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All I can say is... damn, I'm glad I still live in Toronto. Daniel's skit, and his comedy routine that he did on the boat (that was my favorite, really!), are just the sort of things people did in Toronto. Not me, granted, I wasn't that good. But there wasn't a person at my school that coudn't do a "buma-klat!" (yeah, okay, I have no idea how to spell it) with the Jamaicans, and frankly they'd spend a good part of their time laughing at us when we were making fools of ourselves. It was all in good fun. We lived near Jane and Finch in the 80s and 90s, it was definitely a melting pot, and there was definitely a sense of humor about each other's differences. Daniel said it best, we laughed at ourselves, our own backgrounds, we joked about our buddies and the stereotypes. I'm Polish, believe me, I'd get it a fair bit. :club: As an aside... the worst part is in the parts of Toronto where I grew up, about the only "race" that was mistreated were people that were Canadians going back more then a few generations. "Cakers" we'd call them. I mean, talk about messed up, you have a racial slang for the kids that could trace back their great-grand father to a place in Canada. My point being? I think we had it pretty good, and frankly I see this as being a more mature expression of humor where people move beyond "racial tolerance" to a state where race really doesn't matter, and humor is just another avenue for showing your appreciation of others. Anyway, I can understand not everyone being "there" yet, and some people being uncomfortable by the humor, but to each their own. Don't laugh if you dislike it, and move on.

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Daniel, I think your impression was very impressive. However, with all due respect, I am surprised that you don't seem to be appreciating why you generated the reaction you did with it. And since yo

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Thing is, if you spend a lot of time with people of other cultures, you actually become way more comfortable making fun of each other in a friendly way.
Daniel, I think your impression was very impressive. However, with all due respect, I am surprised that you don't seem to be appreciating why you generated the reaction you did with it. And since you do seem to be the kind of guy who triesto understand things, I thought I'd throw in my attempt at an explanation. I think your quote above comes close to the heart of the issue. The problem is, here in the U.S., we have a history in which this kind of making fun has been severely abused. (I believe someone else posted the wikipedia link on blackface, which is very thorough). There is, as a result of this history, the absence of the kind of trust between the races that you talk about having on a personal level with some members of other races, which allows this kind of humor to be exchanged. It's not taken as ribbing between friends when one party has enslaved the other for several centuries. In the context of this mistrust, white people have become very cautious about treading in this zone of humor. It makes us uncomfortable to see a white man dressed up in black makeup because it reminds us of what happened with the blackface genre. With time we may regain the kind of trust that would make this kind of joking "between friends" again, but sadly it does not seem we are at that point in history. By all means continue to express yourself in whatever form you see fit, but please try to understand the context in which your humor will be received. -vb
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