The souls of white jokes : how racist humor fuels white supremacy /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Pérez, Raúl (Sociology professor), author.
Imprint:Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2022]
©2022
Description:217 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Language:English
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12746905
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9781503611481
1503611485
9781503632332
1503632334
9781503632349
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:"Having a 'good' sense of humor generally means being able to take a joke without getting offended--laughing even at a taboo thought or at another's expense. The insinuation is that laughter eases social tension and creates solidarity in an overly politicized social world. But, do the stakes change when the jokes are racist? In The Souls of White Jokes Raúl Pérez argues that we must genuinely confront this unsettling question in order to fully understand the persistence of anti-black racism and white supremacy in American society today. W.E.B. Du Bois's prescient essay The Souls of White Folk was one of the first to theorize whiteness as a social and political construct based on a feeling of superiority over racialized others--a kind of racial contempt. Pérez extends this theory to the study of humor, connecting theories of racial formation to parallel ideas about humor stemming from laughter at another's misfortune. Critically synthesizing scholarship on race, humor, and emotions, he uncovers a key function of humor as a tool for producing racial alienation, dehumanization, exclusion, and even violence. Pérez tracks this use of humor from blackface minstrelsy to contemporary contexts, including police culture, politics, and far-right extremists. Rather than being harmless fun, this humor plays a central role in reinforcing and mobilizing racist ideology and power under the guise of amusement. The Souls of White Jokes exposes this malicious side of humor, while also revealing a new facet of racism today. Though it can be comforting to imagine racism as coming from racial hatred and anger, the terrifying reality is that it is tied up in seemingly benign, even joyful, everyday interactions as well-- and for racism to be eradicated we must face this truth"--
Other form:Online version: Pérez, Raúl (Sociology professor). Souls of white jokes. Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2022 9781503632349

MARC

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100 1 |a Pérez, Raúl  |c (Sociology professor),  |e author. 
245 1 4 |a The souls of white jokes :  |b how racist humor fuels white supremacy /  |c Raúl Pérez. 
264 1 |a Stanford, California :  |b Stanford University Press,  |c [2022] 
264 4 |c ©2022 
300 |a 217 pages :  |b illustrations ;  |c 23 cm 
336 |a text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a unmediated  |b n  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a volume  |b nc  |2 rdacarrier 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references and index. 
505 0 |a The racial power of humor -- Amused racial contempt, or a theory of white racist humor -- Hiding in plain sight : the racist humor of the far right -- Blue humor : the racist insults and injuries of the police -- President chimp : the politics of amused racial contempt -- Epilogue : racist humor and the cult(ure) of whiteness. 
520 |a "Having a 'good' sense of humor generally means being able to take a joke without getting offended--laughing even at a taboo thought or at another's expense. The insinuation is that laughter eases social tension and creates solidarity in an overly politicized social world. But, do the stakes change when the jokes are racist? In The Souls of White Jokes Raúl Pérez argues that we must genuinely confront this unsettling question in order to fully understand the persistence of anti-black racism and white supremacy in American society today. W.E.B. Du Bois's prescient essay The Souls of White Folk was one of the first to theorize whiteness as a social and political construct based on a feeling of superiority over racialized others--a kind of racial contempt. Pérez extends this theory to the study of humor, connecting theories of racial formation to parallel ideas about humor stemming from laughter at another's misfortune. Critically synthesizing scholarship on race, humor, and emotions, he uncovers a key function of humor as a tool for producing racial alienation, dehumanization, exclusion, and even violence. Pérez tracks this use of humor from blackface minstrelsy to contemporary contexts, including police culture, politics, and far-right extremists. Rather than being harmless fun, this humor plays a central role in reinforcing and mobilizing racist ideology and power under the guise of amusement. The Souls of White Jokes exposes this malicious side of humor, while also revealing a new facet of racism today. Though it can be comforting to imagine racism as coming from racial hatred and anger, the terrifying reality is that it is tied up in seemingly benign, even joyful, everyday interactions as well-- and for racism to be eradicated we must face this truth"--  |c Provided by publisher. 
650 0 |a Racism  |z United States. 
650 0 |a Wit and humor  |x Social aspects  |z United States. 
650 0 |a Wit and humor  |x Political aspects  |z United States. 
650 0 |a White people  |z United States  |x Attitudes. 
650 0 |a White people  |x Race identity  |z United States. 
651 0 |a United States  |x Race relations. 
650 6 |a Racisme  |z États-Unis. 
650 6 |a Humour  |x Aspect social  |z États-Unis. 
650 6 |a Humour  |x Aspect politique  |z États-Unis. 
651 6 |a États-Unis  |x Relations raciales. 
650 7 |a Race relations.  |2 fast  |0 (OCoLC)fst01086509 
650 7 |a Racism.  |2 fast  |0 (OCoLC)fst01086616 
650 7 |a White people  |x Attitudes.  |2 fast  |0 (OCoLC)fst01174817 
650 7 |a White people  |x Race identity.  |2 fast  |0 (OCoLC)fst01174825 
650 7 |a Wit and humor  |x Social aspects.  |2 fast  |0 (OCoLC)fst01176299 
651 7 |a United States.  |2 fast  |0 (OCoLC)fst01204155 
776 0 8 |i Online version:  |a Pérez, Raúl (Sociology professor).  |t Souls of white jokes.  |d Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2022  |z 9781503632349  |w (DLC) 2021052382 
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928 |t Library of Congress classification  |a E184.A1P3885 2022  |l JRL  |c JRL-Gen  |i 12883890 
927 |t Library of Congress classification  |a E184.A1P3885 2022  |l JRL  |c JRL-Gen  |e HESM  |b 117718055  |i 10409309