海角大神

Edgy humor and presidential politics are usually pretty poor bedfellows.

To wit, it didn鈥檛 go so well when 眉ber-progressive New York Mayor Bill de Blasio used an ironic and racially-charged joke this weekend to add some levity to the fact that he took his sweet time to endorse the much-more-moderate Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Out of context, many will wince: Mayor de Blasio explained that he was 鈥渞unning on C.P. Time,鈥� an expression still common in the black community, and which is short for 鈥渃olored people time.鈥澛燦ot surprisingly, critics decried the joke as a and a .鈥�

But during an election cycle in which complaints about 鈥減olitical correctness鈥� have helped propel Donald Trump to front of the Republican race, the question has now briefly flipped to the other side of the political aisle 鈥� providing an intriguing mirror.

At a time when racial issues are tender, the reaction is understandable. At the heart of political correctness, many on the left say, is a desire to stand up for those who have been bullied and mistreated 鈥� and that's worth defending. Yet at the heart of the episode is a society聽losing the ability to put edgy jokes in context, some commentators suggest.

It matters that聽de Blasio is married to a black woman and is in many ways a part of the black community, they say.

It matters that the punchline came in a decades-old show that expressly encourages politicians to be edgy, they say.

And it matters that, in the right context, we all be able to poke a little fun at one another. 聽

鈥淭o me, my test has always been the same,鈥� says聽Dean Obeidallah,聽the Palestinian-American comedian聽now touring with the Jewish comic聽聽in their long-running聽聽comedy tour.聽鈥淚 look at the intent of the person making the the joke. We鈥檙e adults. We know when people are being hateful, and we know when people are being playful.鈥�

Yes, the line between a wince and a chuckle, or even a full-bellied laugh and a jaw-dropping sense of outrage, can often be a fine one, says Mr. Obeidallah.

鈥淏ut I think that we live in a world of instant outrage over things that don鈥檛 demand such an outrage,鈥� he says.聽

The joke

In context, Mayor de Blasio鈥檚 joke was not only appropriate, but really funny, says聽Paul Levinson, a professor of media studies and pop culture critic at Fordham University in New York.聽鈥淎nd you don鈥檛 want to start cracking down on humor the way all these objections to C.P. Time have been going.鈥�

The joke was made during the annual Inner Circle show, a New York tradition since 1922, in which journalists and politicians roast one another with politically satiric skits. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was legendary with his high-tech productions, often spoofing Broadway musical hits to make fun of the media.

In one of these skits, mimicking the smash Broadway hit 鈥淗amilton,鈥� de Blasio and Mrs. Clinton joked about the New York mayor's late-coming endorsement of Clinton.

鈥淭hanks for the endorsement,鈥� Clinton deadpanned on stage. 鈥淭ook you long enough.鈥�

鈥淪orry, Hillary. I was running on C.P. Time,鈥� de Blasio replied, using the expression spoken by black characters in movies and shows such as "House Party," "30 Rock," and "Empire," among others.

The black actor Leslie Odom Jr., who plays Aaron Burr in 鈥淗amilton,鈥� said: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not 鈥� I don鈥檛 like jokes like that, Bill.鈥�

Then Clinton completed the gag, telling him what de Blasio actually meant: 鈥� 鈥楥autious Politician Time.鈥� I鈥檝e been there,鈥� she said.

Social media erupted, of course, and commentators slammed the pair, mocking that 鈥淚t鈥檚 only racist if Republicans do it.鈥�

Why is de Blasio different?

But Professor Levinson says it has long been acceptable for insiders to engage in edgy humor, and that de Blasio is, in many ways, an insider in the black community.聽Clinton, too, enjoys wide support from the the black community.

Obeidallah, in fact, uses the expression as the inspiration for one of his bits on 鈥淚nshallah time鈥� 鈥� a joke about how Muslims, like African Americans, are supposedly always late.聽The joke, which refers to the Arabic term for 鈥淕od willing鈥� and is a common expression among Muslims, is about 鈥渉ow we can say, 鈥楾alk to God,鈥� essentially, if we鈥檙e late in some way,鈥� chuckles Obeidallah.

He notes how fellow comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock have said the climate of political correctness on college campuses has made them avoid performing there. They聽might be right to worry about political correctness on college campuses, he adds, but he also thinks the sensitivity isn't always misplaced.

鈥淚 find students to just be caring and compassionate and sensitive,鈥� Obeidallah says. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e standing up for others when they鈥檙e ridiculed and demonized.鈥澛�

鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be people who are truly and sincerely upset, and I get that,鈥� the comic says. 鈥淏ut to crucify people for being playful, doing a joke about it when [Clinton and de Blasio] are both people with a great record within the black community, I think my view, respectfully, is that they should be entitled to leeway.鈥�

鈥淚f we can鈥檛 joke around with each other, and it鈥檚 coming from a good place, then little by little it鈥檚 going to be an erosion of freedom of expression,鈥� he says.

Levinson suggests the potential for an even deeper loss.

鈥淭here are things that we as human beings need in order to make our lives relaxed and enjoyable and able to cut through some of the tensions that are always floating around for personal or political reasons,鈥� he says.聽

鈥淗umor is one of the lubricants of our lives as human beings,鈥� he continues. 鈥淗umor gets us through difficult situations, it diffuses tensions 鈥� someone makes a joke and everybody calms down.鈥�