Is "thug" said as an encrypted way of using the n-word?

[Skyhilist]

Richard Sherman, the guy who recently went on that post game rant after the Seahawks victory in a recent interview has responded to some of the backlack he faced. While admitting that his post-game rant may have been immature (it was), he also said something else notable. Commenting on the large numbers of people calling him a "thug" after his rant, Sherman suggested that the word "thug" used in that context is a socially acceptable and modern day equivalent to the n-word. He definitely has a valid point. I mean think about it. Have you ever once heard someone refer to a white athlete who was being immature as a "thug"? I sure haven't. Yet when it's black people like Sherman being immature (especially when he's from Compton), people waste no time calling him one. Clearly it has to do a lot with race, and at the very least seems to be the equivalent of "a no-good black person" the way that people have been using it to pertain to him and other non-white athletes.

Interview: http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/01/richard_sherman_thug_is_the_accepted_way_of_saying _the_n-word.html

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with him?

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Of course it is. It has been used this way for some time now.

[helot]

Generally the same is also the case for gangster.

[Skyhilist]

Generally the same is also the case for gangster.

Yes he briefly mentions the use of that word as well.

[helot]

Yes he briefly mentions the use of that word as well.

Fair enough, i've not finished watching those vids yet tbh.

[tallguy]

Richard Sherman, the guy who recently went on that post game rant after the Seahawks victory in a recent interview has responded to some of the backlack he faced. While admitting that his post-game rant may have been immature (it was), he also said something else notable. Commenting on the large numbers of people calling him a "thug" after his rant, Sherman suggested that the word "thug" used in that context is a socially acceptable and modern day equivalent to the n-word. He definitely has a valid point. I mean think about it. Have you ever once heard someone refer to a white athlete who was being immature as a "thug"? I sure haven't. Yet when it's black people like Sherman being immature (especially when he's from Compton), people waste no time calling him one. Clearly it has to do a lot with race, and at the very least seems to be the equivalent of "a no-good black person" the way that people have been using it to pertain to him and other non-white athletes.

Interview: http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/01/richard_sherman_thug_is_the_accepted_way_of_saying _the_n-word.html

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with him?I've heard the word thug used at least as much, if not more, to denote a lower working class white person of non too bright a disposition who is probably involved in petty violent crime. You are just inventing shit where it's not there, as is this plonker who sounds like he made a tit of himself and is pulling out the race card to make excuses for himself.

[Comrade #138672]

I believe it is, yes.

I would even go as far as to say that the term "white thrash" is a further extension of this. Besides being obviously classist, I also think that it reproduces [anti-black] racism, although this may seem contradictory at first.

[helot]

I would even go as far as to say that the term "white thrash" is a further extension of this. Besides being obviously classist, I also think that it reproduces [anti-black] racism, although this may seem contradictory at first.


I've never thought of that, care to elaborate? Maybe i'm missing something due to being from Britain.

[adipocere]

thug is in addition to n****r

[Brandon's Impotent Rage]

Yes, I do believe that the use of the term 'thug' by elements of the bourgeoisie and their lackies is essentially being used as a codeword for the word 'nigger'. The word itself isn't said, but the spirit and the context and the malice of that word is channeled into the substitute word 'thug'.

"White trash" is also, to an extent, meant as a sort of classist prejudice against underpriveleged whites, especially in the Appalachian regions, although it doesn't have the racialist intentions of 'nigger'.

....And for the record, I don't use the phrase "n-word". Not because I somehow underestimate the destructivness and malice of the word in question (it is undoubtedly one of the ugliest words in the English language), but because I view it as a sort of liberal coyness about the issue of racism. You can't dance around the issue of racial slurs. You have to stand up, face to face, with this hateful word and punch it in its goddamn teeth. Trying to hide it with 'n-word' is to show fear to this word. Don't be afraid of it, ATTACK IT.

[Manic Impressive]

Must be a culture specific thing, because definitely not in the uk.

[Sam_b]

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with him?

As a white person it doesn't matter if I agree or not. Frankly it doesn't matter what I think when I am not a victim of profiling and racism, it matters what POC think of this.

[Slavic]

I've never heard thug used exclusively for black people. In my area it was always used to describe someone who was a low level criminal, and also used to described someone who is needlessly over aggressive.

I think saying that it is a socially acceptable replacement term for nigger is a far stretch.

[#FF0000]

You are just inventing shit where it's not there, as is this plonker who sounds like he made a tit of himself and is pulling out the race card to make excuses for himself.

Considering how many people reacted with racial comments, I don't think it's fair to say this dude is the one who played the race card.

And obviously, not every use of the word "thug" is gonna be used with that racist caricature in mind -- but do you really believe that that word is not ever used as a socially acceptable term to denigrate black people?

[cyu]

Depends on what the speaker intended the word to mean. If their opinions are hostile towards their target, then it's bigotry. If their opinions are supportive of their target, then they could be joking around, trying to sound cool or tough, or intentionally taking ownership of the word for themselves.

http://www.liberalbuttons.org/images/union-thug-pv.png

[tallguy]

Considering how many people reacted with racial comments, I don't think it's fair to say this dude is the one who played the race card.

And obviously, not every use of the word "thug" is gonna be used with that racist caricature in mind -- but do you really believe that that word is not ever used as a socially acceptable term to denigrate black people?That's a frankly stupid question since there are any number of otherwise racially neutral derogatory terms that could be used against any number of people of different racial origin. In other words, your question is trivially meaningless and provides no information on whether such a word has specific racist connotations. For that to be the case, such a word would need to be used exclusively, or nearly exclusively, in relation to a specifically defined group of people.

In other words, If someone used the term "dumb-ass" to refer to anyone and everyone (in other words, no-one in particular) they wished to denigrate, then the fact that their use of the term may be randomly distributed amongst people of all creeds and colours would simply mean they were an unpleasant person for using such a term. It would not mean they were a racist simply because some of the people they insulted with that word happened to be of a particular racial origin.

The only qualification to the above would be if the word in question was already in wide cultural usage an an exclusively derogatory term for one particular race. In which case, the person described above using such a word could not hide behind the excuse that they did not use it exclusively against one particular racial group since their use of it, whether they liked it or not, would carry a pre-existing racist cultural baggage. However, at least here in the UK, there is no such pre-existing racist cultural baggage (though, there is a huge class baggage attached to it) in the use of the word "thug" and so here, at least, it is not a racist term.

[#FF0000]

The only qualification to the above would be if the word in question was already in wide cultural usage an an exclusively derogatrory term for one particular race. In which case, the person described above using such a word could not hide behind the excuse that they did not use it so exclusively since their use of it, whether they liked it or not, carried pre-existing racist cultural baggage. However, at least here in the UK, there is no such exclusive use of the word "thug" as a term of derogation to one particular race and so here, it is not a racist term.

Oh wow you stumbled across the point.

In the US, the word thug is used extremely often to talk about black people. Trayvon Martin, a kid who had no actual violent criminal history, was called a "thug" by the right in media. People who dress in a way associated with poor and working class black people are called "thugs". Thug, in the US, certainly does have some vague racial connotations behind it. Same with "gangster", which used to have less racially-charged implications, when it was used to describe criminals in general -- as opposed to today where it's associated with black people.

Obviously sometimes a "thug" is just a "thug", but uh, we're talking about a dude who was second in his class in high school, went to some hella good colleges, and ended up with a 3.8 GPA from Stanford fuckin' University. After all that, he decides to talk some shit off an adrenaline rush after a game and he's a "thug"? I don't see a white dude doing the same thing and getting called a "thug". I'm sure people will criticize them because NFL mean No Fun League but that particular word would certainly not come up.

[tallguy]

Oh wow you stumbled across the point.

In the US, the word thug is used extremely often to talk about black people. Trayvon Martin, a kid who had no actual violent criminal history, was called a "thug" by the right in media. People who dress in a way associated with poor and working class black people are called "thugs". Thug, in the US, certainly does have some vague racial connotations behind it. Same with "gangster", which used to have less racially-charged implications, when it was used to describe criminals in general -- as opposed to today where it's associated with black people.

Obviously sometimes a "thug" is just a "thug", but uh, we're talking about a dude who was second in his class in high school, went to some hella good colleges, and ended up with a 3.8 GPA from Stanford fuckin' University. After all that, he decides to talk some shit off an adrenaline rush after a game and he's a "thug"? I don't see a white dude doing the same thing and getting called a "thug". I'm sure people will criticize them because NFL mean No Fun League but that particular word would certainly not come up.
I can't speak for the specific nuances of US linguistic cultural practice and so will take your word on that. However, to reiterate, in relation to the word "thug", that is definitely not the cultural case here.

Also, as a matter of interest, since when did high scores in exams and a fancy education at a fancy college or university preclude the possibility of someone being a thug? The rather unpleasant hidden implication of your point being that only people who have not got high grades in exams and did not go to fancy college are capable of such?

[#FF0000]

Doing hella well academically with a clean criminal record and no history of beating people up doesn't really sound like "thuggish" behavior in any use of the word I'm aware of.

[tallguy]

Doing hella well academically with a clean criminal record and no history of beating people up doesn't really sound like "thuggish" behavior in any use of the word I'm aware of.Lot's of people who have fancy educations, no criminal record and who have done very well in life are still perfectly capable of the most heinous of behaviour.

Or haven't you been watching the news over the last five or so years?

Also, as it turns out, most of the people currently running my country belonged to an exclusive club called the "Bullingdon Club", which was social offshoot of one of our most prestigious universities they all happened to attend. A more violently thuggish, sexist, racist, classist group of people you would have difficulty in coming across. Funnily enough, none of those buggers have criminal records either.

Oh yeah, and they are almost exclusively white.

[#FF0000]

That's why I included the "history of beating people up" part. I'm saying that Richard Sherman's never done anything remotely "thuggish". He just gave a hella animated interview after making an outstanding game-winning play. It ain't sportsmanlike for sure, and I can see why people would criticize him for his behavior (though I think those people are far too uptight), but there's nothing about Richard Sherman that says "thug" except to those in the US who, unfortunately, associate skin color with criminality/skullduggery.


Also, as it turns out, most of the people currently running my country belonged to an exclusive club called the "Bullingdon Club", which was social offshoot of one of our most prestigious universities they all happened to attend. A more violently thuggish, sexist, racist, classist group of people you would have difficulty in coming across. Funnily enough, none of those buggers have criminal records either.

Oh yeah, and they are almost exclusively white.Yeah, I mean, like I said: "history of beating people up/violent behavior". And we already covered the point that "thug" doesn't have the connotations in the UK that it has in the US.

[Yuppie Grinder]

if a white person talks lots of shit about "those thugs who need to pull up their pants" they are probably lowkey racist to be 100% real

[#FF0000]

are sagging pants even a thing anymore really?

[Yuppie Grinder]

yes
YWyHZNBz6FE
at times it's arguable whether or not chief keef is actually wearing pants

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

are sagging pants even a thing anymore really?

zrLUztrTgPg

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

I think saying that it is a socially acceptable replacement term for nigger is a far stretch.
A far stretch? Not at all. The right-wing has been using it that way for more than a few years. They use it for working class black men, or black men with a working class background, even when they haven't committed a violent crime. It's right out there. Where my uber-racist uncle will just spit out the N-word, most conservatives will resort to the T-word instead--because they know their fellow travelers know what they mean, but they still have deniability when called on it.

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

It ain't sportsmanlike for sure, and I can see why people would criticize him for his behavior
I don't have a problem with Sherman's behavior. He was reacting to poor sportsmanship by an opponent when he went off and ripped that player.


but there's nothing about Richard Sherman that says "thug" except to those in the US who, unfortunately, associate skin color with criminality/skullduggery.
To some, shouting while black is a crime, I guess.

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

I've heard the word thug used at least as much, if not more, to denote a lower working class white person of non too bright a disposition who is probably involved in petty violent crime. You are just inventing shit where it's not there, as is this plonker who sounds like he made a tit of himself and is pulling out the race card to make excuses for himself.
Thug is abso-fucking-lutely used as racist code among some segments of the US, and just look at all the people on social media calling him the N-word outright. Because he shouted into a camera.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

A far stretch? Not at all. The right-wing has been using it that way for more than a few years. They use it for working class black men, or black men with a working class background, even when they haven't committed a violent crime. It's right out there. Where my uber-racist uncle will just spit out the N-word, most conservatives will resort to the T-word instead--because they know their fellow travelers know what they mean, but they still have deniability when called on it.

Tbh, I have to agree, I use to work directly with the public, going to their houses and shit and I've totally seen this. Particularly among older white people in particular (irrespective of class to a degree). I will also say, despite all PR/'PC' (using this term loosely here) appearances on say FOX news, I have seen older, predominately white middle class/upper middle class, have no problems being racist as fucking shit. I could go to lower middle class or lower class areas surrounding a bourgy area, no problem but I would go into the bourgy areas oh man. I was selling green energy options which both helped the environment and were cheaper and it was around the election season and while I always stayed FAR away from anything political because I represented 'green energy' I would automatically become a politico-ideological punching bag for these people and it'd be like because of all this and factoring in my vocation and accent it was like a license to air out all the vile racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. views they have and associate with Democrats, liberals, left-wing politics, etc. I even live and was working in a urban environment, in a Democrat/Blue state. But I will say, those wanting to be covert and were younger (20-35ish), would use 'thug' or 'criminals' or 'hoodlums' or something like that. Eg, "democrats/Obama are or behave as thugs," and so on. I have heard some middle class and upper middle class black folks use it too. Idk. What I've noticed/experienced.

[Jimmie Higgins]

are sagging pants even a thing anymore really?

According to crank op-eds in Oakland newspapers it's one of the biggest scourges of the town, second only to "hip hop thug culture" in problemness.

[bcbm]

While admitting that his post-game rant may have been immature (it was),

no it wasnt. he won the best play of the game an the game ended, he offered his hand to the bro and bro hit him in the face mask and talked shit. he was justifiably mad and shared a little bit.

[Manic Impressive]

According to crank op-eds in Oakland newspapers it's one of the biggest scourges of the town, second only to "hip hop thug culture" in problemness.
Did the word thug have a racial context/bias before Hip Hop? Im thinking especially Tupac.

"can't lie i'm a thug drowning in my own blood looking for the reason that my mamma's stung out on drugs"

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

Did the word thug have a racial context/bias before Hip Hop? Im thinking especially Tupac.
I don't believe so.

[consuming negativity]

Yeah, unfortunately. I've always thought of a "thug" as being someone who is muscular, violent, and usually working for organized crime (ie. a couple mafia thugs). But you know that's not what white people are talking about when they call a bunch of 15/16 year old black kids "thugs".

Interestingly enough, the origin of the word "thug" was actually the name of a group of people in medieval India who would rob/murder travelers. Like a sort of clan or guild of elite highwaymen.

[RedWaves]

It's been that way ever since Hip Hop took a total 360 spin and turned into a thugged up gangsterized genre of music.

People don't realize it, but those stereotypes from Hollywood and the Hip Hop culture since 1990 have really taken a toll on blacks.


Before NWA came out, you had Blaxplotation. That is what taught people that using the N word was OK, and it was cool. Those were the first black movies made by Hollywood targeting black people and just look at the titles to some of them. Boss Nigger is all you have to say, they were centered around drug lords, pimps, playa's, and all that negative shit that the gangsta rap artists pushed into overdrive when the record companies started to majorly push and market bullshit like Snoop Doggy Dogg and NWA. In between this, I believe Richard Pryor was the first person to really mainstream the idea of a black man constantly using the N word, and later on he would live to regret this and vowed to never use that word again.

So in reality it goes back. Black people have always been treated like shit with these criminal stereotypes, but the Blaxplotation and then the gangsterization of Hip Hop really pushed it into overdrive. A lot of it has to do with this I believe, cause when you see black people on the fucking TV, what do you see? Rappers and the negative imagery like thugs and gangsters and drug dealers.

You know the masses of America are TV fed zombies, and they see the entire world through the TV. That's what most white people don't understand. They see racism through the TV....minorities live it.


So if you want to talk about the word 'thug' or the N word, I believe you need to go back and look at how the TV and entertainment has always displayed it, cause there's a lot to take in when you look at it that stuff. America is still very racist, and they don't even realize this. Look at shit like 48 Hours, I don't remember ever seeing a white person on that show. It's always based in some run down heavy crime areas and it's normally 90% black people as criminals on that show. Most people don't think about this, but the more they watch shit like that, then yes it's going to be building the 'thug' stereotype besides all that gangsta rap crap that does it on a daily basis.

[RedWaves]

A far stretch? Not at all. The right-wing has been using it that way for more than a few years. They use it for working class black men, or black men with a working class background, even when they haven't committed a violent crime. It's right out there. Where my uber-racist uncle will just spit out the N-word, most conservatives will resort to the T-word instead--because they know their fellow travelers know what they mean, but they still have deniability when called on it.



Before "thug" the codeword was "welfare bums" that Reagan liked using so much. Just replace blacks with welfare bums and it works so much easier.

[Devrim]

Thug is abso-fucking-lutely used as racist code among some segments of the US, and just look at all the people on social media calling him the N-word outright. Because he shouted into a camera.

It is a US thing though. The sportsman I have most often seen referred to as a 'thug' in the English media is Wayne Rooney, who incidentally also shouted, in fact swore, into a camera. He is white.

Devrim

[The Jay]

All words can be racist if enough people make them so. When I think 'thug' I think nazi foot soldier. It really depends on the context.

[sosolo]

All words can be racist if enough people make them so. When I think 'thug' I think nazi foot soldier. It really depends on the context.

I feel the same way. It conjures up ideas of "jack-booted thugs" like the SA and the blackshirts, at least to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)

[Skyhilist]

no it wasnt. he won the best play of the game an the game ended, he offered his hand to the bro and bro hit him in the face mask and talked shit. he was justifiably mad and shared a little bit.

I think you might be missing part of the story. Their feud started a long time ago back at some charity event. Obviously it's mostly hearsay but from one source apparently who had a neutral relationship with both players, Sherman was being a dick to Crabtree (who was trying to laugh it off) at this event, and then later Crabtree didn't want to shake Sherman's hand and so Sherman vowed to embarrass him on a national level. Was it appropriate for Crabtree to hit him in the face? Nah of course not, but I have a hard time believing that handshake was genuine and not a form of mockery personally, especially considering that Sherman made the "choking symbol" right after that. So personally, it sounds like at the very least they were kind of both being dicks, not one or the other. Also, "I'm the best corner in the game!" is pretty arrogant considering he's even elevating himself above his own teammates that are also corners.

But anyways, that's mostly besides the point. To other posters denying that "thug" is a racially coded word: Sherman didn't mean, and I didn't mean in all contexts. "Union thugs" for example obviously isn't. But there in specific contexts it's pretty obvious that the word is just being used as a pejorative towards black people.

[Danielle Ni Dhighe]

Sherman made the "choking symbol" right after that.
The choke was mocking a commercial San Francisco's quarterback did, which itself mocked Seattle's fans. Seattle/San Francisco is the most passionate rivalry in the NFL at the moment.


Also, "I'm the best corner in the game!" is pretty arrogant considering he's even elevating himself above his own teammates that are also corners.
Stats don't lie. Since he came into the league, he has more interceptions and passes defensed than any other cornerback in the league by far. Also, his idol is a guy named Muhammad Ali.

[Jimmie Higgins]

It's been that way ever since Hip Hop took a total 360 spin and turned into a thugged up gangsterized genre of music.i think it's been like that since overt racism became untenable in the mainstream and so racial language became coded in order to both appeal to overt racist sentiments while also convincing other people that black oppression is due to black cultural pathologies or practices.


People don't realize it, but those stereotypes from Hollywood and the Hip Hop culture since 1990 have really taken a toll on blacks.again, I don't really think this is the case at all. I think racism took a toll and the media etc blame hip hop or culture for trends that began in the late 70s: the ramping up of racial profiling, targeting mostly poor people in the drug war, moving industry from cities, loss of housing equity for urban blacks (and others more generally, but black people were hit hardest due to racism in housing), and later attacking the legitimacy of higher education for racial minorities took a toll.



Before NWA came out, you had Blaxplotation. That is what taught people that using the N word was OK, and it was cool. Those were the first black movies made by Hollywood targeting black people and just look at the titles to some of them. Boss Nigger is all you have to say, they were centered around drug lords, pimps, playa's, and all that negative shit that the gangsta rap artists pushed into overdrive when the record companies started to majorly push and market bullshit like Snoop Doggy Dogg and NWA. In between this, I believe Richard Pryor was the first person to really mainstream the idea of a black man constantly using the N word, and later on he would live to regret this and vowed to never use that word again. i think the popularity of the term reflects some pessimism among some folks, but I really see this as having no real impact on the level of oppression or inequality faced. I think there's complex ways that the word plays out in real useage, but for whatever reason it's become pretty common and I doubt that will change until there is a revival of struggles. It was a debate among black folks in the late 80s but not so much now as far as I can tell. I think a lot of it had to do with gen-x wanting to piss off the liberals from the baby boom generation because the equality they promised (and some claimed was achieved) was an illusion and young people resented that hypocrisy.


So in reality it goes back. Black people have always been treated like shit with these criminal stereotypes, but the Blaxplotation and then the gangsterization of Hip Hop really pushed it into overdrive. A lot of it has to do with this I believe, cause when you see black people on the fucking TV, what do you see? Rappers and the negative imagery like thugs and gangsters and drug dealers.

You know the masses of America are TV fed zombies, and they see the entire world through the TV. That's what most white people don't understand. They see racism through the TV....minorities live it.i think we just have different views of the relationship of culture to society. I don't think the stereotypes lead to the oppression so much as the state of oppression and marginalization means that there's no regular way for images to be countered. These representations only work as long as there are no movements in which oppressed people speak for themselves. It wasn't like in the civil rights era that white film and tv producers created fuller black characters, it was that black people made their own demands on society which made the previous cultural ideas of passive, happy, and simple southern blacks and invisible northern blacks incredible and seen as out of touch and supportive of racist ideas as it was.

[Skyhilist]

The choke was mocking a commercial San Francisco's quarterback did, which itself mocked Seattle's fans. Seattle/San Francisco is the most passionate rivalry in the NFL at the moment.

Ok fair enough I didn't know that.


Stats don't lie. Since he came into the league, he has more interceptions and passes defensed than any other cornerback in the league by far. Also, his idol is a guy named Muhammad Ali.

Ok that's cool and all but even if someone's stats are better, I still don't think they ought to be arrogant enough as to elevate themselves above even other players on their own team.

He's a great player, but regardless that whole Crabtree-Sherman feud seems pretty petty, due to both of them.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

All words can be racist if enough people make them so. When I think 'thug' I think nazi foot soldier. It really depends on the context.

Yeah but we're not in the 1930s, why would that be your immediate, "off the cuff," association?

[Art Vandelay]

ess that whole Crabtree-Sherman feud seems pretty petty, due to both of them.

Well there are alot of things that are in play when it comes to this. The fact that Harbaugh (the 49ers coach) was Sherman's coach at Stanford and Sherman has publicly said that he considered Harbaugh a bully. These two teams are one of the newest and intense rivalries in the NFL. You also never know what people are saying on the field all game/season, which we don't hear but can lead into stuff like this. I don't mind any of the on the filed antics of Sherman, but his interview was a bit silly. I mean, I doubt anyone can understand the adrenaline running through his body at that moment, after making an amazing play to send your team to the superbowl, but that's is still never how I acted in sports, or how I'd want a teammate to act. You tell the interviewer that the other team played a great game and your looking forward to the superbowl, that's it.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Must be a culture specific thing, because definitely not in the uk.

Watch an hour of Fox news. 'Thug' is used a loose term for African-Americans who in anyway seem at odds with society or the law. This is anything from people who steal something to kids acting in a fashion that is 'uncontrolled'. A prime example is the ridiculous fear-mongering and hype about knockout games that was exploding over right-wing news networks a few months ago. "Thug" was thrown out copiously, along with the usual crap about 'blacks need to keep control of their communities' and all that.

I know it doesn't carry the same connotation in the UK (or here for that matter), but I'd bet you cash that the first thing that comes to the mind of your average white American when they hear the term 'thug' is an angry psychotic black man with a crips bandana and a polo shirt. It's a form of dehumanisation and fear-mongering that has been going on since the advent of Jim Crow apartheid laws at the very least.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Oh great, I hope this doesn't mean that Yankee racists are going to ruin a perfectly usable word for the rest of us with their cowardly dog-whistle bullshit...

[goalkeeper]

As a white person it doesn't matter if I agree or not. Frankly it doesn't matter what I think when I am not a victim of profiling and racism, it matters what POC think of this.

oh man these swappy offsprings

[Quail]

oh man these swappy offsprings

What is the purpose of this post?

This is a verbal warning for posting an off-topic one-liner. If you disagree with Sam_b's post, attack the content not the person.

[PhoenixAsh]

So basically what it comes down to is that black people will often be labelled negatively for behaviour non black people will not. That is the racism...not wether a word becomes secret code for "n-word".

As you all are very aware...different social groups will use words serving a purpose. SO it is very likely Fox will use the word Thug as a code to describe black people while other social groups will not.

I think evaluating if a word is code...depends on the group using the word and not the word itself

[The Jay]

Yeah but we're not in the 1930s, why would that be your immediate, "off the cuff," association?

I don't know. If I knew that I'd probably have a nobel in neurology.