Comic Provocations in Racial Culture: Barack Obama and the “Politics of Fear”

Emancipatory Racial Humor as Critical Public Pedagogy: Subverting Hegemonic Racism

“…Moreover, emphasizing the community building possibilities of critical race humor transforms the limitations of polysemy into an opportunity. Racial comedy creates opportunities “for interrogating and critiquing racial ideologies and injustices precisely because of the ambiguity and contingency … which provoke important conversations about race” (Rossing, , pp. 423–424).…”

Prudence and Racial Humor: Troubling Epithets

“…I contend that this polysemy strengthens racial humor as an important site for understanding prudence. Racial humor provokes vital conversations about appropriate conventions and judgments that further shape understandings of prudence across different contexts (Rossing, 2011). As particular audiences make sense of popular stories from their respective frames of reference, they join in (re)defining the guidelines that inform prudence in racial culture.…”

Deconstructing Postracialism

“…Humor, however, provides a starting point to provoke reflection and action and a compelling complement to “serious” discourse. Scholars who teach critical race theory and courses oriented toward social justice may find value in the talking points racial humor provides and the discussions it provokes (Rossing 2011). Humor that disrupts the logic of postracialism both performs and provides resources for rhetorical interventions to public debates about race.…”