Don’t Allow the Left to Define Racism or Humor

OPINION | The opinions expressed in this article are that of the writer and may not necessarily reflect those of Tatum Report LLC

The radical left likes to pretend racism is omnipresent and that humor doesn’t exist. Racism and humor are two conditions not usually linked. But, when we allow radical leftists to define racism and humor through things like BLM-driven CRT and big tech censorship, we allow for the proliferation of racism and the eventual extinction of humor.

I grew up in a town where everyone was white. Well, I can recall only one black family. The dad managed the town’s only department store. A decade or two later, a Puerto Rican community would establish itself and add another Catholic ethnicity to the mix I’ll introduce momentarily.

But it would be a mistake to presume all-white towns lacked diversity. Ethnically, the town was an explosive mix of Polish, French, and Irish ancestry. The Germans were also well represented. And while these ethnicities were Caucasian and predominately Catholic, they were quite diverse in language, cuisine, and other customs. Each even had its own separate church and school.

As kids, many of us were first or second-generation Americans. We were proud of our ethnic heritage, but we were American first. There is no reason you can’t be resolutely American and be proud of your Polish, French, or Irish (or Japanese, Ethiopian, or Puerto Rican) roots.

People from every part of town attended the annual Polish, French, and Irish picnics. Still, that didn’t keep us from nipping at each other with ethnic jokes, which radical leftists now consider hate crimes. Hey, my Polish best friend told me the best Polish jokes.

Were the jokes always light-hearted? Not always. We were kids, so sometimes they were hurtful and mean. That should be condemned, and when it happens in settings like in school, punished. But the intent is an important element of both accusations of racism and attempts at humor, and people should acknowledge those differences.

I thought of Clint Eastwood’s classic movie Gran Torino because he plays a white Korean War vet of Polish Catholic descent. Leftists criticized the film because of its “off-color” humor and liberal use of ethnic slurs and stereotypes.

Leftists don’t care about the all-important context and intent. But the characters’ actions were far more important than their words. They were benign and good-natured, not intended for someone who takes themselves too seriously. Still, to enjoy the movie fully, you’d have to accept the jokes and slurs in context, something the radical left refuses to do.

Clint’s character and his friends share good-natured Polish, Irish, Italian, and other ethnic jokes and banter. His character also makes ethnic slights toward his new Hmong neighbors, which is funny—in context. But, as the movie and their relationships progress, the Asian family next door comes to have affection for this proud, politically incorrect, white Polish-American man (spoiler alert) who eventually sacrifices his life for them.

It was one of the most non-racist movies I’ve ever seen. I came away understanding more about the Hmong people (America’s allies during the Vietnam War) and more about an old, white, Polish, war vet, and widower. I can’t imagine that movie being half as impactful if political correctness didn’t allow the story arc to develop, flourish, and resolve. It’s important to note, some of the Hmong folks displayed bigotry toward him, too.

More recently, and fortunately, we can still find some entertainment that hasn’t totally surrendered to the politically correct, anti-humor censorship establishment. My wife and I don’t like leftist political issues and propaganda shoved down our throats. If you can present a provocative subject in a way that is organic, true to life, real, we appreciate that and may gain a better understanding of a provocative issue.

But we can tell the difference between a director, producer, or writer conveying an issue as organic, something natural, and when they’re trying to shove a political agenda in the viewer’s face.

As for current TV, growing up in Massachusetts, we all knew about Provincetown (P-Town), at the far end of Cape Cod, being a popular destination for gay folks. So what, right? Right. But when we saw the trailers for the Starz TV show Hightown, we liked the two main stars but were still hesitant. We feared it was just another “Hollywood” vehicle to promote a leftist LGBTQ+ political agenda (we see how they treat gay conservatives). We were wrong about Hightown.

The show develops authentically, with all the characters, black, white, Asian, gay, straight, and inbetweener. The characters are believable, and the default position is not auto-leftist. They are honest, true to the story, and the show’s writers are not afraid to let them be politically incorrect. For example, in one scene, a straight black male suspect and a gay female cop shoot and wound each other.

Later, the officer is in a visitor’s room waiting to interview that suspect at the correctional facility. The black suspect walks in, sees her, raises his hands, and says, “hands up, don’t shoot.” She looks at him, pauses, and then says, “Back at ‘cha.” Most conservatives recoil at the hands-up myth. But, as a conservative cop, I found that scene funny and real.

We can’t let the radicals define humor for the world.

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Steve Pomper

Steve Pomper is an author, freelance writer, and retired Seattle police officer. During his career, he served as a field training officer, on the Community Police Team, and as a mountain bike patrol coordinator. He’s written five books, including The Obama Gang and De-Policing America, and he is a contributor to the National Police Association and a freelance writer for The Tatum Report.

Originally from New England, he’s a Boston sports fan. He now lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Jody, a retired firefighter. He enjoys spending time with his adult kids and three grandchildren.