Michael Font

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Ms. Franklin
Enc. 1101 section 38
8/ August/ 2015
Where to Draw the Line
I am not sure where this attribute of sarcasm was developed, but I do have a theory: it
might be possible that these feelings and attitudes towards others arose from how my parents
were raising me and how I identify myself. I would identify myself as white-- even though both
my parents are from Puerto Ricobecause of the way my parents raised me, where I grew up,
what type of school that I was attending, and my friends. I grew up in a white neighborhood, or
at least I did not see any other race of people around there, went to a private school my entire
life, and all my friends were white. Growing up in an upper-middle class, white neighborhood, I
assumed that not all other races were as lucky to be living in a place to this. With this in mind,
my thought was that most bad neighborhoods were for people that were not white, which, to me,
meant that those that lived there were in a lower class and maybe even inferior to white people.
Maybe I thought that in order for people that live the lifestyle in bad neighborhoods to
succeed, they must do unjust acts, such as stealing something or selling illegal items for a large
profit.
As for my friends, the reason for them only being white was that they were my old
friends from elementary and middle school. In elementary school and middle school, I made
friends with the people only because there were not many black people in the school. In high
school, I just stuck with the friends from my old school. Another reason for all of them being
white is that I did not really like the black kids in the school, as bad as it sounds.

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There is a reason I did not really like the black kids in my school. In my first year of high
school, a group of black kids teased and bullied me. Over time, ignoring them became easier, but
that does not mean it did not affect me in any way. Because of their harassment, I associated
every black person in my school with the same attributes as those that bullied me, which, of
course, is not true; therefore, I never associated with them. I felt some sort of hostility towards
black people. It is ironic how I was the victim of bullying and now I am the bully, as clich as
that sounds. My sarcasm is not just jokes; they are hurtful comments too.

Over time, people know me to be the sarcastic type, which some people do not enjoy. It
does not matter what my sarcasm intends to criticize. Whether it is someones stupidity, actions,
physical appearance, gender, religion, or even race, I just love to point out flaws in a joking
manner, even if it may be harsh, especially when it comes to race. To me, making racist jokes are
much easier to make. However, when being sarcastic, I must know when to stop. This is
especially important when it comes to race, religion, or gender. It is as if what is say speaks for
all people in the group, not just the individual.

There is a limit to how sarcastic I can be before actually being a racist or a sexist.
There is a difference between crude humor and being a bigot. It is possible for one to make fun
of another without being labeled something negative. However, even with this in mind, it is still
a thin line between making a rude remark and being a bigot. For example, when making a joke
that is about someones race, I am sure to make the remarks very mild. I would not like to offend
someone so much to the point where one starts to think negatively of me. However, just because

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I am making these mild remarks to people who are usually just acquaintances that does
not mean that I do not turn up the dial with my friends. My friends are the ones that, more or
less, get my sarcasm to where they do not think differently of me, especially my best friend,
Colin. Sometimes Colin says jokes that are worse than mine are, but I still consider these jokes
funny. I feel like if I said this to another one of friends, they might not take the jokes as lightly as
Colin would, so I tend not to make too crude of jokes to them. I usually save them for Colin.

Nevertheless, when I tell jokes like these to my friends, they know I am just kidding. If
said to someone I did not really know too well, then this person might think poorly of me. Even
though I tell most of my cruder jokes to my friends, it does not mean that it is necessarily better
for me. No matter whom I am telling the crude jokes to, it is just making it worse for myself. I
am just conditioning myself of being a worse person by the things being said. Maybe this is
just some absurd idea, but I would like to think it is accurate. It is best not be labeled as a
sarcastic asshole. I must be careful when saying these comments.

Most of the time, I do not know where these thoughts come from. Maybe I just felt like
being mean at that moment. Maybe I am having a bad day and had the desire to belittle someone
else to make myself feel better. Maybe I just wanted to be funny. Even if people did laugh,
those that did laugh were usually not the person I am targeting. Maybe those that laughed at my
comments had little morals. I like to think that my morals are better than those that laugh at my
remarks, but that does not mean that mine are great; after all, I was the one who said the joke like
it. Therefore, in some respects, I am not any better than those that laughed. Too much sarcasm

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can be very harmful towards ones reputation, which is why I should learn to control it before
something else bad happens, like the incident last year in high school. I remember last year that
the females in my class were almost completely shunning me for something sarcastic that I said
to one of the girls. This was the situation: the teacher asked us a question and when one of the
girls answered incorrectly I said, Just go back to the kitchen! I remember the girls in my class
gasping in surprise; a long minute of awkward silence followed it, which felt like years. I felt the
hairs on my neck stand and time seemed to stay still. The males in the class were either
chuckling at my remark or not paying attention, and the teacher did not hear me. At least the
females in the class forgot about what I said the following day, at least I think they did since no
one talked about that following day.

After this incident, I have been trying to be less crude. I never want to experience that
awful scenario again. This incident was an example of my sexist sarcasm. I never really had any
racist incidents; well at least none that got me in huge trouble. The only bad racist joke scenario
that I had was in front of my parents. I was doing homework on the living room table and my
parents had the TV turned on to the news station. The news reporter said something like,
Another gas station has been robbed and the police are looking for the robbers whereabouts.
Almost instantly, I said, Hes black isnt he? My parents sent me to my room after that.

Most of my racist remarks were around my friends. For example, if we saw a minority
driving a fancy car like a BMW or Mercedes Benz, I would say something like, I bet that guy
stole it. Another example is if there was a police car with its sirens on, I might say something

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like, They are probably looking for a black person. Typical. I would not think twice about
saying things like this because I know that my friends would understand that I was only joking.
When around my friends, especially Colin, guiltiness I never felt guilty for what I said. Now
after stating these examples, I feel like a bad person.

To me, sarcasm revolves around insults. It is a bad habit, yes, but sometimes I cannot
help but to be sarcastic. I have to train myself to let some things go. If not, then others may
continue looking at me as a self-righteous and maybe even narcissistic jerk. Sometimes after I
said what I wanted to say, there is a sense of wonder if I may have gone over the line. If I have
gone over the line and people start to think poorly of me, then it is too late. It is too late in the
sense that others view of me in a negative way will not change.

From my experiences, I feel like I have been able to suppress my sarcasm instead of
blurting out whatever, whenever, and to whomever I wanted. Over time, I have become less of an
asshole. Although I may have grown a bit, I still need to do work in improving the sarcastic habit
of mine. To some people, maybe including me as well, sarcasm can be addicting. It does not
matter how harsh ones sarcastic criticism may be. All these criticisms all lead to pain.

I never viewed myself as an intolerant person. Remembering some of my actions in the

past, I see myself a bit differently. As bad as this sounds: others might consider me a bigot. This
feeling of intolerance others may or may not have with me for my comments and actions does

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not sit well with me. I hope that nobody sees me this way either. However, if one does see me
this way, then I will try my best to change and become a better person.

When one thinks of the word equality, one might think of the equality of race. This is
not incorrect, but there is much more than just race that is included. Equality also stands for
the equal rights of all people. This means that no people, no matter what race, gender, religion,
age, ethnicity, or sexuality, are given more or less rights than others. Some people forget that
everyone should have equal rights and that equal rights are not only for situations dealing with
racethey are for everyone.

Through my sarcasm, I have not only learned how offensive I can be towards others who
are different from me. Even I contribute to societys problem of bigotry. Until this essay, I
never realized that I am just another person not working for equality. I always thought that I was
never a part of this dilemma society faces. My actions of being sarcastic and making belittling
jokes effects the way in which society is. Even if my comments are just a small factor that
worsens the state of prejudice in society, I am still contributing to it.

If I learn to be accept others for whom they are, then becoming a better person is easier. I
should be stopping the remarks about others for what I see to be wrong in them. In reality, I am
the one that is wrong, not those that I am criticizing. Of course this will not be an easy task for
me to accomplishat least I think sobut I am willing to try to stop being like this. If I keep
making negative comments towards others, then I will not advance in life. This idea might seem

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a bit farfetched that I will not get far in life with a sarcastic tone, but to me it seems true. It is
better to view this as true, otherwise I would not care what I do through my action or through
what I think about others. I would always feel superior to others.

If I stop being sarcastic a lot of the time, then I am able to be much more accepting of
others and treat everyone as equals, no matter what differences others have in relation to me. If
I stop my actions and stop thinking certain thoughts towards others, then I am bound to make
many more friends. These new friends would include people of other races, not just white, as
well as female friends. Opening my relationship with others that are different from me ultimately
helps me in life. With more friends of other races or genders, I am able to learn to better
communicate with and accept people of that race or gender. I am able to make better
relationships with other people and I will know how to handle myself in the future if I come
across a scenario that makes me feel uncomfortable.

For example, if I make a new black friend and my roommate for the upcoming fall
semester is black as well, than I will not feel as uncomfortable as I would if I did not have a
black friend. I will not feel as different with this new roommate and in turn, we will have a better
friendship. This is much better than me staying inside my bubble in which my parents were
raising me. I am not saying the reason I am is my parents fault. My parents just so happened to
raise me with more privileges than others, such as a better school and neighborhood. If I did not
have these privileges, or even luxuries, and my parents were exposing me to society more, then I
am sure I would be more accepting of others. This skill will especially useful in college since

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there are so many different people there. I want to become friends with as many people as I can,
and college is a great place to do so. Therefore, if I practice being less of a jerk, then I will make
many new friends of different races or sex, which is a good thing.

Although some people do not like my kind of humor, I believe that it might be my way
of telling my jokes that makes them feel that way. Maybe if I am less mean and be sarcastic in a
more fun way, people will start to enjoy the jokes. However, even if I do this, I am worsening
myself. Of course, I could just stop being sarcastic altogether, but that is the type of person I am.
It will be difficult for me to do so. However, that does not mean that I will not try. Unfortunately,
there might always be a small part in me that will stay a jerk. This part of me may limit my
ability to meet more people, which in turn allows me to learn new things from new people.