choice.

"You know you're stupid when you have a 3 cars in your front yard, but only 2 tires." Just doesn't have the same ring to it. You may as well tell that one joke "You know you're stupid if you hammer a nail to your hand while singing the Estonian National Anthem"

It occurred to me that redneck jokes are infact unique. They're racist jokes that anyone can tell and not be called a racist. You can't tell a black joke, or say the word Nigger unless you have dominant genes that are not more than 10 generations old originating from the African continent. That's right, if you're African American, but look white, you can't say the N-word. You can' tell a Mexican joke with out being Mexican, and you can't tell a Polish joke with out being Polish.

For some reason though, you can tell a redneck joke with out being a redneck! Heck even the work "Redneck" is a racist term! But we can put that work on TV, billboards, and use it in the workplace, just don't use the word Nigger.

I think George Carlin stated it best:
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those words in and of themselves. Their only words. It's the context that counts. It's the user. It's the intention behind the words that makes them good or bad. The words are completely neutral. The words are innocent. I get tired of people talking about bad words and bad language. Bullshit! It's the context that makes them good or bad. The context. That makes them good or bad. For instance, you take the word "Nigger." There is absolutely nothing wrong with the word "Nigger" in and of itself. It's the racist asshole who's using it that you ought to be concerned about. We don't mind when Richard Pryer or Eddie Murphy say it. Why? Because we know their not racist. Their Niggers! Context. Context. We don't mind their context because we know their black. Hey, I know I'm whitey, the blue-eyed devil, paddy-o, fay gray boy, honkey, mother-fucker myself. Don't bother my ass. Their only words. You can't be afraid of words that speak the truth, even if it's an unpleasant truth, like the fact that there's a bigot and a racist in every living room on every street corner in this country."