There's more to it than that. In the case of ethnic jokes between Kiwis, Aussies, Poms etc its just good-natured meaningless banter! No offence is intended and none is ever taken! With Yanks though, I'm not so sure, as they seem to take themselves far too seriously. Some of the posts on this thread are a bit "precious" and show a high degree of insecurity. If you can't stand a bit of friendly joshing you must be very unsure of your place in the world. Political correctness is an insidious disease and its time we got rid of it.