Watermelons and chimpanzees at the White House and stupid jokes we all send

Sometimes we send emails with content that we think are funny and amusing, but at the end they will make someone angry or think differently about us.


I remember some years ago I received some email jokes about the 9/11 attacks -sent to me by other Americans actually- and I forwarded them to close friends, not thinking about the consequences of having the NY and DC cityscapes filled with mesquites. Even today I remember my folks reactions.

But what can justify sending racist jokes with the title title "No Easter egg hunt this year" -you know implying that our first Black president eats watermelons like the stereotype has it- and doing it by using an official email address as a city Mayor. WTF

Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose -photo taken from his own website- thought the joke was funny and sent it to one of his volunteers who happened to be Black and who forwarded it to the media.

Grose will resign by Monday, in a city where 73% of the population is white and only 9% are black. At least Grose had the decency to admit his fault and leave.

On the contrary, The NY Post hasn't fired Sean Delonas, the guy who posted a racist cartoon showing a dead chimpanzee implying Obama's stimulus bill. Even if Rudolph Murdoch has apologized, the author is still working for that trashy newspaper.

Last week I was at an event with Afro descendants of Latin America, held in Washington, DC. I met a lady from Virginia who told me her experience at an "international market" when she saw a product made in Peru -where I was born- and she felt offended by the image representing a black woman as a colonial servant.

In the past, images that made fun of racial minorities and oppressed groups used to be funny and widely accepted. It was Ok. back then to mock people who otherwise have not access to equal rights. How far have we come!

As more people in the world gets to understand the value of diversity and the importance of equality among all cultures, we must educate ourselves about how other people feel when it comes to jokes or representations that involve themselves and/or their cultures.

If I had thought for a second that my friends would get offended by the religious joke I emailed them, I wouldn't have never shared it.

Take your time and check your messages before you click the send buttom. Think about how you would feel if you was in their position reading those messages.

As a matter of fact, why don't you stop sending silly jokes over the internet, and get to work or do something useful for once.

Enough said.




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