Joking Matters : White Racial Intransigence and Black Comedic Defiance

In Joking Matters, Lisa M. Beringer argues that Black satire functions as a powerful form of resistance to institutionalized racism in American society.
She contends that this dynamic tension between Black comedic defiance and white racial intransigence operates through three interrelated racist ideologies: colorblind ideology, the rejection of anti-racist practices and policies, and post-racialism. Together, these frameworks advance the claim that race and racism have been transcended in American social life and stall racial progress by maintaining a familiar racial status quo. Through close analysis of multiple forms of Black satire, Beringer demonstrates how Black comedic defiance in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries exposes the ways these narratives protect whiteness and white supremacy. As these Black satirists use humor to dismantle racial myths, affirm Black humanity, and advocate for racial justice, their work becomes a powerful cultural intervention, showing that comedy isn’t just entertainment but a strategic tool for social critique and political change.