I'm with George Carlin. Its all about the context. I don't think everyone should be running around telling black jokes in public. But I also don't understand why racial/ethnic humor is reserved only for people like Dave Chappelle and Lisa Lampanelli just because they are on a stage. However, people choose to watch them. People go watch them usually expecting to hear that sort of thing. When you are making fun of asians at the mall, not everyone signed up for that and somebody is likely to get offended.

I also don't believe that racial jokes, or even slurs are offensive to an entire race. I think it is safe to say there are people out there who are black, but aren't offended by the N word. But its also safe to say that there are pleny of people who are, not only who are black, but from other races as well. So racial/ethnic humor is something that is more offensive to certain individuals, not bout by race/ethnicity. Because of this, I would say its really only appropriate to say those things only around people you know who won't be offended. You might tell a black joke in a room full of black guys and they may all think it is funny. You might tell the same joke in a room full of white people and everyone gets offended. So you can't just assume its okay because "they" aren't within earshot.