A Racist Interpretation?
Here is a viral email that in one way points out the ability of people to leap to conclusions of racism. I suspect the joke is intended to signify that racism doesn’t exist as much as many people believe it does. However, I think what it may unintentionally point out is that real racism is often lost in the cloud of falsely perceived racism.
Might be too deep for me this morning, but the joke is pretty good.
A couple attending an art exhibition at the National Gallery was staring at a portrait that had them completely confused.
The painting depicted three very black and totally naked men sitting on a park bench. Two of the figures had black weenies, but the one in the middle had a pink weenie.
The curator of the gallery realized that they were having trouble interpreting the painting and offered his assessment. He went on for nearly half an hour explaining how it depicted the sexual emasculation of African-Americans in a predominately white, patriarchal society. “In fact,” he pointed out, “some serious critics believe that the pink weenie also reflects the cultural and sociological oppression experienced by gay men in contemporary society.”
Negative of Three naked coal miners used to illustrate a bad joke before the artist was sent away for Orovo detox. After the curator left, a young man in a Kentucky T-shirt approached the couple and said, “Would you like to know what the painting is really about?”
“Now why would you claim to be more of an expert than the curator of the gallery?” asked the couple.
“Because I’m the guy who painted it,” he replied. “In fact, there are no African-Americans depicted at all. They’re just three Kentucky coal miners, and the guy in the middle went home for lunch.
