Friars Roast of Goldberg

* Enough already! Hardly worthy of newsprint (although fittingly it was the lead story on local television news broadcasts), the Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg “blackface� incident has now garnered an editorial (Oct. 12) and two commentary pieces (Karen Grigsby Bates, Oct. 13 and Michelle Williams, Oct. 14) in The Times. Lighten up, folks; humor is generally offensive to someone--that’s much of what makes it funny.

Poles (and Aggies) have been the butt of jokes for generations, lawyers the object of cruel humor, and politicians are always fair game. Poking people in the eye or hitting them on the head is cruel, but when the Three Stooges did it we laughed. Jewish jokes are in every comedian’s repertoire, and Woody Allen has made a career of ridiculing Jewish stereotypes. Remember Chevy Chase and Garrett Morris and the “tar baby� on “Saturday Night Live,� or Eddie Murphy parodying Stevie Wonder?

In fact, humor serves an important function in showing the absurdity of a position or a stereotype, thereby releasing tension in a constructive way. The real offense arises when people are exploited or discriminated against because of their ethnicity; or worse, when ethnicity is used as a weapon of war, as is currently the case in the former Yugoslavia.

In attempting to adhere to today’s political correctness, we obscure the real issues dividing us and succeed only in inhibiting genuine communication that could address those problems. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, then our skin is too thin, regardless of its color.

GEORGE M. MOOD

Los Angeles

* Regarding Bates’ column: Having enjoyed many of her previous articles, I do take exception with the vitriolic manner in which she laid into Goldberg. I also was surprised at the blackface incident at the Friars roast, but come on, Ms. Bates, must we other African-Americans continue to vilify our brothers and sisters of color who make a public mistake or a bad judgment decision on events concerning race?

I am a 49-year-old African-American male who has experienced a lot worse displays of racist humor than the “reported� events of the roast. I was not there to witness or hear the evening; was Bates?

Danson performed in blackface and he clearly was not the center of Bates’ article. Bad judgment, yes. But what about concern for the real people with black faces who inhabit this nation and face “no-joke� racism daily? Bates as a writer is also just as responsible for our perceptions of African-American race relations among each other.

RONALD DENNIS

Los Angeles

* I would like to commend Bates. She captured my sentiments exactly.

BARBARA PHILLIPS

Gardena

* More than 50 years ago at age 17, after my graduation from high school, I took a job as a nursemaid for a family living in an affluent community north of Chicago. One evening I agreed to assist by serving and cleaning up for a small dinner party they gave. After dinner the wife offered me for my dinner the porterhouse steak scraps that were left on the plates. I politely refused them, telling her that I did not eat off other peoples’ plates, and that I wouldn’t work for her any longer. I still pat myself on the back for not accepting humiliation of me or my race.

What a shame Whoopi Goldberg, despite her career achievements and the perks that go with them, thinks so little of herself and her race. Perhaps she should have stayed in the kitchen!

JEAN EVANS

Los Angeles

* Realizing that I’m apt to be labeled a Miss Goody Two Shoes, I still must state that I fail to see any great worth or merit in the roasts of the Friars Club. To see who can be the most offensive, insulting, raunchiest and foul-mouthed--this is fun and recognition of an honored peer?

As it has been stated, with some people the only taste they have is in their mouth.

MARY EABY

Whittier

* Danson and Goldberg understand the idiocy of bigotry firsthand. They laughed at it with each other and those that also know that humor is a valuable weapon against such prejudice. The Times should know this and give the politically correct drum a rest.

Judging from her column in the same paper (Oct. 13), maybe Liz Smith should cover the Op-Ed duties as well.

KARL JOHNSON

Studio City