“So often it seems to me that jokes we hear about race are designed to make white people feel better about their own racism, or prove that they aren’t racist to other white people,” says Fred Sasaki, who along with Seth Vanek curated “Racist Jokes 101: #OwnYourWords.” The hybrid stand-up show and free-form conversation—part of the duo’s entertainingly educational Homeroom series (Wu-Tang mythology, anyone?)—comes to the MCA in conjunction with the museum’s Word Weekend (7/26-7/27).
LA native Barnes (who like me has worked for Chicago Public Media) jokes that he grew up in “African-America,” an apt label for the disparate American experience of black people. He has a sharp bit about what the N-word connotes and what white people could do to reclaim it for their own again. The punch line is the word itself, so ugly and uncomfortable that no matter how sweetly Barnes smiles, it’s an impossible sell. Which is the point, right?
Sat 7/26, 9 PM Museum of Contemporary Art 220 E. Chicagohomeroomchicago.org Free
