There is certain wisdom in the saying that laughter is the best medicine. It is often easier to accept some of life’s absurdities by making fun of them. I know that the only way I’m able to even acknowledge some of the ridiculous things that occur within the US political system is with the help of John Stewart and “The Daily Show”. In cases of racial prejudices and stereotypes comedy is often used to show the absurdity of these perspectives.

The comedian Dave Chappelle often used his comedic show “The Chappelle Show” to address racial stereotypes in this very way. An episode of his that I feel best exemplifies this comedic tactic was the one with the “Black White Supremacist” skit. In this skit Dave Chappelle pretends to be a blind black man who is also a white supremacist. Through the absolutely absurd, and ridiculously funny, context of this skit Dave is able to get his audience to recognize the irrationality of this racist perspective while making them laugh.                      

The author, Firoozeh Dumas also discuss the issue of racial prejudice in her memoir “Funny in Farsi”. In many of the books chapters Dumas talks about how as an Iranian living in America, she had to endure the prejudice attitudes and behaviors of many Americans after the Iranian Revolution and the sequential hostage situation at the American embassy in Tehran. However, by using humor she attempts demonstrate the injustice of judging all Iranians by the extreme actions of certain individuals. For example, Dumas wrote that she used to say, “Have you noticed how all the recent serial killers have been Americans? I won’t hold it against you.” as a sarcastic way defending her right not to be generalized against for the actions of other Iranians.

Through comedy, many social issues that are difficult to discuss become easier to address. Through their jokes, comedians are able to cast light on stereotypes, failings within the political system and social injustice. Raising awareness and sharing differing perspectives on these issues through comedy paves the way for more serious dialogues to occur concerning these issues. In this way, comedy and humor can be very valuable.        

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