Does it really matter?

We live in a society where the somewhat pervasive notion of political correctness is viewed as both a blessing and a curse. The loophole, of course, is that if you’re stereotyping your own race or, if you have been given a friend’s permission, then it is not politically incorrect. Right?

On an episode of the NBC reality show “Last Comic Standing” that aired earlier this summer, a homosexual comedian named Ant told a joke whose punch line was something like, “…because in Las Vegas four Queens always beats a Straight.” This joke received a pretty big laugh despite the fact that it wasn’t very funny.

Did the audience laugh because they had a deficient sense of humor and found that joke genuinely hilarious, or were they laughing because he made a gay joke? Or were they laughing at the thought of four stereotypical homosexuals throwing down with a random straight man outside some seedy Vegas bar? Would Comic host Jay Mohr have gotten away with that joke without some boos and gasps?

How hard can white people laugh at the Chris Rock stand-up comedy bit “N— vs. Black People” without being considered racists? I’m actually going to answer this question and say that laughter is appropriate right up until the point where a non-black person says “That’s a n— for you!!!” That’s something I’ve actually heard. Verbatim. Suffice it to say that the mood was ruined for the rest of the night.

Let’s say I’m a Muslim born and raised in Saudi Arabia (or Iraq or Iran or Afghanistan or Turkey or…), and I am a high school student studying in the United States. Another Muslim, a first generation Indian (let’s call him Neil), who was born and raised in an American suburb and is very Americanized, is having a brief conversation with one of his white friends (I’ll call him Danny) between classes. As Neil is passing the Saudi (or Iraqi or Iranian or Afghan or Turk or…) Danny yells out “Have a nice class, Osama!” after which the Americanized Indian laughs and responds: “Yeah, okay,” clearly not offended. Does the Saudi have the right to be offended? If he makes a fuss, will anything change? Will Neil, the Indian, turn on his white friend? If the person toward whom the comment is made is not offended, does anyone else have the right to be?

What if Neil was instead a suburban African-American named Chris. Danny was still white, American Danny, and the Saudi was a regular teen named, let’s see, Thaddeus Edwards II from a predominantly black neighborhood? Do I, I mean does he, have the right to get offended if what was said was actually “Have a nice class my n—”? Can a bystander be offended now?

That brings me to the cheeseburger. In 11th grade, my friend and I were discussing what we were in the mood to eat. He said he wanted a “Jew Deluxe.” I didn’t get it. He then explained to me that Jews who kept kosher were not allowed to consume meat and dairy in the same meal, nor were they allowed to feast on the flesh of a pig, which would make the bacon cheeseburger, the “Jew Deluxe,” doubly sacrilegious.

Since then, he and I have used that term almost exclusively when describing bacon cheeseburgers. He is Jewish, and thus he has every right to use the term whenever he sees fit. But in what circumstances can I, a gentile, use the term? What if I start explaining the meaning to a peer and a Jewish person only hears “I want a Jew Deluxe?” Am I now a bad person for using this term? I don’t know. I’ve asked enough questions; maybe I can start figuring out some answers.