The truth behind racial/ethnic jokes and stereotypes tackled: “That’s Racist with Mike Epps”

Mike Epps got into trouble last week for posting a joke photo and caption on Martin Luther King Day depicting a black man with white slaves. On the other hand, Epps is about to portray the late great Richard Pryor, who broke barriers in stand-up with his brutal honesty onstage, talking about race and his own experiences with it.

Somewhere in the middle is everyone else.

We all deal with racial jokes based on stereotypes regarding our own heritage.

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In a new webseries that debuted today on AOL, “That’s Racist with Mike Epps,” the comedian — along with a roundtable of comedians that includes Randy and Jason SklarHelen HongRick OvertonJohn Viener and Sharon Houston — and academics get to the heart and the history of the matter.

“But I’ve always wondered: Where do these jokes and stereotypes come from?” Epps says in the introduction. “Each episode will start with a joke. Then we’ll uncover the facts and the fiction behind the stereotypes.”

“Are we going to offend some people? Hell yeah!” he said. “But we might just find out some truth.”

The webseries has 10 episodes — the first five of which dropped online today. What’s so wrong about loving fried chicken? Why wouldn’t anyone want to save some money on all of their purchases? Do some cultures just not know how to drive, or is their skill determined by some other factor? We all know that not all Muslims are terrorists, but what has that perception done to our society and theirs? And we’ve all seen White Men Can’t Jump, haven’t we?

Episode 1, “Black People Love Fried Chicken”

Episode 2, “Jews Are Cheap”

Episode 3, “Asians Can’t Drive”

Episode 4, “Muslims Are Terrorists”

Episode 5, “White Men Can’t Jump”

That’s Racist with Mike Epps” on AOL On Originals.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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