It’s not that hilarious - cute, though - but definitely not racist.
It’s ok to say one word (or two, in this case) that sounds like another word. That’s not racism.
It’s ok to simply mention an ethnic group or nationality, even in a humorous context, as long as the joke or comment does not make fun of, or assumptions about, that group.
Your joke does not, in any way, insult or make assumptions about Chinese people or Indian people.
Like you said, it is simply a word-play.
So - not racist.
Anyway, it’s over and done, so your worrying about it cannot change anything.
But IMO, you have nothing to worry about.
Why on earth would you take a chance on offending someone who has such a say in your future??
Whether or not you lucked into an adcom who wasn’t offended isn’t the issue.
The fact that you were willing to chance it is what would influence my opinion. I would see you as a loose cannon, someone willing to take unnecessary chances for a laugh.
And, as others have said, the essay REALLY should have been proof-read. If I, as a MATH teacher, can spot the errors, then they should be glaring to someone in an admissions office. Choosing to send an essay with errors speaks once again to a willingness to take a chance where another choice would have been more prudent.
Jokes in general are a bad idea. What’s funny to a 17-year old boy is unlikely to be funny to an adult.
This being said, I don’t think your joke is so much racist as immature and not really funny. It does show you have a good command of spoken English since you know the tsh sound, /i/ sound, and silent k, but it also shows a rather deaf ear to cultural sensibilities. If you’re international, they’ll probably forgive it and consider it a waste of characters or a sign of immaturity, not a sign you’re a racist.
Purdue admits on stats so it’d dubious they even read your essay. If you applied to private universities though, you don’t know how that would play.
Finally, Canadian adcoms don’t look for the same thing as American adcoms so the fact an adult who isn’t an American read it may not have been too helpful.
@JustOneDad@BeeDAre thank you guys. I put the joke in to give an example of what a weezy joke is. Whether an adcom laughs for days, or just smiles does not matter to me. I just wanted to tell them what my friends AND I do for fun.
I’m not sure I would advertise that I mock a black rapper and tell jokes that remind people of a racist joke. Do they want someone who does this for fun especially if they house you with other internationals.
Kids aren’t 50 year old adcoms. The fact that he’s black would have been irrelevant if Chinese wasn’t the punchline of the joke. No one wants their race to be the punchline of a joke. In fact jokes and race should not mix unless you are that race AND you know the audience. Neither is true for your situation. Too many times race and jokes have crossed the line.
I’m Chinese and I don’t find it racist at all (idk how that’s even a slur), BUT at the same time, I 100% wouldn’t have put any such joke in my essays, just because I realise how it can come across badly to someone who interprets it differently. Yes, try to show your personality in your essays, but strike a balance between that and PC-ness.
I think it’s safe to say it’s best to stay away from any kind of potentially offensive humor in your admissions essays (and alumni interviews, too, for that matter). It’s fine to talk about why you love humor without including an example that is likely to alienate a reader or listener. There are three potential reactions to a joke like the one you quoted from your essay—laughter, anger, or boredom—and two of the three are not how you want your essay reader to feel about you. Save that material for amateur night at the local comedy club. That’s where it belongs, not in your essay.
On the other hand, if you have some fun “Clam fart” references, that might be more appropriate. Bazinga!
@gearmom What does Chinese have to do with Wayne being black? The fact that I stated a race is not racist, did I mention that one couldn’t see the cup and then spilt the tea on his knees? That would be racist, but I simply just included an example of a weezy joke, which are these rather immature examples of wordplay. Yes it is immature, but I did stare that it was only with my friends. The fact that I was able to get a LOR should speak to my maturity. If I can’t crack a joke that mentions a race, in a non degrading way, without being called a racist, then I would say that this whole racism thing is going WAY too far.
The whole Japanese, Chinese is also irrelevant as I do not even mention dirty knees. Again, why can’t people just realize that it’s wordplay…
Have you ever heard the expression, “Perception is reality”? If the reader perceives the joke to be racist or offensive, it is. And the reader will think of you as a person who finds racist jokes funny. That’s not the impression you want to leave with someone who is making the decision about your admission to college because the reality of their decision will be based on that perception. Whoever read that essay before you sent it and said it was okay did you a disservice.
@EllieMom lol, I personally did not find the clam farts thing funny. I will admit that I smiled after I knew that he got in. I honestly don’t care if an adcom laughs or not just wanted to give an example of a weezy joke. However, I did state that this was something for my friends, so I hope they realize what they may not think is funny can be to a bunch of 17 year olds.
@manas1997 It is not for you to decide what is relevant and what is not. It is your work of art to be judged. You submit it so that others can judge you. You are asking for it to be judged. You submit a joke with a race as the punchline. No one wants their race to be the punchline. So the fifty year old adcom is reading your essay, gets to a joke with Chinese and knees as the punchline. Reminds him of that joke from grammar school, slant eyes up, slant eyes down, hit your knees and pretend you have breasts. Not a great joke. Not happy memories. And then he wonders if this is really what you do with your friends for fun. And then he notices that you are mocking a black rapper. How bad could that get.