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I like to imagine that my sense of humor reaches beyond the occasional “that’s what SHE said,” or Rick Roll sneak-attack. I like to have a little more panache – I’m a fan of personalized jokes that have some bite to them. Specifically, ones made at the expense of close friends.
That’s right, I like to burn people, and under the right circumstances, I even like getting burned. I’d say a burn – so long as it is decidedly sick – is one of life’s most awesome pleasures, as long as the burner has his/her heart in the right place.
Stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com clearly has its heart in the right place, because I’ve never been delightfully zinged so many times in a row. There, written out in front of me, were almost 100 things that I, as a white girl born and raised in Bangor, Maine, like. The site also explains why white people like the stuff they like and, I’ve got to say, a lot of the reasoning was spot on. I visit the blog often and link friends to the more amusing entries.
I was surprised to discover that there are some people who don’t find the blog as amusing as I do, and even more surprised to learn the reason: The site is apparently racist, and the target is white people.
I had to take a moment to consider the reasoning. The site does make fun of white people, but I don’t consider it offensive.
What needs to be recognized here is that joking about white people is fundamentally different than joking about any other racial group, because white people in America have been essentially free of any kind of real discrimination throughout our history.
If this site existed about a minority group, black Americans for example, it would be completely different. Black people in America have had to fight negative stereotypes about their race throughout history in order to gain the same rights and respect that every person deserves. Stereotypes about white Americans have never been used to oppress us, so it is unfair to put Stuff White People Like in the same category as a site that makes fun of a minority group.
The term ‘racist’ gets thrown around a lot in situations where it is unwarranted. To me, a person or group of people is only racist when what they say and do is driven by hate, a belief of racial superiority or both. The site is obviously satirical in nature and never states, or even implies, that whites are an inferior race because of our affinity for Wes Anderson films and public radio.
I think people find the idea of the site inherently offensive, regardless of content and intent, because it distinguishes one race from all other races. It’s important to recognize, however, that pretending our differences don’t exist is not a good way to relinquish racism. We are supposed to be celebratory and accepting of our diversity, not ignorant of it.
I believe in humor as an amazing unifier. Noticing differences in each other and being able to laugh at ourselves are great aspects of human nature that should not be stifled. Offensive or not, Stuff White People Like gets me laughing at myself, and I think that’s awesome. Maybe not as awesome as irony or Michel Gondry, but it’s still pretty great.
Alicia Mullins likes 89 out of 94 things that white people like.
