The Anatomy of a Joke

Humor is a funny thing.

I used to read The Boondocks comic strip and I loved its special brand of humor. Aaron McGruder did a great job of blending activism and wit with some good old black power to create something completely new on the comics page.

I never really got into McGruder's animated version of the comic strip on Cartoon Network, mainly because the first few episodes I watched really weren't that funny to me. But, the other night I saw one that was just hilarious, but for a very weird reason.

It was apparently one of the show's Christmas episodes, and the main plot was Huey Freeman's massive production of an atypical Christmas play that featured a black Jesus and several martial arts scenes. However, one of the subplots was the repeated attempts by Riley Freeman, Huey's thuggish little brother, to get revenge on Santa Claus for failing to come through with good Christmas gifts. Or, as Riley put it, "Paying what he owe."

It was a pretty entertaining episode, but one part stood out for me. Near the end of the show, after Riley has beaten one mall Santa with a golf club and shot another with a pellet gun, he and the show's tragic mulatto (I think her name is Janet DuBois) finally lose faith in Santa Claus. Riley proclaims that believing in Santa is for suckas, and DuBois, previously a staunch Santa supporter, tearfully agrees with him.

Until Uncle Ruckus appears.

Uncle Ruckus, for those not familiar with the character, is the epitome of an Uncle Tom. Actually, the term "Uncle Tom" doesn't even fully encompass the breadth of Ruckus' self hatred. Simply put, the only thing Ruckus loves more than white people is despising Negroes.

When Ruckus stumbles upon DuBois crying over Santa, he gently admonishes her for falling for Riley's cynical spiel. Ruckus tells her he's a secret agent working for Santa and that Santa couldn't make an appearance at the mall because of Riley's plan to kill him.

But, the funniest thing about the whole exchange, at least to me, was how Ruckus first approached DuBois. Just as Riley is walking away from DuBois and she is bawling her eyes out in disillusionment, Ruckus sidles up behind her and says something like, "I would expect this sort of thing from a heathen niglet like Riley, but not from a good mulatto like you."

That's right, he said "heathen niglet."

I couldn't stop laughing at that phrase. Because anybody who has watched The Boondocks or read the comic strip knows that it's a very accurate description of Riley's character. If anybody has ever been a heathen niglet, it's Riley Freeman.

I know the scene was meant to illustrate the simple-minded nature of Ruckus, but I still found his words ridiculously funny. I even shared the phrase "heathen niglet" with one of my friends, who also got a kick out of it. And then, for some strange reason, I decided to put the phrase "heathen niglet" into a Google search.

I'm not laughing anymore.

My God. I soon discovered that what I thought was a funny joke is a common term among white bigots for black children. I honestly was oblivious to this, in fact, I'd never even heard the term before watching the show. Yet "niglet," "negress," and a whole host of other hateful terms are apparently fairly common monikers for black people on certain websites.

It really made me think.

Dave Chappelle said he left his show on Comedy Central because he could no longer tell whether the people who watched his show were laughing with him or laughing at him. Chris Rock changed up his own style recently because he was worried that some of his jokes (particularly the one about the differences between black people and niggers) were being used by white people as cover for their own racist beliefs.

The truth is, when dealing with racial humor there's a fine line between heaven and the abyss. Black folks know that there are certain jokes we would never tell in mixed company because we don't trust our white friends or associates to handle their humor in the correct manner. Some truths can only be shared with those you trust explicitly.

One of the toughest things to explain to the average white person is that black humor is not something they should be experimenting with. It's hard for them to grasp the idea that their "politically incorrect" and marginally funny diatribes will not be received in the same manner as the jokes of a black comedian. Call it willful ignorace, arrogance, or just plain confusion, but it's a fact of life that white people struggle to grasp that distinction.

To be honest, I'm not sure whether "heathen niglet" is an acceptable or unacceptable term, but there is one thing I do know.

My laughter sure feels different.