Humour: A Form of Non-Resistance

       Accredited with developing the notion of non-violent resistance, Mahatma Gandhi deployed his concept of satyagraha during the Indian independence movement. Loosely translating to “truth force” or “holding onto the truth,” Gandhi’s practice of non-violent resistance also influenced Martin Luther King Jr. and his campaign during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States (Blakely, 2001). While other forms of non-violent resistance include boycotts, demonstrations, marches, anti-racist education, and consciousness raising, humour is becoming an increasingly popular method of bringing critical concepts into the forefront of discussion.  

        For instance, while outwardly poking fun at his own ethnic group, Iranian comedian Maz Jobrani focuses on race in order to slowly break bias interpretations of Middle East characters. In the following skit titled “Persians vs. Arabs,” Jobrani highlights the burden his friend places on him as an “expert of the Middle East” simply because he is of Iranian descent. Every time gas prices go up, Jobrani’s friend asks him to explain “in fifty words or less” what is going on with the prices. Here, Jobrani highlights that he does not work at Opec, nor does he have a discount pump at the gas station, but he does pay the exact same price as his friend regardless of his race. By helping to remould the way Western society views the Middle Eastern community, Jobrani demonstrates that we cannot have a single spokesperson speak to, nor allow their actions account for

the entirety of a race. Read more>>