Originally Posted by
Jules88
Just to add to tonight’s discussion, ( although I don’t think the racism discussion will Ever end.)
I’d like to make clear that I don’t in any way suggest Charlie was a racist. Nor do I think his jokes were intended to be racist. Nor am I calling him such. My use of Charlie was to demonstrate that within OUR lifetime the jokes we used to think funny and sat and laughed at are now such. It’s only as our world has moved on that we hopefully change. The Colson fella improved the lives of many in Bristol, yet the lives of many slaves were destroyed.
The likes of Saville were feted and Celebrated, yet had a sinister underbelly. Only found out and reviled later. He too did some good.
That was my point.
Charlie’s humour was, ( and still is funny) Not all his stuff was about taking the Mick ( see what I did there?)... about his and others race, but a good chunk was, I’ve howled at some of the jokes in the book, it’s out of print now, and I don’t think it’ll be printed again..... by laughing at the humour I don’t see myself as a racist, because as I read them I know that when written in those days it was seen as “Jokes”.
Today they would be rightly recognised as unacceptable.
I don’t think we should burn books like this, just as long as we appreciate that this is History that at the time was acceptable, but isn’t now.