I recently returned from a trip with six friends. Over the course of 5 nights spent in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, countless jokes were made. Many of these jokes were racist, and all of us found them hilarious. When my girlfriend Emily told her parents about the racism in our host’s parents and the overall racist jokes told on the trip, no humor could be found. 

So why is racism funny to us and so terribly painful to our parents?

The only reason i can think of is that racism isn’t real to us. We go to college with people of all races and if we go to the store or out to dinner, we will surely see someone of another race being treated equally. Yes, we know that racism is still present, but it isn’t present in our lives. 

My parents remember the death of Martin Luther King Jr. and fought their parents ideals along with societal constructs to achieve the equality they waned for. Racism was their grandparent’s women’s rights and this generation’s gay rights. So maybe my children will make gay jokes (i hope so if that means there are full gay rights) in the same way my friends and i make racist jokes. 

Either that or society is slowly sliding back into a trench of darkness.