Why racist, sexist and homophobic jokes aren't funny.

A lot of people use racist, sexist or homophobic jokes around me often, and they aren't funny. I'm going to explain why, with two very good reasons.

NOTE: I will be using the phrase “offensive” to refer to racist, sexist and homophobic jokes. I do not mean to refer to all jokes or types of comedy that could be considered offensive, such as sexual humour or insult comics. I simply don't want to have to type out “racist, sexist or homophobic jokes” each time.

1: They reinforce negative stereotypes.

This one should be a no-brainer. Even if you aren't racist or sexist yourself, you create and reinforce these attitudes within yourself. You cannot claim to not be a racist while telling nigger jokes, because every time you see a black person you will be reminded of the racial stereotype that you so often spout within your jokes. No one says offensive jokes while trying deliberately to be malicious (well, most don't), but the malicious element comes out not in others' feelings and actions, but in your own. If your exposure to black people is mostly through offensive jokes (which is even more likely if you live in a city like I do, which is 90% white), you will stereotype most black people as the dumb nigger stereotype. You become the racist. While most people would agree that racism and sexism is a problem in modern society, jokes like these work to roll back decades of hard work and progress that has been made in civil rights and equality.

2: It's old, tired, worn out, and just not funny.

Remember when Borat came out? Remember how every single person started saying “it's very nice” in the Borat accent almost all the time? How about Dave Chapelle's “I'm Rick James, Bitch,” or the “WHAAZZAAAAAP” guys? Remember how irritating and unfunny those things got after a while? Yeah. Now think of the fact that racist and sexist jokes have been around in their present form for at least a hundred years. Imagine if people said I'M RICK JAMES BITCH for a hundred years. Not very funny anymore, is it? The same thing has happened with offensive jokes. Only people who are completely and utterly devoid of wit, humour and intelligence use jokes like these as a crutch. Those who are actually intelligent and interesting find something that appeals to all people.