Play dumb

Racialicious writes a great bit about a letter from a reader citing an awkward work-related situation. Sometimes in-office jokes and community newsletters can rub people the wrong way, and even make you look like an asshat. A great idea is, when presented with an awkwardly racist joke, to just play dumb.

Put on a bewildered expression, act as if you don’t understand the joke, and ask your co-worker to explain it to you. He will not be able to explain why the joke is funny without evoking a racist stereotype.

I’m taking note of this for the next time something like that comes up. Often times I fume at moments like this and really go off. It would be a better, and smarter, play to feign stupidity just to increase the awkward racial tensions.

Racist jokes rely on an unspoken, shared knowledge of racist stereotypes. Without the stereotypes, there is no humor.

Being so critical of race sometimes, I suppose it would be interesting to play the opposite role just to see what happens next time.