Chink, Gook, Spic, Nigger, Camel Jockey

[WHITE DEVIL]

Do you think that racist terms and other generic degrading terms in part gain momentum from the fact that people give them creedence?

i.e. If gay people just laughed off or ignored "fag" every time they heard it instead of getting offended, would it lose potency and power? Would the same hold with any other racist term?

Does the fact that people are visibly shaken by racism and racist terms perpetuate their power and existence?

 

[The Duke of Earl]

i think gay people are fags for being mad at eminem for saying fag ...................

 

[KleanKut]

Yeah i think its funny how people get all worked up over racist terms. When people call me a cracker or a wop, i just laugh it off and call them a racsist slang for thier race. They get all worked up and pissed off. It doesnt bother me at all when people use a racist term for me. as the person you are the only one who can make it true.

 

[TONY206]

Simply put, yes. They can't be offensive words if they don't offend anybody. They'd just be a regular word.

 

[WHITE DEVIL]

But do the "yes"s by predominately white members of the board downplay or obscure the destructive power these words have among people who have experienced a "package deal" of racism which includes not just slurs and insults, but also other daily slights and injustices?

 

[Jae iLL]

It's not JUST words tho. It would be one thing if they were JUST words, but the fact of the matter is it goes DEEPER into words. It's a known fact that the majority of the people who are "in control" of things are White, rich males.

I'll just give an example from my mom's point of view. She works as a dental assistant, and her English isn't very good. However, she's had to learn HELLA medical terms and HELLA procedures to perform her job so she's definitely MORE THAN QUALIFIED to be a dental assistant, or even a hygenist. She works down in Crofton, MD, HELLA white folks. When people come into the office they see somebody with a "foreign" name and speaks English as a second language. They don't want her to be helping them because, 'She's Asian so she must be incompetent. This isn't a liquor store.' Now, MOST ppl don't use racial slurs to her face at the office, but they make it KNOWN that they don't want her there. You combine that with the word, and it's extremely dehumanizing.

When you've grown up as an outsider, or looked down upon as sub-human or some shiet. That word takes a LOT away. It's a sense of pride. White folks are really racially ambiguous you know. I mean, I'm 1.5 generation Korean, I have HELLA pride. If sumbody calls me a gook, or even a chink, I take that shit to HEART. My peoples been through struggle, and hearing that shit takes it ALL away. It's completely different to be called gook, nammer, nigger, spic etc compared to cracker.

 

[naner12]

get called any of those words while you're getting beat by the men who are supposed to protect and serve you and let me know if they're just words ..

 

[MEXCOM]

"They called us ["wetback"] and ["beaner"] and ["Pay-dro"] so much that we thought those were our natural names."

 

[CannibalCrow]

Racist terms upset me because they indicate an ignorance or hatred when they are used. Even if someone uses one "lightly", they're throwing hundreds of years of hate at you. It's worse when they use it casually, as if they have no idea or do actually feel that way toward the race they're insulting.

Went to school with a girl who would use the "n"word to describe people constantly. I told her I didn't like racist terms and she replies, " It doesn't mean that anymore, it just means "ignorant person" and can be either a black or white person." That was HER interpretation... and it upset me how easily she used it. She claimed not to be racist at all.

And it bothered me when a friend of mine would make racist comments in Chinese restaurants, or made fun of my friend for her asian origins. " I'm just joking" doesn't cover it.

Yes, putting leverage into a word makes it a powerful one. My gay friend Kashen laughs when he's called a fag and proceeds to flambouyantly blow kisses at whoever insults him. ( Though I have suggested he not do that because some folks will actually take physical action against him. And though he would be able to press charges it's best not to even give any bigots any notice..) It's so hard to not take offense..

My friend Danielle was called the "n"word ( I won't even type it, see? ) and she flipped off the person, smiled at them and shook her head. But she told me later that she was hurt by it and it made her so angry. But that she would not argue with an idiot, and it was not worth her time.

The worst I've been called is a dyke, and I'm not even gay. It's hard to imagine the power behind a word.

 

[The Duke of Earl]

i expect to be seen as a beaner , they may not say it but they see me as one

 

[nefar559]

Do you think that racist terms and other generic degrading terms in part gain momentum from the fact that people give them creedence?

i.e. If gay people just laughed off or ignored "fag" every time they heard it instead of getting offended, would it lose potency and power? Would the same hold with any other racist term?

Does the fact that people are visibly shaken by racism and racist terms perpetuate their power and existence?

depends who is saying the word, if its some low-life, doesnt mean anythign to me, guys not smart enough to realize his actions. But if its someone in power, or in the public's eye, then thats where it really counts.

 

[Contagious Locc]

Do you think that racist terms and other generic degrading terms in part gain momentum from the fact that people give them creedence?

i noticed from the title of your thread that you didnt put "craccer" as one of those degrading terms.. my point is that racist terms are were made by white men.. chink, gook, spic, nigger, camel joccey and all that other shit..trying to seperate people from them and be the dominate race.. it might be easy for a white man to rub off being called a craccer than it would be for a blacc man being called a nigger.. for one, the white man hasnt suffered like other races, they've always been the ones raping, stealing from other, killing, enslaving, etc.. a blacc man was enslaved, killed, women raped, humilated and called a nigger...just like other races so why would you think it wouldnt offend him and he could just brush it off his shoulder.. you call any blacc person a nigger and its gonna bother them regardless, alot of people handle it different, martin luther wouldn't even show it but if you call me a nigger im gonna show u a nigga, different strokes for different folks but the bottom line is degrading remarks will always bother people, even if its not shown the racist still knows that...so no it doesnt matter the term still holds "potency and power".

 

[TONY206]

But do the "yes"s by predominately white members of the board downplay or obscure the destructive power these words have among people who have experienced a "package deal" of racism which includes not just slurs and insults, but also other daily slights and injustices?

That is the reason I don't use those words. To me, nothing is really offensive but out of respect to those who see a deeper meaning to them I don't treat it as nothing.

It's completely different to be called gook, nammer, nigger, spic etc compared to cracker.

Quite honestly I don't see how you can say its different. Yes it doesn't have much degrading history behind it as the other words words but as a child I lived in a few predominately black neighborhoods and have had a few confrontations where I was beat up and called a cracker or not being able to play in the same area on the playground so that used to really offend me. Now, it doesn't bother me though but I do feel a little disrespected in rare cases when I know the persons meaning.

 

[CannibalCrow]

I won't argue that white people use a lot of racist terms over most every other race, but I've heard other races use them too. (Not that you weren't suggesting that.) A word is coined by a certain mentality, but it can be used by anyone. How it is taken by those it is meant to offend is just the same. I.E., my black friend making fun of asians using racist terms. I cannot imagine the hurt that a word can inflict when used against a race, because it is true that "cracker" does not offend me. There aren't hundreds of years of hate behind it. Being called a Mick doesn't hurt me, or being called a Kraut or a Greaser for my different heritages. I get a little defensive, that is all.

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

Some little 5-year-old kid in my home town called me a beaner and I asked him why he said that. He told me his dad calls people like me beaners. This type of thing pisses me off. When kids are being taught to hate like that. It's pretty bad when a 5 year old kid can already tell races apart. I think he heard me speak spanish though so maybe that's why, I dunno. But fuck parents like his dad. And I also agree with Nefar, if someone in high power says something racists, it means a lot more than some low life saying it.

 

[TROLL]

depends who is saying the word, if its some low-life, doesnt mean anythign to me, guys not smart enough to realize his actions. But if its someone in power, or in the public's eye, then thats where it really counts.

real talk. if the person who made those remarks held a degree power then whos to say he wouldnt abuse it 4 his own beliefs

 

[CannibalCrow]

It's really sad to see a kid use those words.. They don't understand the true hate behind the words at first when they use them, and their own parents slowly fill them with ignorance and hate until they can naturally spout off with as much idiocy as their parents.

 

[Stealth]

I think yes, if the words were ignored, they would lose their effect.

But I only get offended when I know someone is trying to offend me.

You call me a wop, a dago, a greasy italian, a sand nigger (from my arabic look), a cracker, a mic, whatever - it only pisses me off if you mean to offend me. If someone says it joking around because they don't understand that shit offends me, then its all good. If someone says it to me because they either want to piss me off or are straight up racist, then yeah it pisses me the fuck off.

But at the same time, someone could say "I dont like you because you're italian", and it would piss me the FUCK off, and they didn't even use a derogatory word. But if i'm with my friends and i'm like "man, my hairs all fucked up" and my buddy is just like "that's cuz its all greasy, you stupid fucking dago", i'd laugh about it cuz I know he's kidding.

So I say, its the intention, not the words. If you mean to offend me, I'll be offended. If you say the word out of ignorance, but don't mean to offend me, then its all good.

Mind you, despite the fact that i have italian, sicilian, arabic, moorish blood, i also have irish - so I'm white. Racism doesn't affend me (a white person) as much as it affects non-whites. So maybe my point of view is a little different.

 

[Jae iLL]

That is the reason I don't use those words. To me, nothing is really offensive but out of respect to those who see a deeper meaning to them I don't treat it as nothing.


Quite honestly I don't see how you can say its different. Yes it doesn't have much degrading history behind it as the other words words but as a child I lived in a few predominately black neighborhoods and have had a few confrontations where I was beat up and called a cracker or not being able to play in the same area on the playground so that used to really offend me. Now, it doesn't bother me though but I do feel a little disrespected in rare cases when I know the persons meaning.

Well I said that in response to kleankut saying he finds it ridiculous for people to get offended when he doesn't get offended by being called cracker. I was just saying, the fact that the people who are "in control" of things are white makes it different to be called a cracker as opposed to being called a chink, gook, etc etc. Even if you lived in a black neighborhood, once you go to school, or get a job, or etc etc I'm sure the people who are in power, in charge, or even your colleagues are going to be Anglo-Saxon, am I right? Eventually, you being a cracker isn't going to be so dehumanizing. Think about other races who will CONTINUOUSLY have to deal with action and behaviors that accompany the words. That's why I say it's different, because although you have some discomfort living in a black neighborhood, the professional world still favors white folks. Have you ever had somebody question your ability in the work place because of how you look, where your from, your accent? Combine that with being called a chink, or ching chong ching, or nigger etc etc. Do you still not see why I say they're different?

 

[WHITE DEVIL]

I agree that Cracker has little to no power compared to other racist terms. That is why I didn't list it in the topic title.