In the 2001 issue of the Catalyst’s April Fools edition (released Friday March 29th) an article titled “Niggalodean”, playing with the name Nickelodeon (a children’s tv show), was published. This particular article generated polarizing reactions from not only the black students and other student’s of color at the college but also parent’s of students at the college.
Discussion Section
The opinion pieces included above are yet another instance of the experiences that black students, as well as other CC student, had on the CC campus. Choosing to include these opinion pieces was not out of the question for me because I think it is important to be reminded that the recent racist incidents on the campus, including the malicious email that was written to the CC campus in 2018 are not happening for the first time and each time should be approached critically and not swept under the rug.
An Analysis
A closer look at the pieces in the “Insights” section bring to question the discussion about what constitutes a joke? Is it ok to joke about the oppression of other people and in ways that demeans the quality of life of a marginalized group?
“it was a confirmation of all of the micro-aggressions and all of the overt and subvert racism we as students had experienced, now proved by the college newspaper”
Menelek, Lemumba ’02. Interview by Palesa Mokoena. Tape Recording. Colorado Springs, February 10, 2019
In my personal experience I have found that the more removed I have been from something that is being joked about, the easier it has been for me to throw my head back and join in the laughter. But I have reacted differently when the issue is very close to home. I say this to say that it is all fair and well to joke but to really get to the root of the joke and analyze our positioning and see if we can’t come up with better jokes that won’t leave people enraged and then cover that up with the classical “stop being insensitive” excuse.
