A conversation about conversations about bigotry

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Overcast

I've always believed a genuinely humorous joke at the expense of any group helps deflate bigotry by reducing the serious nature of the topic thus weakening both those who genuinely believe the joke's contents, and those unwilling to admit to allow themselves to be belittled in any way.

Nope.

Bigoted jokes contribute to bigotry because it creates an idea of what kind of bigotry is "okay". "Well, I can't say I hate asians, but I can say they're shitty drivers!" Meanwhile, these things promote stereotypes that affect how people behave in their day to day lives.

EDIT: Expanding on this, you are essentially creating safe speech for bigots, giving them behavior they can hide behind, and laughing along with them and telling them their bigotry is okay because hey you aren't ______ so it doesn't hurt you. And yes, there are members of oppressed groups who think such behavior is okay, but they tend to be the ones most disconnected from fighting for the rights of the groups they are a part of.