Fundamentally, though, the problem was not that the speaker was a Congressman, or White, or Middle-Aged....and it was not that there were (evidently) a number of Black Republicans in the audience listening to the 'joke'....but rather that the speaker was an idiot.
Opening a luncheon with a 'joke' about a scheduled hanging is just plain stupid -- regardless of the situation. As a matter of fact, It's difficult to imagine a context in which 'hanging humor' would ever play well (and, of course, some contexts are worse than others when it comes to terminally idiotic stabs at humor). Bad enough, for example, to offer a 'rape' joke -- worse, to do that at a NOW Convention.
The point is, as Einstein is said to have noted, "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe!"
And the problem is: our own natural human tendency to see the world through our categorically biased glasses.
If we are Black, as a for instance, when we suffer the inevitable instances of stupidity, rudeness, idiocy, inefficiency, laziness, and ill-will (to name but a few of our least favorite things) it's easier to see them as Racist, in nature, exactly because we're Black. If we are Women, it's easier to see them as Misogynistic. If we're Gay, those same assaultive, micro-aggressive things are Homophobic. If we're Trans, they're Transphobic. If we're short, it's because Tall People get all the breaks...and if we're fat or ugly (or God forbid, both) then we're being so afflicted because 'Everyone Hates the Fat & Ugly, especially if they're short.
Sometimes we're right. But most of the time the inevitability of stupidity, rudeness, idiocy, inefficiency, laziness, and ill-will is entirely generic.. It's not racist, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-fat, whaterver...it's just another example of the infinite plenitude of stupidity. And WE (whoever we are and whichever categories we inhabit) are just collateral damage. We're the ones who happen to be standing there when a local 'idiot bomb' goes off.
I read a story a few years back, written by Tim Constantine, which illustrates this point perfectly. Here it is (sorry for the long quote):
"On a recent episode of her podcast, Mrs. Obama recounted a story of taking her two daughters out for ice cream with a friend after a soccer game. When their turn came to place their order another customer tried to jump in front of them. Mrs. Obama spoke up and the would-be line cutter shamefully and silently moved back.
I experienced a similar incident at the security line at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Some individuals can be slow in removing their shoes, pulling their laptop from their bag and adhering to the other safety protocols required by the TSA. I was fourth in line with another half-dozen backed up behind me as we all waited for the person in the front of the line to move along. One woman at the rear of the line ignored us all and walked to the front. She apparently didn’t believe the societal concept of waiting your turn applied to her. Like Mrs. Obama, I spoke up. The woman was angry, but went back to her correct location in line.
Two very similar incidents. We were both waiting in line. We both experienced a rude person trying to cut into our line. Mrs. Obama and I both spoke up and corrected the person. The only difference? Michelle is convinced the rude line-cutter, who was White, cut ahead of her and her daughters because the Obama family is Black. Further, she believes this ice cream line bandit represents, in Mrs. Obama’s words, “the white community.” She has no doubt this societal faux pas was racial in nature. Conversely the airport security line violator that I experienced was a Black woman. It never occurred to me that race had anything to do with it. I just thought she was impatient and rude. Ironically, the woman who attempted to jump the security line at DCA angrily told me to enjoy my “white privilege” because I asked her to wait in the same line as everyone else."
Sometimes...indeed, probably most times... a cigar is just a cigar. And a bad and tasteless joke is just a bad and tasteless joke: "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." When we realize that, it should be easy to let it go.
Great example...in all kinds of ways.
Fundamentally, though, the problem was not that the speaker was a Congressman, or White, or Middle-Aged....and it was not that there were (evidently) a number of Black Republicans in the audience listening to the 'joke'....but rather that the speaker was an idiot.
Opening a luncheon with a 'joke' about a scheduled hanging is just plain stupid -- regardless of the situation. As a matter of fact, It's difficult to imagine a context in which 'hanging humor' would ever play well (and, of course, some contexts are worse than others when it comes to terminally idiotic stabs at humor). Bad enough, for example, to offer a 'rape' joke -- worse, to do that at a NOW Convention.
The point is, as Einstein is said to have noted, "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe!"
And the problem is: our own natural human tendency to see the world through our categorically biased glasses.
If we are Black, as a for instance, when we suffer the inevitable instances of stupidity, rudeness, idiocy, inefficiency, laziness, and ill-will (to name but a few of our least favorite things) it's easier to see them as Racist, in nature, exactly because we're Black. If we are Women, it's easier to see them as Misogynistic. If we're Gay, those same assaultive, micro-aggressive things are Homophobic. If we're Trans, they're Transphobic. If we're short, it's because Tall People get all the breaks...and if we're fat or ugly (or God forbid, both) then we're being so afflicted because 'Everyone Hates the Fat & Ugly, especially if they're short.
Sometimes we're right. But most of the time the inevitability of stupidity, rudeness, idiocy, inefficiency, laziness, and ill-will is entirely generic.. It's not racist, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-fat, whaterver...it's just another example of the infinite plenitude of stupidity. And WE (whoever we are and whichever categories we inhabit) are just collateral damage. We're the ones who happen to be standing there when a local 'idiot bomb' goes off.
I read a story a few years back, written by Tim Constantine, which illustrates this point perfectly. Here it is (sorry for the long quote):
"On a recent episode of her podcast, Mrs. Obama recounted a story of taking her two daughters out for ice cream with a friend after a soccer game. When their turn came to place their order another customer tried to jump in front of them. Mrs. Obama spoke up and the would-be line cutter shamefully and silently moved back.
I experienced a similar incident at the security line at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Some individuals can be slow in removing their shoes, pulling their laptop from their bag and adhering to the other safety protocols required by the TSA. I was fourth in line with another half-dozen backed up behind me as we all waited for the person in the front of the line to move along. One woman at the rear of the line ignored us all and walked to the front. She apparently didn’t believe the societal concept of waiting your turn applied to her. Like Mrs. Obama, I spoke up. The woman was angry, but went back to her correct location in line.
Two very similar incidents. We were both waiting in line. We both experienced a rude person trying to cut into our line. Mrs. Obama and I both spoke up and corrected the person. The only difference? Michelle is convinced the rude line-cutter, who was White, cut ahead of her and her daughters because the Obama family is Black. Further, she believes this ice cream line bandit represents, in Mrs. Obama’s words, “the white community.” She has no doubt this societal faux pas was racial in nature. Conversely the airport security line violator that I experienced was a Black woman. It never occurred to me that race had anything to do with it. I just thought she was impatient and rude. Ironically, the woman who attempted to jump the security line at DCA angrily told me to enjoy my “white privilege” because I asked her to wait in the same line as everyone else."
Sometimes...indeed, probably most times... a cigar is just a cigar. And a bad and tasteless joke is just a bad and tasteless joke: "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." When we realize that, it should be easy to let it go.