Is Humor Really the Best Way to Deal with Racism?

By: Shahd Khourshed

We should all be familiar with the Black Lives Matter movement by now. This revolutionary movement has taken a huge toll on Gen Z’s political beliefs and overall interest in politics. While that is all good and well, there is definitely an issue here that needs to be addressed: Gen Z’s tendency to turn to humor. 

Don’t get me wrong; I am definitely a fan of coping with my problems with a self-deprecating joke or two. However, in this case, people are degrading and making fun of innocent lives that were wrongly taken. What change is being made when someone adds “arrest the killers of Breonna Taylor” after a meaningless joke? What change is being made when someone posts a TikTok saying “this video has an ungodly amount of shares because black lives still matter” for clout? What change is being made when someone signs the Manny flag petition instead of the Justice for Toyin petition?

Clout chasing, quirky captions, and memes are not how anyone should demand justice or make a difference. They are how people devalue and exploit the lives taken by police brutality and white supremacy. This “coping” mechanism has proven to be inconsiderate to the many black lives out there. The worst part of this “coping” mechanism is that racism isn’t something anyone is meant to cope with. It’s meant to be uncomfortable and uneasy. How else are we to grow and realize that the world needs to change? Racism has been around for too long and far too many people have suffered at its hands. The last thing we need to do is bring hurtful and demeaning jokes to the movement trying to protect those lives.

Why is it so hard to demand justice without all this faux activism? Using Breonna Taylor’s name or the BLM movement to increase your social media following is as disgusting as it gets. It’s a shame that even dead, black lives don’t matter enough to be taken seriously. Belittling someone’s entire life and death to a meme is as disrespectful as a person can be. Spreading the phrase “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor” for shares on social media isn’t helping her or anyone else get any closer to justice. Instead, try saying “Arrest Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove” because too many people don’t even know the names of her killers. Spreading this phrase will help destroy the anonymity of those who wronged her.

I understand that some of the tweets and Tiktoks are well-intentioned and are just trying to spread awareness. However, this is not the most productive way of doing it. Jokes and memes don’t provide any information or resources beyond “coping.” The best things to do are to listen, learn, sign petitions, and do anything that will help create an actual difference. 






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