No, not all Black people are amused by 'yo momma' jokes
That one day I wondered was my English degree a waste of money
It had been three days since former Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential election. I was knee deep in reading voter results, dissecting state-by-state rundowns and thinking of all the ways that voter suppression could’ve led to these results. Then, I saw a new email alert pop up.
I was being asked whether the editing team could salvage an article on “yo momma” jokes. I re-read the email, thinking of articles I’d written about the history of Thanksgiving, real estate investing, artificial intelligence, skincare health and travel safety while overseas. Useful content that someone could bookmark and hold onto for later use. How did I go from that to “yo momma” jokes — a type of joke that I didn’t even find funny when I was a kid?
Recommended Read: “Does my editor understand my audience? ~ Know your marketing deal-breakers ahead of time”
I responded by saying that I was the wrong person to ask, considering I preferred snarky, political commentary from comedians like Wanda Sykes and Chris Rock. (Full disclosure: I sided with Will Smith then and now, but I still paid to see Chris Rock live.) I received a condescending response to “put your editing hat on.” I stared at the email, thinking, “I’ve been editing for two decades. The hat is firmly in place. But right now you’re asking me to edit nonsense about somebody’s mom — when we’re about to have one of the most unapologetically racist people in the Oval Office after 34 felony convictions.”
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I told this person I would’ve never approved the post to begin with, considering how the comedic atmosphere has changed over the years on top of “yo momma” jokes just not being funny. (I think Dad pun jokes are goofy, but they’re harmless. Just dumb.) But what really threw me was this African woman lecturing me about how Black Americans like these jokes.
Recommended Read: “Black folks, stop doing the work of white supremacists ~ The Africa versus African American conflict needs to stop”
Wait. What? The last time I looked at my birth certificate, I qualified as a “Black American.” And if I’m telling her that I’m not into this type of humor and suggesting that someone else who does not hold this bias would be better suited to edit these “jokes,” I think that’s more reasonable than saying what I wanted to say:
“I DID NOT BEG MY PARENTS TO SPEND MULTI-THOUSANDS ON ME GETTING A DEGREE AT TWO OUT-OF-STATE SCHOOLS SO I COULD EDIT YO’ MOMMA JOKES.
-IN CLOSING, THREE BLACK AMERICANS.”
Everybody has different opinions on comedy. I get it. I’ve even interviewed Damon Wayans before, so it’s not like I’m totally opposed to slapstick comedy.
Recommended Read: "Comedian Damon Wayans releases serious new book 'Red Hats,'" Associated Content, May 13, 2010
But even when I did talk to him, our conversation was about the Red Hat Society, not him being Homey the Clown.