Reagan’s Good Example

President Reagan has set an example for Americans. He recently told a meting of economists that as President he can’t tell ethnic jokes. Having the good taste not to tell these stories is not an earth-shattering matter of public policy, but it certainly makes life more pleasant for people in a country with such a diversity of ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds.

Good taste is not always easy to define, and therefore is rarely legislated. However, Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.), is expected to reintroduce legislation this week to set up an office within the Federal Communications Commission for the purpose of collecting and analyzing complaints about what people watching television or listening to radio take to be racial or ethnic slurs. The commission started counting complaints in 1980. Since then the number per year has more than doubled.

Biaggi’s bill, which died in committee last year, would urge the FCC to take note of these complaints when considering relicensing requests. The bill also would call for a conference to promote positive portrayals of different groups. It will take more than that to achieve respect for the nation’s diverse peoples, but it can’t hurt.

The President’s solution the other day was to dust off a joke about economists that goes back at least as far as Harry S. Truman. He told his audience of economists that if all the world’s economists were laid end to end, they still would not reach a conclusion. It is not credible that they had never heard the line before, but they laughed anyway--perhaps in appreciation of the President’s good example.