Episode 117 — Is Everyone Racist?

[admin 330]

Is everyone racist? Andrew Ti and guest Jack Kukoda entertain this caller’s question and are sure he’s trying to win some sort of debate. Don’t celebrate your ignorance and keep it concise when leaving a message at (323) 389-RACE.

[wakefresh 689]

Andrew should have also noted that the people who say everyone is racist are usually the ones that are quick to downplay the racial aspects of any situation. So, in their minds, everyone racist but no one's actions and words are racist. Logical fail!

[wakefresh 689]

I wish Andrew would ask this guy about the "joke" the Onion made about Quvenzhane Wallis at the Oscars.

[Podus 108]

This is a repeat question. Same message. Good job Andrew. Lol

[sissylion 41]

I wish Andrew would ask this guy about the "joke" the Onion made about Quvenzhane Wallis at the Oscars.

 

Unless Jack wrote that tweet, I don't really see how it's relevant. The Onion has apologized and it's pretty clear that it was the work of only two or three. The whole conversation would just be, "Hey, that thing you guys said about Quvenzhane was super fucked up." "Yeah, it was. Sorry."

[wakefresh 689]

 

Unless Jack wrote that tweet, I don't really see how it's relevant. The Onion has apologized and it's pretty clear that it was the work of only two or three. The whole conversation would just be, "Hey, that thing you guys said about Quvenzhane was super fucked up." "Yeah, it was. Sorry."

 

It's relevant because he used to work at the Onion and can shed some light into how this "joke" even made it on to Twitter. It is not clear that it was the work of only two or three people within the organization. You can't say that because no one knows who put the tweet out there.

 

Also, I didn't know that once someone issues an apology that there should never be any conversation on it ever again. Is that a New No No that you just pulled out of your butt?

[sissylion 41]

Usually interns or people with some sort of "amateur" position within companies run Twitter feeds, and I don't feel as if that's any different for The Onion. I admit that I don't know how they run their feed, but I am almost entirely sure that that tweet was written by either an intern or a writer who hasn't been with the publication long and maybe was approved by some sort of editor. If that's the case (which, again, I don't factually know, but am extremely confident in my guesswork), then yeah, it's only up to a few people.

 

And concerning your second point, I never said anything of the like. It's just that there's no conversation to be had. There's no discussion about when to call a little girl a gendered slur, or when calling a little girl a gendered slur is right, or anything like that. There's no complexity to the issue. It was shitty, and that can be addressed in the matter of fifteen seconds.

[wakefresh 689]

Usually interns or people with some sort of "amateur" position within companies run Twitter feeds, and I don't feel as if that's any different for The Onion. I admit that I don't know how they run their feed, but I am almost entirely sure that that tweet was written by either an intern or a writer who hasn't been with the publication long and maybe was approved by some sort of editor. If that's the case (which, again, I don't factually know, but am extremely confident in my guesswork), then yeah, it's only up to a few people.

 

And concerning your second point, I never said anything of the like. It's just that there's no conversation to be had. There's no discussion about when to call a little girl a gendered slur, or when calling a little girl a gendered slur is right, or anything like that. There's no complexity to the issue. It was shitty, and that can be addressed in the matter of fifteen seconds.

 

 

So, even though you don't know how The Onion runs their twitter feed, you are certain of how they run their twitter feed, correct? Wouldn't it be nice have concrete answers to all of your guesses, or do you really not care how or why someone thought calling a little girl a cunt is funny?

 

And as far as there is no discussion to be had, reality doesn't bear that out now does it? If it was never a discussion to be had of the appropiateness of the calling a little girl a cunt, then the tweet wouldn't exist. But apparently there is a discussion that needs to be had because alot of people defended the tweet like Matt Kirshan and Joel Stein and the writers at Thing X. They feel that is very fine and ok to call a little girl a cunt if it is in the Pursuit of Comedy. Some of them even think that is very funny. I would've liked to know what take this guest would take.

[sissylion 41]

I don't see how knowing the way that The Onion runs their feed and knowing why someone thought that using a gendered slur was funny are related. If the tweet was made the way I think it was, then all it took was two people - the person who composed it and the person who approved it - to think it was funny or acceptable. When those two people were accosted, I can't imagine that the conversation went, "Hey, why did you think that was funny?" and more "What the fuck is wrong with you you're fired/on thin ice." Because when you get down to it, the only explanation that's really need is that those two people are racist/sexist. Trying to pinpoint why they thought the way that they did is going into the discussion of why bigotry exists in the first place, and when you get to that scale, bringing up one specific tweet is kind of pointless.

 

But I didn't know that anyone went to any lengths to defend the tweet. I thought that it was a pretty much universally shunned move. Fuck that. I do think that there's a lot of merit to be had in the discussion of whether or not "offensive comedy" is okay (spoiler: no), and if there was any sort of positive response, then yeah, it's definitely a good discussion point.

[wakefresh 689]

I don't see how knowing the way that The Onion runs their feed and knowing why someone thought that using a gendered slur was funny are related. If the tweet was made the way I think it was, then all it took was two people - the person who composed it and the person who approved it - to think it was funny or acceptable. When those two people were accosted, I can't imagine that the conversation went, "Hey, why did you think that was funny?" and more "What the fuck is wrong with you you're fired/on thin ice." Because when you get down to it, the only explanation that's really need is that those two people are racist/sexist. Trying to pinpoint why they thought the way that they did is going into the discussion of why bigotry exists in the first place, and when you get to that scale, bringing up one specific tweet is kind of pointless.

 

But I didn't know that anyone went to any lengths to defend the tweet. I thought that it was a pretty much universally shunned move. Fuck that. I do think that there's a lot of merit to be had in the discussion of whether or not "offensive comedy" is okay (spoiler: no), and if there was any sort of positive response, then yeah, it's definitely a good discussion point.

 

If you knew anything about the tweet you would have known that there were people, prominent people, defending the tweet. It sounds like you don't know as much as you think...about the situation overall or how the Onion tweet came to exist in the first place.

[sissylion 41]

"But I didn't know anyone went to any length to defend the tweet" is a thing I just said. I wasn't aware that some people tried to defend the tweet, and I have admitted my lack of knowledge pertaining to that particular instance. I feel as if I've made a strong effort to qualify everything I've said here with some statement that says that I don't know the intricacies of how The Onion operates. I'm not being obstinate in this idea that I'm completely right or entirely omniscient. Cool it, dude.

[wakefresh 689]

I feel as if I've made a strong effort to qualify everything I've said here with some statement that says that I don't know the intricacies of how The Onion operates. I'm not being obstinate in this idea that I'm completely right or entirely omniscient. Cool it, dude.

 

 

I didn't say you were. I merely pointed out that you don't know what you are talking about.

[president cage 13]

Obviously Ti is not going to take on the Onion. He needs guests.

[HipGuide 196]

Sorry Shariq that you got trolled by The Onion. It's a free country and I will defend the right of The Onion to say things like that joke. It was a bad joke, nonetheless.

[sissylion 41]

Sorry Shariq that you got trolled by The Onion. It's a free country and I will defend the right of The Onion to say things like that joke. It was a bad joke, nonetheless.

 

I hate literally everything about this.

[HipGuide 196]

 

I hate literally everything about this.

 

What is wrong with what I said?

[meshair 3]

Wasn't the Onion Tweet satire? They took the rampant sexism that people display towards female celebrities and showcased how gross it was by directing it towards a kid. At least, that's what I assumed they were doing.

[wakefresh 689]

Wasn't the Onion Tweet satire? They took the rampant sexism that people display towards female celebrities and showcased how gross it was by directing it towards a kid. At least, that's what I assumed they were doing.

 

Then you assumed wrong.

[wakefresh 689]

Sorry Shariq that you got trolled by The Onion. It's a free country and I will defend the right of The Onion to say things like that joke. It was a bad joke, nonetheless.

 

I doubt that you thought it was a bad joke. You probably laughed your ass off because calling a little girl a cunt is the FUNNIEST thing to you. And that it was a little black girl? Icing on the cake.

[president cage 13]

shariq knows what's in all of our minds

[wakefresh 689]

shariq knows what's in all of our minds

 

When people have to the need to defend something they call "bad jokes," then it must not have been too bad, right?

[Hyde Parker 9]

 

When people have to the need to defend something they call "bad jokes," then it must not have been too bad, right?

I mean, come on, dude. Just drop the scare quotes. We get it: Nothing is funny if it runs afoul of Critical Theory. It's all well and good if you want to wage dialectic warfare on every joke that falls flat but be explicit in what you're doing.

[wakefresh 689]

I mean, come on, dude. Just drop the scare quotes. We get it: Nothing is funny if it runs afoul of Critical Theory. It's all well and good if you want to wage dialectic warfare on every joke that falls flat but be explicit in what you're doing.

 

Once again we have someone commenting on something that they don't have the full story on (or even a quarter of the story). Hyde, those weren't scare quotes -- those were quotation marks, that is what you do when you are quoting somebody. The somebody I was quoting was Scott12345Troll. He, himself, called what the Onion did a bad joke...and went to say no one should be upset about it. How stupid is that? A person ADMITS that the joke is wrong, bad, and awful and yet still tells someone that they are not allowed to have negative feelings in response.

 

And I totally understand your sense of humor Hyde -- calling little girls cunts is on par with Voltaire. It's an added bonus that the girl was black. But if they really wanted to add on some more satire, they should have called her the n-word, right? That would've showed the PC police.

[Hyde Parker 9]

I can't say for certain how noted twitter comedian Voltaire would have reacted to cunt-gate, but I doubt very much he would still be scowling in resentment weeks and months after the fact. Bad jokes are part of comedy, integral to the comedic process, and if writers and performers don't have the leeway to make them the apparatus falls apart.

 

Get serious, man. I'm not even denying you your negative feelings. You like comedy with clearly delineated limits and those limits are near-always congruent with your politics. I don't know why you're so reticent to admit to Critical Theory opinions when you're posting on forums dedicated to the discussion of a Critical Theory podcast.

[wakefresh 689]

I can't say for certain how noted twitter comedian Voltaire would have reacted to cunt-gate, but I doubt very much he would still be scowling in resentment weeks and months after the fact. Bad jokes are part of comedy, integral to the comedic process, and if writers and performers don't have the leeway to make them the apparatus falls apart.

 

Get serious, man. I'm not even denying you your negative feelings. You like comedy with clearly delineated limits and those limits are near-always congruent with your politics. I don't know why you're so reticent to admit to Critical Theory opinions when you're posting on forums dedicated to the discussion of a Critical Theory podcast.

 

So, bad jokes are critical to the comedic process but how will anyone know that the joke didn't work? In your idiotic world it is impossible to give negative feedback, because somehow it is petty to do so. Also, where is this chart that outlines the appropriate time for closing off all discussion on a topic? You and Garrett seem VERY, VERY INTERESTED in just closing off any sort of discussion about the tweet. Garrett is a quasi-Pollyana who thinks that it is just common sense that everybody thought that the tweet was offensive. Hell, if that was case, then how does the tweet exist in the first place? Are the Onion writers not people. Are they really aliens from Omnicron Eight?

 

And you think that the expiration date on discussion about the topic died out a long time ago (the Oscars were in February), so just BRINGING IT UP is an offense, and is petty, and means I have no sense of humor. Then, to add on your stupid idea, you say it just a part of the comedic process to call children cunts. If anyone says they don't like a joke, you are stifling the creativity of these geniuses. So, how do comics know a joke is "bad" in Hyde's world? That's a trick question: there are no such thing as bad jokes. Every single joke is great and if you don't like it, that just means you're a ole stick in the mud like me.

 

What's that, you don't like being called racial slurs by some stupid alt comic? Hey, those jokes are a part of their act and you are stifling their creative freedom if you dare speak up on it. What's that, you don't like it when comics make jokes about killing their (hypothetical) gay son? Hey, after he apologizes one is to EVER bring it up again. Jeez, you big baby, get over it.

 

What is with you and Critical (Race) Theory? I applaud you on your Google skills, but you don't know the first thing about Critical Theory if you are defending that tweet. A more likely scenario is that you heard about it on some conservative talk radio show and now you think it is going to destroy all white people, enslave all white people, or some such nonsense.