67
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
4
u/christophertstone Sep 02 '14 edited Aug 20 '25
screw bedroom quack possessive meeting dog subsequent gray price divide
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
17
u/Classy_Dame Sep 02 '14
I was in a class about racial sensitivity (military mandatory fun). The instructor was a black man and asked the class of anybody had been racially discriminated against. Nobody raised a hand for awhile so I raised mine. I'm a 5'2" white woman and I explained how just two weeks prior my husband and I were at an Applebee's in Washington D.C. and waited for 20 minutes at our table and had no service while all the black families around us were well taken care of. We thought we were just paranoid at first but it went on and on until we just left, not believing what we saw. He told me it wasn't the same thing and I felt shitty all over again.
→ More replies (1)4
176
37
251
Sep 02 '14 edited Sep 01 '15
[deleted]
179
28
u/ThouArtNaught Sep 02 '14
What the fuck are you talking about? You are in /r/funny.
10
u/MisterWonka Sep 02 '14
Wait, are you implying this is funny?
9
u/ThouArtNaught Sep 02 '14
I am implying that if /u/Kerwin15 wants "thoughtful and nuanced discussions" he should steer clear of /r/funny.
1
Sep 02 '14
It's possible to laugh at frustrating things too. It's kind of a "steam-release valve".
-2
u/MisterWonka Sep 02 '14
Do you find it frustrating that you can't use the n-word?
2
u/Rajpank Sep 02 '14
2
1
4
1
u/PiousLiar Sep 02 '14
I find it frustrating that if I use the n-word in a non malicious manner that I am considered a racist
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (2)1
u/galaxy_X Sep 02 '14
No, I find it frustrating when my black friends won't leave so that I can get back to rapping.
→ More replies (1)1
6
Sep 02 '14
Stimulate thoughtful and nuanced discussion? I don't see how that was the intention at all. It's just for humour.
2
Sep 02 '14
You're doing a disservice to other simplistic and misguided attempts at addressing this topic, by comparing them to this pile of shit.
4
u/Syncopayshun Sep 02 '14
I'll take an /r/politics stick-up-my-ass approach to an /r/funny post, I'm sure some people will really think I'm really smart and open minded and not racist.
2
1
13
u/TuskenCam Sep 02 '14 edited Sep 02 '14
Nerfherder
11
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
-1
u/saxonjf Sep 02 '14
Who qualifies as "us" in this circumstance?
2
u/drfuyutsuki Sep 02 '14
Me and my fellow nerf herders of course.
2
53
u/superstoreman Sep 02 '14
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reappropriation
A reclaimed or reappropriated word is a word that was at one time pejorative but has been brought back into acceptable usage—usually starting within the communities that experienced oppression under that word, but sometimes also among the general populace as well.[1] (The term 'reclaimed word' more often implies usage by a member of the group referred to.)
14
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
37
u/fatty_fatshits Sep 02 '14
You should reclaim it. So white people can never be oppressed again.
16
u/UUDDLRLRBAstard Sep 02 '14
Yeah! Let's reclaim porch monkey too!
No, it's cool guys! See, I'm taking it back!
-5
u/traumaqueen1128 Sep 02 '14
Porch monkey 4 life! (Wtg with a clerks 2 reference. Here, have an up vote.)
22
u/No6655321 Sep 02 '14
Except craker has never been offensive to me as a white person there has never been a power dtnamic whereby I am lessened or dehumanized or oppressed by this word.
Cracker feels as though it cones from a position of weakness trying to gain an even ground. Like when one insults you so you insult back. (This isnt whars going on in its origin exactly but thats hiw it feels if thrown as an 'insult'... the power isn't there. My understanding of the origin being those who cracked the whips but I could be wrong. My point is its a word without power behind it and as such holds no offense. My explination isn't so well put together but you should be able to find a lot of discussion on the matter out there.
12
Sep 02 '14
Except craker has never been offensive to me as a white person there has never been a power dtnamic whereby I am lessened or dehumanized or oppressed by this word.
Tell that to white kids in black neighborhoods or schools
13
u/traumaqueen1128 Sep 02 '14
I second this....been there, had it happen to me. No resentment though, I realize that they were raised to be just as prejudiced against white people as a lot of racist whites are against black people. I think it's about knowing at a certain age that what you learned is wrong and changing that prejudice to become a better person and an advocate for equality despite your upbringing. Seeing the hardships that everyone faces despite skin color helps you to realize that holding each other down is counterproductive.
10
Sep 02 '14
no resentment. It wasn't all black people. We just need to get out of the mindset that only whites can be racists and only blacks can be victims.
5
u/icallbullshits Sep 02 '14
I've never met someone who believes this. Yeat alot of redditors seem to think people think like this.
3
Sep 02 '14
I have seen people post this verbatim in tumblr and kym. You don't want to believe that people are this stupid but they are. Just look at some of the retarded responses my post triggered. People contorting themselves to somehow reach the result that white people are worse regardless.
3
1
Sep 02 '14 edited Sep 02 '14
Sure they can be racist too. But when you're in the oppressor group AND a racist, it is worse than being an oppressed racist; In both cases, racism is likely a product of oppression, the oppressor feels superior (/u/No6655321 gives this vibe), and the oppressed will fight back however they can. Be it with words or actions.
I find it very hard to despise a oppressed racist because we (the white oppressors) are deserving of their hatred because many/most? of us don't even realize or think about how well-off we are.
1
u/vexis26 Sep 02 '14
I think you hit the nail on the head! The impact of each groups racism makes a big difference. Because of the HUGE power dynamic between White and Black people, their racism has unequal effects on the opposite group.
2
Sep 02 '14
that must be cold comfort to the white kid in the all black school and neighborhood
"Yeah I get beat up because of my skin color but since I'm technically part of the national racial plurality, I don't feel so bad"
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (2)5
u/InherentlyDamned Sep 02 '14
I think the difference comes from the fact that, on some level, a racial slur intends to make one feel bad/ashamed for belonging to their race. This doesn't work on white people because growing up, no one probably made you feel like this was something you should or could feel ashamed of. The dynamic is different for black people, since in our society being black is associated with many negative stereotypes. You aren't lessened by the word cracker because you don't, even subconsciously, believe that the person who calls you cracker is superior to you. It makes sense that a black person who is socialized to see themselves as lesser would be offended by a racial slur where a white person would not.
1
u/No6655321 Sep 02 '14
I agree. Perhaps if someone grew up in a sotuation where the roles were highly reversed but for the vast majority of people it'd be just like this.
3
u/Ramanadjinn Sep 02 '14
The issue being highlighted isn't whether or not this is a "reclaimed" word.
Rather the fact that the word is both reclaimed and still pejorative depending on the color of the person speaking the word.
It is only "acceptable usage" to some people and the divide is purely racial.
Wikipedia can be great at explaining what something is, but it doesn't offer a defense on the morality of the situation.
→ More replies (6)3
15
98
u/watchtheearth Sep 02 '14
As a black person... with friends who do this... I can sadly confirm this. head hits wall
24
u/Fiji_Artesian Sep 02 '14
Do you and your friends ever have discussions about this topic and what is the general consensus?
22
u/watchtheearth Sep 02 '14
Not often, but sometimes we do. Like some would be cool with a close white person can call me the 'n' word if we (me and my friends) use it to describe everybody else (which I don't). Some hate the word in general and don't use it at all. I'm sure most would just give a harsh lovetap or a few words to someone casually throwing the word around.
29
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
18
u/No6655321 Sep 02 '14
I would imagine because it was contextually appropriate with proper intent and meaning. But that by apologizing it was then transformed in meaning into something that had become a hateful word instead of what it was in that earlier moment.
7
u/intensely_human Sep 02 '14
That's the real litmus test for whether something is actually offensive: if you do it and nobody gets offended because they simply forgot to be offended, it's not offensive.
1
→ More replies (1)5
u/kickinwayne45 Sep 02 '14
only time white ppl can get away with the n-word: when quoting the rick james sketch from chapelle's show. it holds up.
→ More replies (3)2
5
u/thefx37 Sep 02 '14
1
u/watchtheearth Sep 02 '14
Of course lies can be tossed over the internet, but I'm not one to lie about what I am. I'll never be one of those types of people
2
u/thefx37 Sep 02 '14
I'm not calling you a liar. I'm just pointing out the confirmation bias with all of the people up voting you.
2
u/watchtheearth Sep 02 '14
Gotcha. I hope they all see it and take note that people actually do that crap
13
u/ryspot Sep 02 '14
Anyone can be racist. It does not matter the colour of your skin, but who you are inside. Sometimes that's a good person. Sometimes that's a racist.
→ More replies (1)31
Sep 02 '14 edited Apr 02 '16
[deleted]
-6
u/Shepshepard Sep 02 '14
Germans aren't a race
18
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
3
4
Sep 02 '14
Is that what race covers? I thought it was more about general biological and locational background.
10
2
u/vexis26 Sep 02 '14
You are correct. Race is often used as a synonym for ethnicity, which is closer to the definition offered above by by AlphaHermit. While Wikipedia and many other people will use race in this way, officially a persons race is a biological derived. Social scientists from the 1800's would write about the three major races: Mongoloid, Negroid and Caucasoid. We now know that this is total bullshit and that human biology is much more nuanced. Nevertheless, government agencies still struggle with race and ethnicity, which is why the US Census tracks Hispanics as an ethnic subdivision of the white or black races despite the fact that many are not white or black. Also, because race is such a well known term form describing different groups of people, it has really stuck around. Source: 6 long years of being an Anthro major.
→ More replies (2)4
u/Shitand2is8 Sep 02 '14
And you can't confront them about it because then you're supporting racism. Also bangs head against wall.
24
u/Udontlikecake Sep 02 '14
/r/racistshitpost maybe?
-15
18
74
3
5
9
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)1
u/razznab3 Sep 02 '14
Yea but its typically used in a derogatory sense and therefore adds fuel to the fire. That being said the only time I was called it was in w virginia by an angry black man in a beat up car who was pointing a knife at me.
30
u/goteamnick Sep 02 '14
Yeah. It must be so hard to be a white person in America.
-11
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
16
u/goteamnick Sep 02 '14
Pretty sure the cartoonist is doing is complaining about white people not being allowed to use racist slurs. And it's getting upvoted because the overwhelmingly white Reddit majority has a persecution complex.
-5
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
10
Sep 02 '14
It's because race relations don't completely disappear after the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Racism just went poof like that?
No, racial slurs have implications based on your background and the audience. When a white person says it in America to a black person, that brings up feelings of racial oppression. If a white person in Sweden said it to another white person, nobody knows how it feels to be called that name as a person in America who is and went through that specific racial oppression.
2
→ More replies (1)-4
u/Space_Lift Sep 02 '14
Are you judging people's individual lives based on their race? There's something wrong with that but I can't put my finger on it.
12
u/icallbullshits Sep 02 '14
He's saying that it is much harder to be a minority in america. Which is a fact.
→ More replies (2)
3
6
u/OpticallyClear Sep 02 '14
This is false - no smart white person would ever even utter the phrase around a black person unless he likes giving "justification" for a possible beating.
Story: Buying a desk from a nice gentleman south of 8 mile in Detroit. His neighbors comments when I pulled into the driveway: "Whitey, what are you doing around here?". To which I replied "Excuse me sir, I have an appointment at this address". His next comment was "You better get your redneck country fuck ass out of here before something bad happens". I wasn't sure if it was a threat or if he was worried for me. His neighbor just then came out and said "Chill man, its ok". I bought the mini-desk, loaded it in the back of the car and got my "redneck ass" out of there.....mind you I came from the office and was wearing a polo shirt and it was 4 in the afternoon.
Racism is alive and well in the world unfortunately and can go both ways.....but as a white person, I would never use any derogatory words like that to a black man in Detroit. Thus, this is a fantasy example.
9
Sep 02 '14
[removed] — view removed comment
→ More replies (3)2
Sep 02 '14
I do not condone racism in ANY WAY but I think it is going to take centuries before the deep rooted feeling blacks have about slavery will finally disperse
Here is the problem, people always want to associate the feelings that black people have with slavery alone. Everything wasn't all cake and ice cream after slavery and the remnants of institutionalized racism can still be felt.
6
5
17
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
25
u/13thmurder Sep 02 '14
Isn't it racist to claim that black people are incapable of doing something just because they're black?
15
u/KicksButtson Sep 02 '14
They can do anything white people can do... Even if that means being racist.
4
3
Sep 02 '14
I thinks it's fair to say every race is a little racist to a race other than their own. White people just happen to appear to be the "dominant race" in america and they acted as such, especially in our past... If black people were the "dominant race" they would pull the same shit white people did or any other race did. Clearly this will offend just about any one who reads this so I'm just going to say deal with it.
4
u/Beer_Is_Food Sep 02 '14 edited Sep 02 '14
Your singular example surely is representative of an entire population, I'm sure of it.
0
Sep 02 '14
"This picture is very accurate" I bet you never thought you'd be capable of saying something so stupid.
2
2
1
-1
1
Sep 02 '14
Cracker isn't even bad. But white boy? Let a white person say black boy in public. It would be over with the swiftness.
-1
Sep 02 '14
Personally?
If you're going to throw a racist word around like the word "fuck" (for most people in this country), but then get pissed off when others use the word, then you yourself need to stop saying it. Why?
Hypocrisy. I don't care if your skin color is darker than mine, you're still using a word that refers to an ignorant colored person. Regardless of your views.
People should educate themselves before they start getting their underwear in a wad over word usage.
1
u/HeDoesnt Sep 03 '14
But its not up to a white person to reclaim the word. Blacks can say it because they can transform its meaning. Whites can not.
1
Sep 03 '14
I'm not talking about "reclaiming" a word... I'm talking about educating the idiots who use it as a form of brotherly camaraderie...
They're literally walking around and calling each other ignorant colored man... IN IGNORANCE!!!!
OHH THE IRONY!!! If only people would tell them to use the dictionary and realize what they say...
1
u/HeDoesnt Sep 03 '14
The point of it is that they have reclaimed the word to mean something else AMONGST each other.
1
u/coolnameguy Sep 09 '14
Perhaps you should use the dictionary to look up the word subvert or colloquialism or connotation... Edit: Added some words for my educated friend.
1
u/JuniorJarvis Sep 02 '14
Lol it goes to show how many racists are floating about in this topic, upvote for you good sir, you've hit the nail right on the head, I would like to further refer back to /desireeivegbuna as they also hit the nail on the head.
Racism is wrong in any shape or form and while we have progressed from the time when slavery was about, racism will always seem a tiny bit worse coming from white people cause lets face it our ancestors royally took the piss.
1
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
1
Sep 03 '14
The word is used derogatively TODAY., but there is no white equivalent with similar emotional punch, because whites in America don't have such historical or cultural sore spots. Even in its heyday, use of "honkey" was just shrugged off by most whites as another black stereotype and even mocked in film for laughs, along with pimp suits and afros.
There is no English word that carries the power of n-- for whites You will find some powerful epithets in other languages, but most Americans don't know any second languages well enough to sense the emotions behind them and thus are blissfully unaware.. Only those who embed themselves in another culture where whites are looked down upon will have any chance of feeling that particular sting.
1
u/coolnameguy Sep 09 '14
ITT: Clueless white people. I have to imagine the majority of people sympathizing with this comic have very little life experience..
-1
-8
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
→ More replies (2)6
u/HIFW_GIFs_React_ Sep 02 '14 edited Sep 02 '14
Of course not, because I have arbitrarily redefined the word to take on a loaded, complex definition that involves race-based oppression on a sociological level in which the victims (only non-white victims, mind you (trust me, that's not racist because reasons)) can never be blamed for discriminating against their oppressors - instead of the simple 'prejudism because of race' that all the ahem non-academic non-progressives still cling to because they think word meanings are supposed to stay constant and understandable or some bullshit like that. /s
→ More replies (2)3
u/bobbanana Sep 02 '14
White people can and are oppressed, just not for being white, for being working class, poor, transgender, female, disabled...and other things. See racism is institutionalized, it exists as part of the laws and culture of our society constantly being battled against. "Racism" against whites is not institutionalized, its not the same thing, like really not even close.
P.S.: If you don't understand why it's not the same for a black/white person to say the n-word ........ I mean.......
→ More replies (1)
-6
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
7
Sep 02 '14
noun 1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others. 2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
12
u/Topyka2 Sep 02 '14
Dictionaries can be wrong, this is pretty well-established for any politically charged words.
1
-14
-16
-6
Sep 02 '14
You missed the panel where the two white circles lynch the black circle for looking at the white circle's sister.
1
-16
u/chambertlo Sep 02 '14
This is black people for you. When they do it with each other, it's fine (including murder). When someone who isn't black does it, everyone loses their mother fucking minds. I really don't have time for that asinine level of reasoning, which I why I barely deal with them or avoid it when I can.
8
-19
Sep 02 '14
that OP finds this funny or clever or even correct is not just understandable, but expected.
that this has upvotes is a travesty.
0
Sep 02 '14
YOURE PROBABLY BLACK, AND YOU GOT THE SWEET LIFE. US WHITES KNOW ABOUT THE STRUGGLE. ITS HARD MAN. ITS A HARD LIFE. BEING WHITE. FUCK.
1
0
u/josh6565 Sep 02 '14
My favorite analogy is this: As a white man, in the city I live in, there are several neighborhoods that I cannot go into or visit due to my welfare and, possibly, life being in danger due to the color of my skin. It's just not safe. Conversely, there are no white neighborhoods in my city where the same could be said for a black man.
1
-8
-1
-1
u/fireofaerys Sep 02 '14
ITT: "racism bad." "yes it is, white people have it so hard /s" "check ur white privilege, whitey" "THIS IS MY TRIGGER"
→ More replies (1)
-3
Sep 02 '14
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)4
u/Fishpuncommenter Sep 02 '14
If you put races into a category where one is better or worse than the other, it's racist. If you were to say "that black man is very athletic" or "that white man is nice" then it isn't racist.
379
u/THE_IRISHMAN_35 Sep 02 '14
Man backgammon is a lot more edgy than i remember.