Cracker (1766- ), or cracka, is an American term for a white person.
Uses:
- Standard American English – an offensive term for a poor white person.
- Black American English – mildly derogatory term for any white person. It can be used as mere description – as when Trayvon Martin called George Zimmerman a “creepy-ass cracker”.
- White use in Georgia and Florida – a positive term for a white person whose family has lived in the region for many generations.
White use: In 1718 Britain’s prisons were bursting to overflowing. Parliament passed a law to send prisoners, against their will, as convict labour to the Americas. In the 1700s rich White Americans called them “crackers” as well as “scum and dregs”.
Earl of Dartmouth in 1766:
I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their places of abode
“Cracker” here is seen as coming from the Scottish word “crack”, meaning to boast. You see that use of the word in the expression “not what it’s cracked up to be”.
They were still seen as scum over a hundred years later:
Theodore Roosevelt in 1889:
… a large influx of people drawn from the worst immigrants that perhaps ever were brought to America – the mass of convict servants, redemptioners, and the like… Many of the southern crackers or poor whites spring from this class, which also in the backwoods gave birth to generations of violent and hardened criminals, and to an even greater number of shiftless, lazy, cowardly cumberers of the earth’s surface.
Black use: Blacks mainly used the term from the 1860s to 1940s, particularly in Georgia and the Carolinas. It was generally applied to poor whites but could be applied to any white person, like a policeman. It seems to have made a comeback since the 1990s.
Malcolm X in 1964:
It’s time for you and me to stop sitting in this country, letting some cracker senators, Northern crackers and Southern crackers, sit there in Washington, D.C., and come to a conclusion in their mind that you and I are supposed to have civil rights. There’s no white man going to tell me anything about my rights.
Nowhere near as bad as the N-word: It cannot be. Blacks did not enslave whites for hundreds of years, lynch white people, bomb white churches, bomb white businesses, keep whites in ghettos, flood white neighbourhoods with drugs, underfund white schools, racially profile white men, send whites in huge numbers to prison and base their self-image on looking down on whites. If anything, black opinion of whites is way too high and their opinion of themselves is way too low, like in the White Doll Experiment.
The main N-word among blacks is the N-word and they direct it at themselves!
Whites who think “whitey” or “cracker” is “just as bad” as the N-word have no idea how asymmetric American racism is.
See also:
“Nowhere near as bad as the N-word”
I absolutely agree. They are not even on the same scale of offensiveness. The difference is immeasurable.
I don’t think there *is* a term that one could call a white person that would be particularly offensive in the same racist way as the N word. Personally, I would not believe any white person who claimed otherwise.
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Agreed, excellent blog, whites always seem too be looking for symmetry insofar as racism goes#!!
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Interesting. I always thought the derogatory use of “cracka”/cracker was based off of the food. The food-being bland, stale at times and flaky. “White” folk seem to have fake, flakiness of their personality, culture, and no sense of true identity in the USA. Learn something new everyday, thanks Abagond.
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Nice historical overview of the etymology of this word. The Florida piece may be worth expanding a bit, however. The cracking in this usage was the sound of a whip being used to drive cattle to market. But we also know whips were used for other purposes, hence the injurious aspect of the word in local usage here.
BTW, I’ve never thought this word was on the same par with the n word.Your use of the description “asymmetric” is on target, I think.
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I don’t know about present usage, but back in the 50s through 70s the word cracker specifically referred to racist white folks, hence the Malcolm quote.
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I do think that the term is offensive when white people use it on other white people, ie, implying that they are poor white Southern rednecks. But I think that the term “white trash” is even worse.
Its use by blacks simply does not have the power or history anything remotely close to the N-word. It doesn’t even have the history or power on the scale of the J-word.
I thought it came out of the Civil War. I didn’t know its use dated back to the 1700s.
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I’ve been waiting for a article such as this, that differentiates a racial slur from a insult.
I saw how the media, tried to draw comparisons, between the two and pretend to be outraged and offended.
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My husband and I discussed this the other day. I’m gonna send this to him.
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I mean, it’s pretty obvious that nigger has a much more negative connotation than cracker, especially if spoken by a wealthy white man. But of course if a poor Asian woman calls you a nigger, this means a lot less. Black people did not invent the word cracker in times of oppression against white people. In fact, white people also invented cracker to oppress poorer white people. (Don’t go thinking you are unique in that regard. When Lincoln freed the slaves, they found themselves working side by side with crackers in the factory jungle.)
But I suppose for Trayvon to tap into that word means something akin to the Asian woman calling a black guy a nigger. It’s still racially charged; it’s just not an unveiled assertion of racial dominance.
Also, I seriously doubt people in Florida and Georgia appreciate the word cracker, no matter how long they’ve been there. But of course Zimmerman is basically a hispanic guy, so it doesn’t even make sense.
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The lady speaking on the CNN panel made reference to the word cracker being used during slavery in America as a term for the overseer because of the crack of the whip used to govern over the slaves in the plantation fields. That person, usually a white man, then became known as “the cracker” among the slaves.
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Good etymology here, Aba. This one can’t be beat.
So no, it doesn’t mean “whip cracker”. Whites ain’t gonna be given any badges of honor of the sort.
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I don’t think there’s a derogatory term for whites that has any impact on their psyches for all reasons you’ve listed, but also because they feel so superior to all others, have all the power, and so really don’t care what anyone says.
Except calling them racist. Then, they get all kinds of butthurt.
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Abagond, this is a good and succinct explanation of the term cracker. I’m originally from Ohio and I remember hearing some (Black) adults and teenagers use this term. Not very often but I am familiar with the term. It was understood to refer to
a racist white person. When I moved to the West coast, it was a different story. I hardly ever hear any Black people young or old use that term and I’ve lived here for a while. Like someone already said this term doesn’t have the same sting and history of abuse and power that the n word has. The only thing I can think of that’s really insulting to whites is the term white trash. But that’s something that only has power when one white uses it against another white. I don’t think it has the same effect when a POC uses it. Sort of like being called a sellout, Oreo or Uncle Tom. I could care less if a white person were to use these terms against me. It would sting a bit if another Black person would call me any of those terms; it would be like someone calling my Blackness into question.
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@C
Yes, I have noticed this as well. It seems like calling a white person racist is almost akin to calling a
Black person the n word. Thems fightin’ words as we used to say back in the day. In the white community being called a racist is almost as bad as insulting one’s mama. You just don’t do it.
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@c and @mochasister
“Except calling them racist. Then, they get all kinds of butthurt.”
“Yes, I have noticed this as well. It seems like calling a white person racist is almost akin to calling a
Black person the n word. Thems fightin’ words as we used to say back in the day. In the white community being called a racist is almost as bad as insulting one’s mama. You just don’t do it.”
Yes. That never struck me before, but hell yes. #insight
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Hahaha… Cowardly cucumbers!
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I had a friend from Georgia who used this word when describing racist whites. It seems the word Racist stings worse to whites than saltines.
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@mary
Of course it does. If you call a white person a cracker, you do not threaten his or her livlihood. A charge of racism will lead to poverty and misery for the white person, should the public be convinced of it. Look at what’s happening to Paula Deen. Basically, it is very hostile to call a white person racist. If people can be convinced that a black person is racist, this can be written off sympathetically as a reaction to white racism. For instance, this blog site is extremely racist, yet I do not think the ADL cares about it like they care about The Occidental Observer.
It’s like calling someone a communist in the 50’s.
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When I listen to Rachel Jentel say that Trayvon used this word I was somewhat taken aback. It just sounded so dated. I just never expected to hear young people in 2013 use this pejorative.
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Extremely interesting post. I enjoy learning etymology of slang, especially derogatory slang. I had long wondered about the roots of “cracker”. I’ve seen many theories but this makes the most sense of any I’ve seen and it is consistent with the way most slang develops.
Oh, by the way, as to “cracker” vs. the “n-word”, please, this isn’t even a discussion. Cracker is, as you note, mildly derogatory at worst. It’s barely even an insult, and it carries essentially zero cultural baggage. The n-word is one of the most derogatory terms in our language and it is laden with ugly cultural baggage.
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Don’t whitewash the issue. The word “cracker” in some of its uses is much much more than a mildly derogatory terms. In the contemporary world, it can serve a precursor to racially motivated violence. That the term “cracker” can be used as a term of affection between and among some small coterie of whites does not change the fact that the word is purely a term of derogation. Even whites who are not in any way part of the subculture of people who could be called “crackers” sometimes use the word as a derogatory term for that group of people, although whites more often will use the term “redneck”. Words matter. Don’t make excuses for the people who uses them meaning harm, and, above all, don’t fill the heads of young people who are already violence prone with language which foments and justifies street violence.
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“Mary,
When I listen to Rachel Jentel say that Trayvon used this word I was somewhat taken aback. It just sounded so dated. I just never expected to hear young people in 2013 use this pejorative.”
Linda says,
Mary, Rachel spoke just like any other kid from the town she’s from in N. Miami… down to using the word “cracker”.. this word never went away for any black person from the South.
To me, if the word has to be “explained and defined” to the majority of the audience that’s hearing it, then it’s not a word that is on par with “n’gger” — a word which stands alone and needs no explanation.
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@ Linda: I guess not. It sounded dated like the word Negro. But that goes to show what I know.
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@Mary,
I guess each region has their own slang words and ways of speaking (like saying “booking” up north for “running fast”)
I had actually first heard the word “cracker” in NJ but the kid who said it, his family was from Mississippi.
When I first came to S. Florida, trust, it took me awhile to understand the southern black Americans and their speech –“finna, I’nt (I ain’t slurred together), etc” … after living in NJ & NY, their southern slang/ speech was like hearing another language 🙂
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@ Linda; I understand can understand that.
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*I can understand that* My computer is doing weird thing this evening.
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From the way I have heard the word used it mostly means an ignorant, racist white person, not far from how Malcolm X used it, close to what Richard III, Mary and Mochasister said. Some whites do get upset at being called a “cracker”, but calling them a “racist” has far more sting.
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What does the word cracker mean? I have had this ignorant Black person call me a cracker for speaking and writing proper English. Honestly I want to know what it means
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@Mary, the word that I questioned the most as being “outdated” that I haven’t heard a black person use in ages is: “homie”
who says that word in this day and age.
when Zimmerman claimed that Trayvon said that word, my immediate thought was “that’s a d’mn lie” … TM would have said the word “dude” before he said “homie”
George must have been watching re-runs of “In Living Colour”
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And it was online too. I posted my picture and I look as far from a ”cracker” as possible, I have dark brown skin, kinky hair and brown eyes. Those aren’t traits of a White person but a Black person.
What an idiot that person was!
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Adeen@ What does the word cracker mean?
Linda says,
Adeen, they were trying to say that you “speak like a white girl”…but you know the drill, put ignorant people on ignore and keep doing you
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@Linda
Oh okay thanks for the clarification but I have gotten that I speak like a ”White girl” many times from my own people. And Whites think that I speak with a foreign accent. SMH.
I will keep being me even if it means people misunderstanding me.
I don’t like the term, cracker like I don’t like the n word. Both are derogotary terms.
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That’s because most of the things you say about Whites as a whole, won’t stick. To them, the term ‘Cracker’ could be defined as, “what inferiors call the Master Race behind their backs.” It’s hard to use any blanket statement against Whites to others. The only one that has any traction is the historically proven charge of being a perpetual racists. If you call a White person a racist, that is one of the few things that other’s may immediately believe about a White person. Thus, the dramatic reaction to defend against it.
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That’s because it’s one of the few things charges they actually have to defend themselves against. And to be fair, most people would not want the title of ‘racist’ attached to their name. But you’re right Peanut, often times, I think they seem to see it more as an epithet than an accusation to be discussed or examined.
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It doesn’t have the punch in and of itself, but it’s much, much more commonly said and in many instances, such as when it was said by Trayvon Martin, it’s said in a context of anger and aggression.
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@ Linda: Yes, homie is outdated as well. I doubt if young people of Trayvon Martin’s generation address people as homie. That is what makes me suspicious about the truth of Zimmerman’s testimony.
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@ Linda: I know, I immediately thought about that character on Living Color. Who even speaks that way these days?
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abagond:
“EthnicKonflict
I mean, it’s pretty obvious that nigger has a much more negative connotation than cracker, especially if spoken by a wealthy white man. But of course if a poor Asian woman calls you a nigger, this means a lot less. Black people did not invent the word cracker in times of oppression against white people. In fact, white people also invented cracker to oppress poorer white people. (Don’t go thinking you are unique in that regard. When Lincoln freed the slaves, they found themselves working side by side with crackers in the factory jungle.)
But I suppose for Trayvon to tap into that word means something akin to the Asian woman calling a black guy a nigger. It’s still racially charged; it’s just not an unveiled assertion of racial dominance.
Also, I seriously doubt people in Florida and Georgia appreciate the word cracker, no matter how long they’ve been there. But of course Zimmerman is basically a hispanic guy, so it doesn’t even make sense.”
How was this person, allowed to type the “N” word, several times and it not be in moderation? I thought you didn’t allow that word to be typed out, fully?
I don’t like when white people come on this blog and type that word so many times, it seems suspect. Like they are getting their rocks off, typing it over and over just to insult in a sneaky way.
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@ sondis: I thought it was just me that made that same observation. But we are on the same page about ethnic conflict’s comment. I feel that it is passive aggressive.
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@ Sondis: Didn’t that seem kind of back handed. I wondered what the underlying sentiment was in Ethnic Konflict comment was? I peeped his blog. I wondered if he was one of those so called race realist or race separatist. My antennae kind of went up.
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mary burrell:
Yep, I’m surprised, abagond didn’t pick up on that and delete the post in moderation.
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@ Sondis
The comment was in moderation. I allowed it through because he was talking ABOUT the n-word, which is very much on topic. But, yeah, he seems pretty comfortable USING it, which, though, is important to know when evaluating his opinion (and website).
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abagond:
alright, thanks for filling me in….
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@abagond
What does my being comfortable using a derogotory term have to do with my website, which mostly deals with religion? I do not have any problems with black people. Honestly, you just aren’t that important to me, no offense.
It’s no accident that George Bush was a cocaine addict. Sometimes a cigar is really a cigar. America has been lead by a succession of morons for a long time.
I only cared about your blog to begin with because you talked about something I do care about, which is universalism.
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In a few years, if that long, calling a white person “racist” will not have as much impact as it does now. They are becoming desensitized to the accusation.
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^ It’s not really up to White people whether or not they can be “sensitive” about it. The real problem is whether everyone else in the world believes Whites to be easily racist or not. Whites have a long legacy of racism all over the world, that’s why when a peron of color calls a White person a racist, it is often taken quite seriously by other non-whites. Most cultures have been looked down upon, marginalized and looted by White people at one point or another.
So they may get frustrated at having to defend themselves against the charge but they will have to continue doing so, whether they like it or not.
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Teddy Roosevelt: “shiftless, lazy, cowardly cumberers of the earth’s surface.” omg, I die laughing. Talking only to Agabond here, I adore your writing. I am new to your blog, but I really love it. Digging up that quote is perfection. Great work, you.
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Great explanation of this often debated term-by the way I love John Mulaney, he is hilarious!
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The only time I have ever heard ‘homie’ used it was always in reference to that In Living Color character Homie D. Clown. The term “homeboy” (and “homes” for short) seems to have originated from California Chicano street culture and spread out from there in the late 80s. In NYC I recall hearing “homeboy” used on occasion but never “homes” and, as I’ve previously mentioned, “homie” was never anything outside of a reference to the TV character.
This was all 20+ years ago. It’s difficult to fathom that 17 year old Trayvon Martin would have called his stalker by the name of a TV character from a show which had been cancelled and had then pretty much faded into obscurity several years before Trayvon was even born.
Also, even if ‘homie’ had been used without reference to the TV character, the word itself is still an obvious take-off on ‘homeboy’ — a term which implies a trusted male friend…a close buddy. In this context it especially nonsensical that Trayvon Martin would have referred to GZ as “homie”…”creepy-ass cracker” — oh definitely! “Homie”? No. It’s actually laughable that somebody (who was probably a middle-aged white male attorney who has limited to zero contact with Blacks of any age) would come up with that.
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It might be good to have a series of posts on current and past racial and ethnic slurs – examine where they came from and their past and current connotation and compare them with each other.
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king:
“It’s not really up to White people whether or not they can be “sensitive” about it. The real problem is whether everyone else in the world believes Whites to be easily racist or not.”
Actually, it is. The charge only works for political reasons. And it has a lot less to do with non whites than other whites. Most whites don’t care if blacks call them “racist”. The term only has teeth because other whites give it teeth and use it to promote their own political causes. When enough influential whites get tired of it they’ll pull it’s teeth and that will be the end of it.
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flamma:
I assumed Trayvon called him “homie” because he was hispanic and some Mexicans call each other homie. That would be like a hispanic using ebonics with someone black.
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@ EthnicKonflict
In writing about a post of mine on your blog you used a Mock Ebonic title: “Da truf”. Wow.
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@ abagond
If you didn’t paint pretty much every single one of your perceptions in terms of race, you would see how I was mocking Ebonics users for being separatists, which is exactly what the post intends to criticize. While you believe attempts to promote uniformity of value have their basis in a group of evil white people plotting against blacks, da truf is much different. The conspiracy theory gets points for creativity, but it’s actually a little bit dangerous to think that way. It destroys trust and cooperation.
Let’s talk about Ebonics for a second, though. What exactly is it? Ebonics appears to be a dialect of English spoken uniformly amongst ignorant blacks in a multiplicity of geographic locations. (Professionals do not use this dialect, regardless of color.) It is not an accent that remains because English is the second language. It does not exist in isolated rural pockets where these blacks do not encounter other groups of people. Ebonics seems to be somewhat similar to Cockney, which is a dialect resulting from class warfare between “crackers,” if you will, and “racists” in England. I would like to see class divisions disappear in England, and the dialects this system has produced as well.
Ebonics appears to be an effort for black people to separate themselves culturally from the mainstream. This is why I entitled my post, “Da Truf.” Now, while I applaud all legitimate attempts to defend oneself against racism, of which plenty undeniably exists, especially in the United Religions of America, I believe in the primacy of the State and in the mutual interest of the people, regardless of color. I see Ebonics as lying tenuously between legitimate defense and outright defiance. And I feel somewhat suspicious of it.
However, I am not one of these great African American studies professors who have demonstrated evidence (presumably) that the word “cracker” stems from white slave masters whipping their slaves. So perhaps I am missing the point with Ebonics.
P.S. I do not see your comment on my blog. Is my comment system broken? Perhaps you meant to say you were going to write a whole post about my blog, in which case I appeciate the support, dude! But I do not see that post, either.
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@ Kiwi
Being passive aggressive? No, I think not. I took a pretty strong stance against Ebonics, which I believe needlessly separates people. I did not attempt to hide my discontent with it behind a slogan or joke. Ebonics will only provide firepower to your enemies. Quote me on that.
I am not married to an Asian woman, since I think marriage is a silly property exchange. But my last girlfriend was Chinese, if that is what you meant.
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White “sensitivity” about being called “racist” is hypocritical, as Peanut pointed out: they are more upset at being CALLED a racist than in BEING one.
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@ Ethnic K
Kiwi meant you were being passive-aggressive in using the n-word, taking advantage of the topic at hand to repeat it over and over, yet having plausible deniability that that is what you were doing.
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@ abagond
I only used it in the first of my comments on this post. Also, there is, I believe, a difference between typing a word and in speaking it. There are also differences in connotation depending on context, and in the case of spoken word, depending on factors such as the tone and volume, as well. The problem most people have with the n-word is that it signifies hate. I assure you it intended to take no such meaning in my comment; however, I can see how such a freedom might be used to do this passive-aggressive thing you are talking about.
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@ Mr Piggle-Wiggle
Haha! So basically Whites don’t care what non-White people think of them… the only reason that they care at all when they are called ‘racists’ is because OTHER WHITE PEOPLE don’t like it. And, of course even those White people have their own political agenda, and that’s the only reason that they appear to care. In actuality, no White people really care, based on what people of color are telling them.
Can you really be this delusional?
Firstly, if most White people had no problem with being called racist by non-Whites (who make up most of the World’s population) then why would they care what a minority of politically motivated White people thought? If the “more sensible Whites” are so good at ignoring the majority of the people of the World, then why wouldn’t they just ignore these few “Liberals?” (because I’m sure that’s who you mean).
Secondly, if what you say were really true, then would that not make the point to some extent? How can you say that you’re not a racist, yet when other people, whom your own race has historically oppressed, and looted, tell you that racism still is still going on that you will not listen to them unless they are White? That is the very definition of racism.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that every charge of racism is justified or correct. I know that sometimes non-Whites get it wrong. But you must endure these small injustices because they are so much less than the terrible injustices that you have caused all around the world. Be thankful that you are not receiving in full that which you so enthusiastically handed out.
The reason why White people are sensitive to the charge of racism is because they have been the world’s biggest and most arrogant racists in recent centuries. They have enslaved, robbed, and murdered MILLIONS with the justification of being White and therefore superior. The reason the charge has teeth is because when other people say Whites are being racist, EVERYONE ELSE knows exactly what that means, and believe it. That is the reason why. And there will not be any quick relief from this, though you may wish it. This is a very small price to pay, but you must accept it, and live with it.
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It never ceases to amaze me. Some people think they are slick as snot on silk shirt. Ethnic Konflict was trying to be slick by using the n-word pejorative. Yes, you were being passive aggressive. It appears you took umbrage to the word racist and the pejorative word that the thread topic is about. Just accept it that you were called out on your tomfoolery.
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@ King
This is a good strategy. White supremecists will undoubtably be quick to point out any mistakes you make in accusation. So the point that no one is being seriously injured by these mistakes, for example through brutal chattel enslavement or blatant genocide, will stick. Predictably, these supremecists will respond that they had nothing to do with those past horrors and thus do not “deserve” any unfairness at all, but you could point out that it is not about what individuals deserve; it is about what is best for everyone. Such a defense is basically a selfish one.
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The Truth about Ebonics, really is, words that were once used exclusivly by black American jazz musicians , to communicate to each other, were copied by white men and women to be hipper , and , created the foundations for their generations, and , many of these words from the jazz era, are now just normal words that a Wall Street executive might say to each other in a casual exchange..and that is how ebonics always has been and still is and will be, a very healthy contributor to the evolution of how Americans speak…its why we are differant from the English…I see this process in Brazil too, slang is very healthy to language..it gives it spirit and soul and identity
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@ EthnicKonflict
Everyone has to deal with unfair stereotypes. Sometimes there is some truth in them, sometimes much less. Most of us are dealing with ideas about us that were put upon us by the White worldwide power structure at some time or another. There is no way to un-ring that bell. So we all struggle to rebuild our maligned ethnic images, as we can.
But you can see why when White people get so “tired” of being called ‘racist’ that the rest of us tend to roll our eyes. Yes… that is your ONE cross to bear! How about all the other crap that we have to deal with based on the system? The question is, at this point are White people really the ones who should be getting impatient about false perceptions about their race? REALLY???
I’m not saying that White’s can’t work to rebuild their images just like everyone else has to do, but please, let’s not make it about how the poor, misunderstood, White people are tired, and aren’t going to take this much longer. Do not DARE to say that, in the face of history.
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@ King
If anyone has the privilege to bitch about “reverse discrimination,” I suppose that would be me. But I would not do something so petty.
I would probably be a third year medical student right now if affirmitive action did not exist. Instead, I spent the last two years living mostly with my parents, working minimum wage jobs, and helping my dad with his work. Now I am vigorously learning new material for a graduate program in technology, since the content of the program lies outside of my previous experience. So, this has had a real influence in my life personally.
However, I understand the bigger picture, how insignificant something like my minor inconvenience really is, especially compared to the vast problems facing our world today, and I accept the possibility that my well-being has been slightly damaged by this as a sacrifice I am more than willing to make to help safeguard the future of the State and to hopefully bring the world closer together.
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“Creepy ass Cracker” absolutely is racial. Even if the witness in the Zimmerman murder trial doesn’t want to admit it. Now does that make her less credible? I don’t think so I think it makes her more credible… because other than that (that she didn’t think it was a racial term) she absolutely told the truth that day.
If you were white you would not want to be referred to as a “Creepy ass Cracker” In fact the word police that want people to be fired and lose everything they have over a word should be held to the same standard “What’s good for the goose?” or “You want your cake and eat it”
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@ dave
There is no such thing as the “Word Police” in America. The people who lose their jobs are almost always professional communicators who broadcast to millions of people. They are NECESSARILY held to a higher standard then people talking on a street corner. Professional communicators, of all people are aware of the rules and where the lines are drawn. You do not have a RIGHT to mass influence, and if enough people make a stink about something you say, you may be looking for work elsewhere. That is not a surprise to anyone in the business. You decide how close you want to dance to that line.
Also, people do not “lose everything” they simply lose their pulpit. Nobody goes after their money, possessions, or property. Most of those whom I can think of who have been ousted were multi-millionaires and could live quite comfortably if they never worked another day in their lives.
This too is another “poor White people” mame that is ridiculous on it’s face. stop it.
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@ King
Excellent point.
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@King
Who said “Poor white people” Just because I have a contrary point of view to yours doesn’t mean I’m saying “Poor white people”
Personally I don’t care if someone called me a “Creepy ass Cracker” or anything else including “Dego”. I have a skin. But to say that the term is not racial is a flat out lie.
I’ve also heard that the difference is there is no power behind it. Well if you are getting your butt kicked while being called “Creepy ass Cracker” or “Whiteboy” you might feel a little different about it.
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“The reason the charge has teeth is because when other people say Whites are being racist, EVERYONE ELSE knows exactly what that means, and believe it. That is the reason why. And there will not be any quick relief from this, though you may wish it. This is a very small price to pay, but you must accept it, and live with it.”
*************
King,
In actuality it doesn’t cost white people a damned thing to be called a racist – aside from perhaps hurting their widdle feelings.
Remember, we are only about one or two generations removed from when RACISM in Amerikkka was – out in the open – up in your face – variety. Now that it’s gone a little undercover, a little politically incorrect, many whites now don’t like wearing the racist label!
The white cop who arrested Skip Gates in his own home was called a racist by the black collective – and what happened to him? Absolutely nothing. Unless you count getting invited to have a beer with the POTUS a negative.
Barack Obama HAD TO PAY a political price, do some back peddling and invite the (racist) cop to the white house – because he told the truth by saying, “The cop acted stupidly!”
If, or when white people do pay a real price for being racists, or racist killers, it’s because other white people take them to task. It has little or exactly nothing to do with black people – as evidenced by the recent Paula Deen/Zimmerman murder trial, debacles.
Let’s keep it real, sir.
Law Prof Bell’s 5 Rules of Racial Standing are still in full effect!
Black people’s voices don’t have much JUICE in Amerikkka.
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love the malcolm x quote. the c word isn’t the same as the n word. dang abagond u had to put those salty nasty stale saltine crackers up there. why not some ritz or triscuit geez. o u forgot the cheese whiz or peanut butter.
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@ Mstoogood4yall; LOL! Yeah, I like that Malcolm X quote as well. It’s pretty succinct and to the point.
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king:
“Haha! So basically Whites don’t care what non-White people think of them… the only reason that they care at all when they are called ‘racists’ is because OTHER WHITE PEOPLE don’t like it.”
Pretty much. A lot of Black people are the same way. Mochasister said, “I don’t think it has the same effect when a POC uses it. Sort of like being called a sellout, Oreo or Uncle Tom. I could care less if a white person were to use these terms against me. It would sting a bit if another Black person would call me any of those terms;”
There’s also the issue of one’s betters. Most people don’t care if they’re insulted by someone they consider beneath them. White trash can’t insult an upper middle class white person because the upper middle class white person knows they’re white trash. To borrow mochasister’s example, I’ve been called a “sell out” plenty of times for not “representing”. Why should I care that some low class ghetto trash is mad at me? If I don’t care then why would White people?
You’re mistaken about this white people vs the world thing, too. You’ve been reading Black blogs so long that you’re living in a Black bubble. I’ve traveled and there’s no world unity against whites. There’s not even unity against whites in the US. Most people don’t believe white people are more racist than Black people. Most Black people don’t even believe it. I don’t.
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hi mary good to see u. i’ve been out of town and got back today, its good to be back lol. *searches for peanut & sondis*
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Matari, I think my answer to your observation may come out in what I’m about to explain to dave.
@ dave
The problem is that you haven’t been able to answer all of the glaring holes in your hastily fabricated logic. There is no good reason why a majority of sensible White people would feel ashamed because a minority of politically motivated White liberals thought badly of them. Yet, the word “racist” obviously carries some weight, if this were not so then you wouldn’t be talking about it’s lack of power in the future tense.
There is also no rebuttal to the historic massive assholery of the White race in recent centuries. So, one one hand, it’s clear that Whites have acted as worldwide bigots, and arrogant oppressors, on every continent, but on the other hand, nobody else in the world feels any animus toward them… and you know this because… well, you’ve been on vacation, and nobody in the hotel told you they to leave because you were White. Your naivete seems to know no bounds.
As for the questions of one’s “betters,” that seems a bit confusing. Are you saying that you don’t care if Black people consider you to be a racist unless they are your betters? How would you determine which Blacks were your betters? Would it be based just on money? In that case Jay-Z would be your better at $475 million (according to Forbes) He could certainly buy you and sell you several times over… he’d be worth… like 1000 times your entire lifetime earning potential. Or perhaps you mean in education and accomplishment, like Dr. Ben Carson, Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University. I guess I’m just not sure which set of Blacks you consider to be your betters, and what parameters you use to make that determination?
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I’m sorry, I think I meant to Address Mr Piggle-Wiggle, not dave!
My apologies, dave!
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Mr Piggle-Wiggle
flamma:
I assumed Trayvon called him “homie” because he was hispanic and some Mexicans call each other homie. That would be like a hispanic using ebonics with someone black.
– – –
On the one hand, there certainly is a possibility that Trayvon facetiously referred to GZ as “homie” based on GZ’s appearance.
On the other hand, If Trayvon did indeed refer to GZ as a “creepy-ass cracker”, then that indicates to me that Trayvon viewed Zimmerman as being white, and may have made no connection to GZ being Latino / Hispanic at all… as, though I cannot speak for Black Americans as a group, I will state from my own experiences that many (NOT ALL) Black Americans seem to regard “white” and Latino as being mutually exclusive categories.
Add to that the fact that many of the persons Trayvon would have doubtlessly associated as being Latino in the state of Florida are individuals of Caribbean background (i.e., from Cuba, Puerto Rico and the DR), who are typically more ‘mulatto’ in phenotype rather than ‘mestizo’.
Also, as “homie” doesn’t seem to be in current usage in Florida (or anywhere else actually, though I could be wrong about that), the likelihood that Trayvon Martin would somehow have knowledge that a few Chicanos / Mexicans somewhere might refer to themselves in such a way, seems remote…it’s not like the term “homie” is being used in movies or TV shows where someone such as Trayvon might possibly have picked up on it.
All this said, It’s not my call to state that Trayvon absolutely did not refer to GZ as “homie”, as I myself was not privy to their exchange of words . What I will say, though, is it seems extremely unlikely that he did in any context. What seems far more likely, to my mind, is that the word “homie” was placed in the mouth of Trayvon by someone who figured most whites upon hearing it would nod and think to themselves, “Gosh darnit, yes! That’s exactly how THEY speak!!!”
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No Problemo @ King
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[…] cracker […]
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king:
“There is no good reason why a majority of sensible White people would feel ashamed because a minority of politically motivated White liberals thought badly of them.”
Are you ashamed of being called a racist? Neither are they. But we don’t get singled out and smeared for it. They do. That’s because Hollywood and the media are overwhelmingly liberal and have the power to smear. If Hollywood and the media started smearing Black people for being racist things would flip in just a few years.
I don’t know if you’re old enough to remember the 80’s but movies and comedians used to regularly mock gays. No one had a problem with it. Today, movies and comedians mock homophobes. And no one has a problem with it. For example, Alec Baldwin supports gay causes. Yet he recently made angry homophobic tweets at someone who criticized his wife. Do you think he really cares? Or does he just care that he’s getting criticized for it?
“There is also no rebuttal to the historic massive assholery of the White race in recent centuries.”
That whole paragraph was a tantrum. Are you ashamed of it? No. But I find you an embarrassment. I don’t need to blame my life on racism because I’m successful. It’s not completely about money, either. It’s also about character. Jay-Z is no more better than me than if he had won his money playing the lottery. I feel the same way about plenty of entertainers. Lady Gaga and Madonna are both rich, too. I see nothing about any of them that would make them my betters. Ben Carson is a highly accomplished neurosurgeon who’s never behaved the way they have. I have nothing but respect and admiration for him.
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If I am being a racist and someone calls me out on it then yes, I am or would be in that given circumstance. But that’s neither here nor there. what it comes down to is that accusations which fit within the stereotype are ‘sticky.’
For example: If a White person call me prejudice, it’s not as ‘sticky’ as if they call me uneducated or violent.
Conversely, if I call a White person uneducated it will take a lot more to make that accusation stick then it would when applied to a Black person.
That is why 95% of those on this thread who have commented on it all agree that Whites are sensitive to being accused racism. It only makes sense, given their history of racist acts. Why you are trying so hard to deny the abundantly obvious is beyond me.
Was it really? Define what a tantrum is, Sport?
Hahahaha! Are you now? Hahhaa! How delicious! Well, at least we can finally agree that Benjamin Carson is your Better. You see, if we dig deeply enough there is always something to agree upon.
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“But I find you an embarrassment. I don’t need to blame my life on racism because I’m successful.”
I’ve always hated this argument. A crack user might say that if he happened to be immune to the bad side effects. “I don’t need to blame my life on crack because it never hurt me! There must just be something wrong with you.”
And again, this is a viciously selfish argument.
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“That is why 95% of those on this thread who have commented on it all agree that Whites are sensitive to being accused racism. ”
Using Abagond’s readers as a metric would be like using Stormfront readers as a metric.
“Hahahaha! Are you now? Hahhaa! How delicious! Well, at least we can finally agree that Benjamin Carson is your Better. ”
Listen, chuckles. I said I don’t have to blame racism because I’m successful. That’s a different issue than one’s betters. I have no problem recognizing Dr Carson character and achievements. Why would I? I’m just as Black as he is. I’m still better than you, though.
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EthnicKonflict
I’ve never smoked crack so I’ll take your word for it.
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@ Mr. Piggle-Wiggle
Oh hey! I didn’t realize you were White like me. Sorry for getting mad at you earlier. We’ll go play golf.
Just like you, I have never smoked crack. I’m too smart for that. I’ve also never lived in the projects either, since I am too smart for that, as well. If only everyone were as smart as I am, no one would have ever written Leviticus. No one would have ever believed the Earth was flat or that there were giant spiders at the equator and krackens in the seas. Of course, if you believe in the Great Kraken, I did not mean to offend you.
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“Oh hey! I didn’t realize you were White like me. Sorry for getting mad at you earlier. We’ll go play golf. ”
I’m not “white like you” and I don’t golf.
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@ Mr. Piggle-Wiggle
Come now, Piggle. Don’t say you are black to get out of your deserved punishment for what our ancestors did. We both know you are white, and no one likes a deceiver. This is just like the time I tried to claim I was Hispanic because my mom “happens” to be Mexican. Yeah, they saw right through that one. I can teach you to play a mean game of golf!
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Am I not ghetto enough for you? Should I wear saggy pants and c0ck my hat to the side for you? Sorry to interrupt the warm, fuzzy feeling you get for showing your compassion to the poor, underprivileged minorities. This minority wasn’t underprivileged.
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My apologies for iPad typing!
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It is amusing, Piggie, that you have a certain notion about being Black:
that along with statements like:
Who exactly do you think you are? And what’s more, who do you think that we are? What is this “successful” and “not underprivileged” thing you keep throwing around? Do you assume that the rest of us are unsuccessful and underprivileged?
You quite remind me of a certain character in a play… his name is “Sergeant Waters,” do you need for me to explain to you who he is?
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Mr Piggle-Wiggle:
“Am I not ghetto enough for you? Should I wear saggy pants and c0ck my hat to the side for you? Sorry to interrupt the warm, fuzzy feeling you get for showing your compassion to the poor, underprivileged minorities. This minority wasn’t underprivileged.”
LMFAO! Wicked come back!
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“No man is your better, you nimrod! But you don’t see that.”
My sight is flawless. There’s a certain thresh hold above which everyone is respectable. There’s a thresh hold below which everyone is trash. Everyone knows it when they see it. Among decent, respectable people there are still betters but people usually don’t talk about it in those terms. Those at the top share a mutual admiration like my colleagues and I.
“Trying to convince yourself that you’re Black, but “not like those other Blacks.” And on the other thread trying to excuse your own whoremongering… It’s disgusting really.”
Maybe I should start saying “cracker” and sleeping around more? As it is, most White people go out of their way to be nice to me and my wife is the only person I’ve been with. Yeah, I’d say I’m definitely your better. And I haven’t even mentioned money yet.
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Thanks Sondis. 🙂
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king
“Do you assume that the rest of us are unsuccessful and underprivileged? ”
I don’t know. Did you go to Dartmouth?
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Haha! Dartmouth is a good school, but it doesn’t really mean too much. I went to a good school too, but I’m not going to get into throwing around titles, degrees, and annual compensation. It will only sound foolish, and there is no real way to fact check over the internet.
But I’d say that the majority of Abagond’s regular commenters are college grads or college students. Some at graduate level, some undergrad. Does this surprise you, Sergeant?
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@ Mr. Piggle-Wiggle
Ok, now I am starting to see where you are coming from. You don’t want to be patronized. You have de-identified with Black separatism and the more unsavory elements in Black culture, including excessive materialism and sexual promiscuity. However, I think you do yourself a disservice by not awknowledging that just like Black culture can get in wrong in a lot of regards, White culture gets it wrong as well. In fact, I would argue that no culture gets it right, and demonstrably so!
Scientists are the only ones who will actually admit this, and I think they should be a model for the rest of us.
For instance, while fathering an illegitimate child has unquestionably negative consequences, I do not see any objective evil in consensual and safe sexual promiscuity as a means of exploring the community, connecting with others, and even entertaining onself. Furthermore, I detest slut shaming as much as I detest a cheater. Also, I would not go so far as to say you are “better” than someone else categorically, though I will admit that perhaps your self-discipline and vision warrant incentivization.
You are a complex character, and your seeming alignment with certain forces in this world disappoints me, since someone like you should certainly see the problems with assuming that you have gotten to where you are completely on your own. I hope that you continue to grow in your knowledge and that one day you will understand what I mean.
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@ King
I see Mr. Piggle is on yet another thread trying to tell you who you are and what you know. I guess he figures he can win an argument if he keeps trying to claim he is “better.” Ignore my flawed argument because I am better than you LOL. Reminds me of when I was a kid. The bully down the street would always push me and say I am better than you.
Well last I heard bully is living in a trailer park drinking beers. Now I could always go up and rub my achievements in his face, but in order to be better you have to do better. So nice move King. You proved to be better by doing better.
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@EthnicKonflict
Wow just wow (not in a bad way mind you).
“In fact, I would argue that no culture gets it right, and demonstrably so!”—Exactly!
Contrary to what some people believe shaming a person does nothing. I mean all that shaming and we still have a large sum of babies out of wedlock. Either way you make an interesting point and I will try to answer when I have more time.
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Well Sharina, it’s just telling when a Black person comes to the web with the same assumptions as a prejudiced White person. Piggie has this assumption that because he is on a Black activism website that of course, he is the ONLY product here of the Ivy League, and that nobody else here is “successful” (however you want to define that). And why? Because he is among common Black folk with all of their pathologies!!
Yet, the kind of people he envisions the rest of us to be are NOT on the internet reading political activism blogs in their spare time (in great numbers). They are not discussing world events, recommending books and articles to each other, and providing links to documentaries on YouTube. He has COMPLETELY miscalculated his audience here. Because despite his Ivy League pretensions, he clearly reasons with less insight than any two-penny freshman struggling to make the minimum academic clearance in his first year of Jr. college.
As the Negro College Fund says, a mind is a terrible thing to waste! 🙂
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I think I must have hit the right nail on the head.
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When you cannot reason, you are forced to assume.
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@ King
You can shorten commenter names but please spell them correctly. Thus Piggle is fine but not Piggie. Thank you.
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I was reading the etymology of this word and I read that according to the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britanica says that this word derives from the kernels of corn which form the staple of food of this class of people. cracked kernels of corn.
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That makes sense, since corn was the staple grain of the US south (including grits, hominy, cornbread, etc.) instead of rice or wheat.
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Ha-ha, I just read proverb # 18
abagond.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/white-proverb/
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Very interesting and informative post. A good read. This word doesn’t hurt whites all that much, but it is annoying that blacks essentially get to use a racial epithet with impunity. I am interested that more blacks don’t use the term “white trash”, which I think is a much more offensive term for whites to be called, though it is maybe only applicable to a certain segment of the population, but for those people it would be very effective in insulting them and causing them to question their own worth.
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Say white trash, cracka or cracker and will receive a punch in your mouth by my part!
“Nowhere near as bad as the N-word: It cannot be. Blacks did not enslave whites for hundreds of years, lynch white people, bomb white churches, bomb white businesses, keep whites in ghettos, flood white neighborhoods with drugs, underfund white schools, racially profile white men, send whites in huge numbers to prison and base their self-image on looking down on whites. If anything, black opinion of whites is way too high and their opinion of themselves is way too low, like in the White Doll Experiment”
Blacks has SELL other blacks, include from their own kind to slavery, a business good for all parts involved. Still today in Africa the tribal wars desolate populations, torture, murder, rape, cannibalism are somewhat common in most African countries, not only against white Africans but against other black Africans as well. In Liberia many ex-slaves from United States, when arrived there, started enslaving the local primitive tribes.
Today there is an shithole dominated by black gangs.
Stop with your falseness! I know problems white created but it’s simple ignorance and foolishness to yourself say such words you’ve said.
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@ Abbas
Regardless of what you have said it does not change the fact of what he said. Trying to point out xyz won’t change that at all.
Now if you want to get violent over it then your funeral.
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i prefer ‘white bull’ or something to cracker, but you know… i’m not perfect
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This is an excellent blog.
As a white Aussie I get frustrated when my fellow peers complain about the word ‘cracker’, or any other ‘derogatory’ word used to describe a Caucasian person. I put derogatory in apostrophes because I don’t believe there is a term that could belittle the white race… We’re not disenfranchised or discriminated on so why are we getting so upset about being called white trash, bogan or cracker? I mean really.
The N word is a shit load more offensive than cracker will EVER be. I suggest my fellow whiteys get their heads out of the gutter, and if you are offended at being called such names, toughen the fuck up.
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[…] cracker […]
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Crackas be crackas no matter where crackas be.
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The reason the n word has the intensity it does us because of history associated with.
If you say cracker enough times, associated with assaulting whites, it will over time gain currency as an intense racial slur. I think this is already occurring.
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“Racially profile white men” implies only black men are racially profiled. Black women are racially profiled too. Black men are not they onlys this happens too. I’m tired of seeing examples or an emphasis of just the racist crap black men go through….
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/11/charlie-rangel-cracker-term-of-endearment_n_6136028.html
“Rep. Charlie Rangel Responds To Use Of Racial Slur: I Thought Cracker Was A ‘Term Of Endearment'”
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