(Besides, even if the racist jokes aren't funny, the snark about the racism itself often is. For instance, in this section, the jokes Dara is reading off the autocue aren't funny, but John Oliver's reactions are.) But that's the thing - the history behind this hate is of war between approximate equals, not one of oppression of one group over another.
This is an interesting question, though, because if you subscribe to the "racism is privilege plus power" then jokes about approximate equals aren't racist at all. The British media seems to subscribe to a different definition of racism than the anti-racists of Racefail do. I remember when an English man was beaten in Scotland for supporting the wrong football team and it was described by the BBC as a racist hate crime. Certainly attitudes towards the Poles are often described as racist.
Now, this wouldn't fly in the US, definitionally. (Although prejudice against Spanish-speaking people might be described as racism whether or not they were white.) There are a lot of sticky issues regarding the definition of what is a different race and how that definition has changed over time. But by no means can English people in Scotland be seen as an oppressed group. And "racism against white people" is a veeeery sticky topic to bring into a wider discussion of racism.
Back to Mock the Week, I think that the comedy works on a lot of levels and I don't think it would be funny if it were actually racist. "Casual racism" in my mind means "thoughtless, unconscious racism" rather than "pointed and intentional airing of national stereotypes." If it were a BNP spokeman talking about the Poles it wouldn't be funny at all.
But even if that takes centuries - and it might, because the grievances and hatreds have had centuries to build - I can live with that, because European countries only tend to invade each other by accident these days.
Given that those hatreds do still have significant effects and do still sometimes result in wars--Kosovo, for example--I rather think it's up to the Europeans to decide whether they can live with them.
no subject
This is an interesting question, though, because if you subscribe to the "racism is privilege plus power" then jokes about approximate equals aren't racist at all. The British media seems to subscribe to a different definition of racism than the anti-racists of Racefail do. I remember when an English man was beaten in Scotland for supporting the wrong football team and it was described by the BBC as a racist hate crime. Certainly attitudes towards the Poles are often described as racist.
Now, this wouldn't fly in the US, definitionally. (Although prejudice against Spanish-speaking people might be described as racism whether or not they were white.) There are a lot of sticky issues regarding the definition of what is a different race and how that definition has changed over time. But by no means can English people in Scotland be seen as an oppressed group. And "racism against white people" is a veeeery sticky topic to bring into a wider discussion of racism.
Back to Mock the Week, I think that the comedy works on a lot of levels and I don't think it would be funny if it were actually racist. "Casual racism" in my mind means "thoughtless, unconscious racism" rather than "pointed and intentional airing of national stereotypes." If it were a BNP spokeman talking about the Poles it wouldn't be funny at all.
But even if that takes centuries - and it might, because the grievances and hatreds have had centuries to build - I can live with that, because European countries only tend to invade each other by accident these days.
Given that those hatreds do still have significant effects and do still sometimes result in wars--Kosovo, for example--I rather think it's up to the Europeans to decide whether they can live with them.