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Can race be a laughing matter?

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The all-star panel for "Race: A Laughing Matter" included Guy Aoki, president of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, which led the protest against Silverman; Keiko Agena, who stars on WB's "Gilmore Girls"; Amy Leang, a Detroit Free Press photographer who caused a stir last year when she publicly criticized a comedy troupe, the Capitol Steps, for using pidgin English during a sketch for the American Society of Newspaper Editors; Henry Cho, a veteran standup comic and former host of NBC's "Friday Night Videos"; Ben Sargent, who has won two Pulitzer Prizes for his editorial cartoons at the Austin American-Statesman in Texas, and John Cho, who stars on WB's "Off Centre."

The following are excerpts from our discussion:

Justin: Henry, do you defend comics who use derogatory terms? Comics need freedom, right?

Henry Cho: I haven't cursed on stage in 16 years, but if it's funny, it's funny. I watched Richard Pryor the other night. Laughed my butt off. I know Sarah [Silverman] very well, and she's probably the funniest female under 30 walking the face of the Earth, and I know that joke. Did it strike a nerve with me? No, but I told her that she was going to get some letters on that one.

Aoki: If an Asian-American is making fun of its own community, I think that's accepted because the audience sees some greater truth in it, like Margaret Cho imitating her Korean mother. But if it's someone from outside the community who makes fun of a minority, there's some suspicion there. If Margaret was to make a joke about blacks, people would feel more uncomfortable.

Justin: Ben, as the token white guy on the panel, how do you feel about that? Are you restricted about what you can say about other races?

Sargent: I agree with Guy. All humor has a victim, every joke has a butt, so it all depends on who is telling the joke and what the joke is. This is kind of embarrassing, but just about every editorial cartoonist in the country is a white guy. There's a Hispanic cartoonist in Los Angeles, and I think the fact that he's Hispanic gives him more leeway. It can be a very hazy line. If you're drawing someone, there are techniques you use for the reader so you won't have to label them. But there's a line you don't want to cross.

Agena: There's a really great comic who I personally love on ''Mad TV'' who does Ms. Swan [Alex Borstein]. She always makes me laugh and I wonder if that's a bad thing, because she's not Asian. The only justification I have is that she's very specific about this one person and it's not just a broad, stereotypical-type thing.

John Cho: I have the same feeling about her. I don't know if us being actors and comics biases us.

Leang: I think it all comes down to cultural awareness. We can laugh at white people because we're aware of that culture. And we can laugh at Chris Tucker because the black culture is more ingratiated into society. But no one's aware of our culture. So when they laugh at us, it's like we're the butt of the joke.

Aoki: Can I say something about Ms. Swan? I disagree with people who say that one character is OK. It's basically "yellow face." If someone were to go blackface and do what she's doing, just see what the response would be.

Justin: Well, Billy Crystal used to do Sammy Davis Jr. on "Saturday Night Live." Jimmy Kimmel does Karl Malone.

Aoki: When Ms. Swan came on Fox in 1997, she was the only Asian character on all of Fox -- and she's not even Asian. So you've got to ask yourself: This is the only example of the Asian person on the entire network? Ms. Swan sends everything backward.

Henry Cho: I've been pitching shows for years, and I've heard networks say, "Why don't you write a character like Ms. Swan into your show?" I've left the table every time. A few years ago, I had this great script in which Pat Morita would play my dad, a widower that I would teach how to date again. It was very funny. They said it'd actually be funnier if I spoke broken English. No it wouldn't. It has nothing to do with it. So I walked. Pat called me and said, "I would have done it." Trust me, if I was waiting tables and I had to do it to make a living, I may have sold out a decade ago. Fortunately, I was very successful at standup comedy, and I make a living doing what I love.

Agena: Maybe it's the age I'm auditioning for, but they don't have those stereotypes of having to speak broken English. But I've just started doing voice-overs, and that does come up a lot. That's a little hard for me, largely because I don't do it very well. I'll be honest. I've tried. I don't know where the line is. I haven't defined it for myself yet.

John Cho: I would be really suspicious about doing an accent, but I don't want to say I won't do one, because a lot of the world speaks English with an accent, and I don't want to dismiss those roles right off the bat.

Henry Cho: I didn't have any problems growing up. Now I'm an adult, and I have problems because the pinheads in Hollywood aren't like my neighbors. They won't accept me for me.

Neal Justin is the TV critic for the Star Tribune, where he previously covered music and nightlife. Neal freelanced at the Chicago Tribune and covered crime for the Rockford Register Star before coming to the Twin Cities in 1994. He serves on the national board of governors for the Asian American Journalism Association. Neal's favorite "Friend" is Rachel.