[Humour] Is this joke offensive?

[Tyrone Biggums]

Absolutely backwards and nonsensical reasoning.

The "joke" is based on a racial stereotype therefore racist.

Kenya isn't a race. It's a nationality. Do you not know the difference?

ANYONE can be Kenyan, even you.

 

[JBizzle]

You're stereotyping yourself, reads like you think all Kenyans look a like. A Kenyan could look like any person from anywhere on the planet. Dev Patel's parents are Kenyan. Does he fit your stereotype of what Kenyans look like?

You're also suggesting that Kenyans are some how beneath other people because when you say other people are punching down you're telling everyone you think they are lower in some kind of way.

Where did he say anything about Kenyan's appearance? It's about the stereotyping of a nation based on a perception that certain countries being good or bad at certain things. The fact is whether I find it offensive or not as a joke, it's not my place to get offended on behalf of others. FWIW, I think it's just not a funny joke and could be perceived as racist whether intended or otherwise.

If some find it offensive, they'd be justified in doing so IMO. I'm not sure why people get so upset about people getting offended by things. Generally, the noise from people getting offended by people being offended is always FAR louder than the initial incident.

 

[Hamilton]

Attended a dinner in London night.

One of the Comedian's gags was...…

"I went to the Doctors last week and he said I've now got to have a pacemaker, so I've a got little Kenyan bloke comes everywhere with me now"

As one of the organisers of the dinner I was approached at the end and told by a guest they found that gag had crossed the line.

No doubt I will get flamed on here by some, but sorry with all that's currently going on in the country and the world in general, are we danger of becoming a little too precious?

I'm assuming that if the joke you have shared is being told in Kenya then the person narrating this imagined experience would change the nationality of the runner to someone from another country? If they need to change the nationality of that runner, then why?

It's not particularly offensive, and even the concept made me smile, but in it's current telling it leans on the need to identify a pacemaker through a stereotype. I'm not offended by it at all, just interested in deconstructing it a bit.

 

[Baldrick]

Everyone has their own choice on whether to be offended or not

If somoneone wants to choose to be offended I wont take offence at their choice. Its called tollerence and accepting people are allowed to have different views and can disagree in a free society.

The only time I am offended is when someone trys to tell me what I must think or say.

 

[goldstone]

Attended a dinner in London night.

One of the Comedian's gags was...…

"I went to the Doctors last week and he said I've now got to have a pacemaker, so I've a got little Kenyan bloke comes everywhere with me now"

As one of the organisers of the dinner I was approached at the end and told by a guest they found that gag had crossed the line.

No doubt I will get flamed on here by some, but sorry with all that's currently going on in the country and the world in general, are we danger of becoming a little too precious?

Funny. Not in the slightest offensive. Anyone who thinks it is offensive should first check with a Kenyan.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Where did he say anything about Kenyan's appearance? It's about the stereotyping of a nation based on a perception that certain countries being good or bad at certain things. The fact is whether I find it offensive or not as a joke, it's not my place to get offended on behalf of others. FWIW, I think it's just not a funny joke and could be perceived as racist whether intended or otherwise.

If some find it offensive, they'd be justified in doing so IMO. I'm not sure why people get so upset about people getting offended by things. Generally, the noise from people getting offended by people being offended is always FAR louder than the initial incident.

They said it was racist.

Saying a nation is good or bad at something has zero to do with race. So if they see it as racist then they must be basing it on something else other than a nationality.

Are you seriously suggesting that a joke about Brazil being good at football could be considered racist?

 

[hart's shirt]

As one of the organisers of the dinner I was approached at the end and told by a guest they found that gag had crossed the line.

You shouldn't be surprised that it got at least one more retelling during the evening.

It's clearly a running gag.

 

[zefarelly]

You shouldn't be surprised that it got at least one more retelling during the evening.

It's clearly a running gag.

I think he just told them to jog on.

 

[pb21]

Funniest thing I've read here all week.

Well played.

Funnier than the joke?

 

[m@goo]

Kenya isn't a race. It's a nationality. Do you not know the difference?

ANYONE can be Kenyan, even you.

Yes I know Kenya is a country but the joke is still based on a racial stereotype of an ethnic group. You probably know this so you're nitpicking something trivial and not relevant.

It's just an unfunny, crap, racist joke. Was the Kenyan called Chalkie as well?

 

[Shy Talk]

Funny. Not in the slightest offensive. Anyone who thinks it is offensive should first check with a Kenyan.

If you can catch one!

 

[CheeseRolls]

Funny. Not in the slightest offensive. Anyone who thinks it is offensive should first check with a Kenyan.

Agreed, I am a complete rascist, yet one of my friends is a Kenyan. He loves it when I ask him to race down to the shops to pick something up for me. We always have a good laugh about it too (well at least I do).

 

[pb21]

Kenya isn't a race. It's a nationality. Do you not know the difference?

ANYONE can be Kenyan, even you.

You're correct, the first person I thought of as a 'Kenyan bloke' was Chris Froome and I thought why would he be a pacemaker, he's a cyclist

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Agreed, I am a complete rascist, yet one of my friends is a Kenyan. He loves it when I ask him to race down to the shops to pick something up for me. We always have a good laugh about it too (well at least I do).

A dyslexic racist? May not be as small a subset as you might imagine judging by Twitter.

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

Yes I know Kenya is a country but the joke is still based on a racial stereotype based on an ethnic group. You probably know this so you're nitpicking something trivial and not relevant.

It's just an unfunny, crap, racist joke. Was the Kenyan called Chalkie as well?

It's not a racial stereotype. It's a sporting one.

Brasil are good at football
USA are good at basketball
Sweden are good at Curling

If you make a joke about any of those sports it's not racist. But in your views it would be?

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

You're correct, the first person I thought of as a 'Kenyan bloke' was Chris Froome and I thought why would he be a pacemaker, he's a cyclist

They do have pacemakers in track cycling...

 

[hart's shirt]

Kenya isn't a race. It's a nationality.

A top Kenyan athlete is currently being treated in A&E having been shot at close range by a starter pistol.

Police believe it was race-related.

 

[Bold Seagull]

They said it was racist.

Saying a nation is good or bad at something has zero to do with race. So if they see it as racist then they must be basing it on something else other than a nationality.

Are you seriously suggesting that a joke about Brazil being good at football could be considered racist?

The implication of the joke is pretty clear beyond the literal statements of Kenyan's being good at running and statistically being short. The joke works on the notion of servitude, the 'little' is needed not because Kenyan's are small, but by someone having an unseen servant following them about. The humour is in the subject of the joke being served.

Now in many cases, the idea of subservience may not conjure up any historical or cultural references, but I would have thought with a former colonial African country it probably does.

 

[Chicken Run]

Yes

Then job done, who gives a **** what a few fragile folk on this site think [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[NooBHA]

It's racial stereotyping, so yes it's an offensive racist joke that you'd expect to hear from Jim Davidson and it's depressing that no one else can see it.

Normally I'm the first person to attack people for racial stereotyping but I found it funny.

I think that's because there was a whole documentary made when the Kenyan bloke was going to try and break the Marathon World Record. One of the main things around the whole documentary was his assistance of his Kenyan Team mates as " Pacemakers ". So I see it as positive stereotyping of the use of his Kenyan Team Mates. So I find it funny as it shows Kenyans is a positive rather than negative light