Negative Humor

Negative humor is a degrading humor that can be used to make fun of individuals or big groups as a whole. Some everyday humor gets thrown to the side and is way too normal of an occurrence. However, sometimes the negative humor is such a big ordeal that it can make national news. That is what occurred when the Oklahoma University Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. A video was revealed of members of the fraternity chanting racial slurs against African Americans, stating that they would never join the fraternity with them. This occurred on a bus ride to an event. One of the dates was able to get it on video and it leaked to the media. This created an uproar across the United States, causing many people to question fraternities as a whole. Negative humor can be extremely cruel. It’s said that words can’t hurt people but calling people names and putting them down and making them beneath you is wrong. The two men who were caught on video were expelled from Oklahoma University for their actions. Furthermore, the entire Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter was removed from campus. The actions of these two men didn’t stop there. The entire Greek community nationwide has been under fire because of this incident of negative humor. Students know that they must be on their best behavior now because not only their chapters, but all the chapters on their campuses could be jeopardized by a mistake. This explains the power of negative humor. This explains how saying one thing that might be meaningless about a race or some group of people really in essence is something much bigger. Racism has been a leading topic in the media recently with all the riots and police shootings. It’s very controversial and it’s hard to stop it when it is constantly being talked about negatively and especially when it is made out as a joke. Negative humor is something that needs to be addressed. Just as racism is something that needs to be addressed, negative humor is something that we as a society need to stop. It is a tool for the cowardly and  the brave people who stand for what is right and moral need to address the problem at hand.