Race has been the target of people’s jokes in America since the start of our country as we know it. In the 1700’s, it was used to degrade and berate those seen as “inhumane”, but has that tone ever changed? Or maybe people heard screaming, “You’re brown!” down Grants Pass High School hallways do not see the harm in their humor when joking about something that no one has any jurisdiction over.

A person’s color tends to make an appearance in jokes around the age of eleven or twelve. According to Jennifer Kuang, a freshman, “I think I remember around 6th grade people just saying rude racist jokes.” Some have the idea that it’s just kids being kids, yet we still hear the verbal berates of comedy every day.

Recently, racial jokes have been a problem at Grants Pass High School. One source, a freshman named Molly Crawford mentioned, “This guy bought a dark chocolate bar, and when he opened it up he said, ‘it looks just like my black friend.’ I mean people laughed in discomfort but, overall, it just wasn’t funny.” This reaction seems to be common, yet people do not read the tone of discomfort. This allows the person who told the joke to keep making racial jokes. Eventually, the trail of comedy stops, and just becomes disrespectful.

However, people of color are not the only ones being targeted. Crawford added, “ Oh, yeah. I get a lot of Nazi jokes. I mean it sucks, but what can you do?” What struck was her tone. Crawford showed that offensive jokes are a regular, acceptable practice--as if admitting defeat, and allowing people to keep joking about something she cannot even control. People do not know when to stop until their words go too far.

Race jokes have been allowed to stain society for far too long, and will only persist if nobody bothers to be up-front. Do not worry about what people will think, and just stand up for targets of race jokes. There are so many ways to be funny without having to be degrading. Now, it is all about just breaking the normal, and breaking the awkward laughs.