Skip to main content
Article
But We’re Not Laughing: White Male College Students’ Racial Joking and What This Says About “Post-Racial” Discourse
Journal of College Student Development (2014)
  • Nolan L Cabrera, University of Arizona
Abstract

This study critically analyzes White male college student narratives regarding racial joking. Through semi-structured interviews, 29 participants described a pattern of behavior and rationalization: they heard and told racist jokes frequently; the jokes were framed as not racist; and the jokes were told only among White people, because the participants viewed minorities as overly sensitive. These students were far from post-racial (i.e., in a state where race no longer matters), despite the prevalence of this discourse, and this highlighted a shared responsibility in the perpetuation of racist practices among joke tellers, listeners, and institutions of higher education.

Keywords
  • Whiteness,
  • racial joking
Disciplines
Publication Date
2014
Citation Information
Cabrera, N. L. (2014) But we’re not laughing: White male college students’ racial joking and what this says about “post-racial” discourse. Journal of College Student Development, 55(1), 1-15.