I’ve experienced much the same thing in my very diverse community. Kids today say things my generation would have never dreamed of saying to one another, and they all seem to laugh about it.

The problem, of course, is that when a kid takes this kind of banter to heart, it can be very hurtful.

Most willl not. Some will. It’s difficult to tell who fits into each category.

The other thing I see that you did not describe is that while there is friendship and communication between the races, most kids in my community do tend to self-segregate.

It’s amazing to go to the mall and see these groups of kids all broken down by ethnicity and background. Not that they don’t interact at all, because they do, but their first choice is still “people who look like themselves.”

How much of that is driven by their parents’ desire for them to associate with peers from similar backgrounds, and how much is just natural levels of comfort, I don’t know.

Kevin

For the record, I’ve talked to my own son at length about all this. It’s been a useful and interesting exercise. The hardest part was explaining that he wasn’t “in trouble” but that I wanted to have a meaningful dialogue with him about it all.

The good news is that he is a good kid, who (so far) seems to know where “the line” is. To cross that line, in his eyes, seems to be a truly abhorrent thought.

The problem with good-natured stereotyping is that people never know when to quit. It doesn’t take long before someone crosses the line and says something stupid.

I’m a redneck, married to a black woman with two mixed kids, so I’ve seen both “sides” of the conversation. I’ve heard what people say in private when they think they’re joking. I cringe whenever I hear kids talking like this because at some point they will say something out-of-line.

When my son, who’s six, talks like this with his friends (and I know he will), I’ll take him aside and let him know why it’s not okay. I’ll tell him that people don’t know when the kidding ends and the hurtfulness begins. He won’t be able to stop it, but he can silently choose not to encourage it.

Maybe America will be ready for this type of marketing in a hundred years or so, after Generation X has died out. My secret hope is that marketers of the future will focus more on what Americans have in common.

I think your post is very interesting. The idea of equal opportunity racism is an intersting one, and I think one that is almost embraced to a degree by younger generations who are not as easily offended. You can look at pop culture such as The Family Guy which doesn’t shy away from making a joke at just about anything. A few years ago Fox refused to show an episode called “Wish Upon A Weinstein” which played up on Jewish stereotypes. I eventually saw the episode on Adult Swim, and as a Jew, I couldn’t stop laughing at the idiocy of the characters.

In regards to marketers looking to embrace some of this, it is a fine line, and I think depends if they are trying to cater to just a specific audience or a broad audience. One person already spoke about the GEICO Caveman adds – which I also think are very witty and funny. AdAge this week posted a story and links to video from NBC’s Mun2 Hispanic Cable Chanel with their new campaign “Are You Too Gringo”.
http://adage.com/article?article_id=115085

I actually cringed a little when I watched it. I wonder how the hispanic community thinks about it. Is it OK, because the piece comes from the channel that is catering to that audience and was the brainchild of a Hispanic marketing firm?

Will marketers try to reach out to specific audiences with similar campaigns, or will we see more efforts like the GEICO Caveman?

All very interesting stuff. It’s rare to see marketers going out on such a limb as to toy with the proverbial third rail of race.

I agree with you, that we are witnessing the onset of a generation that is embracing differences, for good and for ill. However, advertisers that try to woo the “M” with hip references and social satire will only get play on the coasts.

Ironically, it’s NOT because the midwest and the deep south isn’t ready for such conversations — it’s the perceptions carried by the writers and editors living in the bubble that is DC and NYC. A campaign that you describe run locally in San Francisco or Boston would be hailed as genius. The same campaign run in San Antonio or Birmingham would be universally panned by the Times, the Post, and NPR as The Last Gasp of the Good Ole Boys.”

You want to know why the GEICO Cavemen are so damned successful?

1) By mocking cultural insensitivity through the use of a non-existent group, no one gets offended.

2) Those of us in “The Land of Big Metal Birds in Sky” actually identify with the Cavemen. Remember the look on the face of the Airport Caveman on the moving sidewalk? We get that same feeling when we travel to the coasts. Just flash an Alabama or Mississippi driver’s license at a hotel clerk, and the stares soon follow. Some of them talk slower to me, as though I can’t process words as quickly.

“And everywhere I go, there’s always something to remind me…”