Citation

Cabrera NL. J. Coll. Stud. Dev. 2014; 55(1): 1-15.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, American College Personnel Association)

DOI

10.1353/csd.2014.0007

PMID

unavailable

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.

Language: en