Making a joke or jokes about the visual difference of black people, is it racism? Why yes, why not?

[Anonymous]

The other day I made a joke in another social media group about the color of a person's skin. "That one over there is a ""hot chocolate""" my joke was supposed to say that person looks very hot and beautiful, but it seems I had been accused of being racist.
In my real life experience black people some time had told me even more racist jock where I had asked myself "is it ok to joke like that?"
Anyway, should I make absolutely no joke about our differences? I don't come from a former colonizing country, so it's not a problem to make a cute joke there. But in a country with a troubled past, it seems that it is.

[BeMuse]

If you go back and look in older English dictionaries that were distributed in print before the entire woke commie movement tried to change the meaning of the English language to deceive and confuse you, then you will find that racism has a specific meaning.

Racism: The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability AND that a particular race is superior to others.

Both criteria have to be met. That is to say for example, because you are Black you are of inferior intelligence to White people. All White people are born much smarter than all Blacks due to their race. That is an example of racism. If you examine statistics and say that on average Blacks have a lower IQ than Whites that is not racist. You are allowing for variation in intelligence (a trait) in both races and opening the possibility that some Blacks that beat the averages will be smarter than average Whites even though average Whites are smarter than average Blacks based on statistical evidence.

Generalizations of a community are not racism. For example if I say, White people are pretty tall, that is a reasonable generalization. If you examine statistics White nations in Europe, the Americas, and Oceania tend to be taller on average than the rest of the world. If you think all people of a specific race process said traits and that some how makes them inferior or superior to a different race, then that is racism. So say for example you say all Black people have big noses and big lips which makes them top heavy and more likely to stumble over and fall on their face clumsily, thus they are inferior to Asians who all have smaller facial features giving them the ability to move more gracefully, then that would be racist. Words have meanings.

People can look at you and make fun of you. It's not racist to be rude. It doesn't imply your traits are universal in your race and a result of your race, nor does it imply that those traits make you inferior for any specific reason. If I say Black people have big noses, how do you not know it's a negative thing? What if I was going to say, people with big noses, tend to get sick less often because they have and advantage at filtering air? There are some studies that suggest that... How do you know I think one trait that is common in your race makes your entire race inferior or superior to others? It's just one adaptation to the environment where you evolved. Most birds can fly... Is that racist? No it's just a common trait of an animal that adapted. While many people would probably like to be able to fly, a lot more people enjoy their grasping hands thanks to our opposable thumbs. Traits have trade offs. They may give you a leg up at one activity and be a disadvantage at another one.

[jshm2]

The rule of thumb to not telling racist jokes, is not to use such language, unless you are that race.

[QuietVerbena]

That is a little racist in my opinion. It sounds like you’re fetishizing her skin color. But I will defer to the opinion of a female person of color on this issue, since they’re the ones directly affected by your joke.

[Asker]

Once a black person took my hand and compared it to his, said that we are the same. (I wore black gloves)
I didn't know if it was ok to laugh at this joke, I thought he offended himself but he laught.

[QuietVerbena]

It’s ok for a person of color to joke about their particular race but not for a white person too. Unless of course you’re friends and you’re pretty sure it won’t offend them. Which was not the case with the girl you called hot chocolate. I would not want to be called that by a random guy, but again I’ll defer to the opinion of an actual female POC.

[Asker]

I think if its ok for one side and not for both the same way (pro or against) is not equality.
So if such a person call me in a way to asociate it whit my white skin, i should feel ofended?

[QuietVerbena]

Only if you want to feel offended. Guys tend not to get offended by sexist compliments from women and that’s perfectly fine if you feel that way. Also, saying you have beautiful alabaster skin (the only compliment I can think to give a white person based on their race) is not nearly as offensive as calling her “hot chocolate.”

TL;DR: yes it’s offensive what you said.

[Snakeyes7]

No because they're jokes. To understand why they are funny you can't be racist otherwise you wouldn't understand the boundaries being played around with.

[AngryCarl]

Arguably you were being racist and sexist, so two for one! Maybe dial it back a little in polite company.