So, is it racism if you bash your own race?

Of course it is.

I also think people take offense too easily. Anything said with hatred is bad, but making genuine jokes about a race (your own or otherwise) can result in comedy gold. Dave Chappelle is a great example. People should laugh more instead of being insulted by everything.

I would call it ‘observations’ about some of your race not racism. Why do you think it’s despicable not funny?

Define bashing. I guess that might make a difference. If it’s a joke about cultural distinctions it can be funny, but to be nasty is nasty.

I consider it promoting stereotypes that so many have fought to dispel.

It can be.

The trouble is with some things one person’s bash is another person humor. I remember seeing Brad Garrett live doing stand up and part of his act was making fun of Jewish people and a woman in the audience yelled out, “why are you so mean?” To me it wasn’t mean at all. It was in Tunica, MS, my best guess is she was a southern woman who didn’t get it. A Jewish person would more likely have screened out, “you’re and antisemitic Jew,” or, “you hate your own kind,” if he was offended.

Some people think its racist to bring up any stereotype, but that has made comedians rich. Most of the time I think it is ok, maybe even good, when done with care.

Really bashing your race or group you belong to is not good. Generalizations that imply all people from that group have bad traits or behaviors is never ok whether you belong to the group or not and bserving that that person avoid interaction with their own group is always strange to me.

I don’t think it’s racism if you criticize your own race, even if you do it in a harsh way.

If you’re singling out a specific group within your race, I would consider that bigotry.