Should "Cracker" be a racial slur?

[GBlair88]

It is also local slang for something that is good or attractive.

On another note which has already been pointed out on this thread and many others like it, racism is racism. Being non white doesn't mean you say what you like about white people. I didn't personally enslave Africans so why be racially prejudiced towards me?

 

[Freechoice]

I think this ties in well.

 

[TheDarkestDerp]

As stated above, it is. How is this even a thread?

"Cracker" derisive term for "white" people, stating they are dry, bland and easily broken as told to me by an older black gentleman I met in Kentucky once. Apparently he was a panther in his younger days, so I'm gonna trust his definition.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Meh, given that white people have a good 500 years' history of oppressing everybody that isn't white, I think we can take it on the chin for a little while.

Hah, no. That statement is some kind of mix of white guilt and assuming race is some type of collective hive-mind, neither of which are good.

I think cracker is a racial slur, definitely.

 

[JackandTom]

He called me a cracker, how does he know I like crackers?

 

[Jonluw]

What all the other people said: It's a stupid question.

It is a word being used to insult someone based on their race.

"Main Entry: racial slur
Part of Speech: n
Definition: a derogatory or disrespectful nickname for a racial group, used without restraint"

Tell me how 'cracker' in the context of a white person being called it, does not fit the definition.

Edit: Not that I find the word particularly offensive. But then again, I don't find '******' very offensive either.
Well, when '******' is used, it's normally a far more serious situation, so I guess it has a higher rate of offenses or something.

 

[The Gnome King]

I had this debate with two friends (one white, one black) and I guess you can determine which side backed which. On the one hand I can see where my white friend is coming from, it is often used in a pejorative sense, directed at white people. On the other hand, I don't really take it offensively (that might be cause I'm not called it much, looking more Asian than white).

Where do you stand on this? Do you stand on this? Should this be discussed or am i just wasting bytes?

Call me crazy but I try to not use racial slurs on anyone, period. They're childish and we would as a society be better off specifically telling people what our problems are with them as opposed to reducing them down to "black" or "gay" or "Asian" or "Muslim" or whatever qualifier you think merits an insult - and there are insulting words for all of the groups I just mentioned.

I think it's pretty easy to go out in the world and not insult anybody with simple slurs, but instead use my command of my mother-tongue to simply tell them why I feel they are being less-than-admirable examples of humanity.

 

[Tomo Stryker]

Meh, given that white people have a good 500 years' history of oppressing everybody that isn't white, I think we can take it on the chin for a little while.

Its this ignorance that is supremely fucking us up in the head thinking that we, the sons and daughters of our parents and grandparents should have to pay for their poor decision. I bet you also want to save the Panda because its "cute". /rage

 

[Queen Michael]

Cracker should be naught but a delicious snack.

 

[Doive]

As with any racial slur it's not the word that matters but the meaning behind it. Is saying racist things to your black friend when you both know it's a joke and are laughing about it racist?

 

[Verlander]

I think anything used as a racial slur is too stupid to be insulting.

Pretty much this. Ignorant racists are going to be ignorant. It's best to ignore their bleating.

Quoted for truth. Who cares?

 

[Numb1lp]

I don't take it offensively but it's kind of a double standard to allow us to be called crackers when the second we go on the offensive it's dubbed racism.

Well, that's because of, uh... slavery

 

[Maphysto]

Meh, given that white people have a good 500 years' history of oppressing everybody that isn't white, I think we can take it on the chin for a little while.

Its this ignorance that is supremely fucking us up in the head thinking that we, the sons and daughters of our parents and grandparents should have to pay for their poor decision. I bet you also want to save the Panda because its "cute". /rage

See thread, post, go to bed, wake up to 10 people telling you you're wrong.

When I think of a racial slur I think of something that has decades, if not centuries, of blind, frothing hatred and bigotry behind it. "Cracker" just isn't at that level yet. It's nothing short of fucking insulting to act butthurt and try to compare cracker to (I'm gonna use some adult words here, kiddies) ******, Wop, Dago, *****, or Kike.

And no, I feel no obligation to pay for something my great-grandparents did to somebody else's great-grandparents. But I'm also not gonna get angry at people for expressing a legitimate anger towards people who are either actively perpetuating or turning a blind eye to modern slavery, oppression and torture.

Just stop and think about it for a second. Assuming you're American, you're living in a culture that actively benefits from systematic, organized racism. I understand the point that racism has to stop somewhere and that we can't hold double standards, but I think we need to work on stopping the ACTUAL oppression before we start arguing over a weak, toothless word.

 

[DevilWolf47]

Uh... what do you mean "Should?" If it's used in that context, it already IS a racial slur. It's not like people get together and debate whether or not it's a racial slur or if the memory of the snack should take parlance.

 

[Tomo Stryker]

Meh, given that white people have a good 500 years' history of oppressing everybody that isn't white, I think we can take it on the chin for a little while.

Its this ignorance that is supremely fucking us up in the head thinking that we, the sons and daughters of our parents and grandparents should have to pay for their poor decision. I bet you also want to save the Panda because its "cute". /rage

See thread, post, go to bed, wake up to 10 people telling you you're wrong.

When I think of a racial slur I think of something that has decades, if not centuries, of blind, frothing hatred and bigotry behind it. "Cracker" just isn't at that level yet. It's nothing short of fucking insulting to act butthurt and try to compare cracker to (I'm gonna use some adult words here, kiddies) ******, Wop, Dago, *****, or Kike.

And no, I feel no obligation to pay for something my great-grandparents did to somebody else's great-grandparents. But I'm also not gonna get angry at people for expressing a legitimate anger towards people who are either actively perpetuating or turning a blind eye to modern slavery, oppression and torture.

Just stop and think about it for a second. Assuming you're American, you're living in a culture that actively benefits from systematic, organized racism. I understand the point that racism has to stop somewhere and that we can't hold double standards, but I think we need to work on stopping the ACTUAL oppression before we start arguing over a weak, toothless word.

I'm Canadian, how do I figure into torture and oppression again?

 

[RoBi3.0]

Are we called crackers because we use to crack the whip on black people's backs?

Wow, I always assumed that cracker referring to the fact that white people are white like a saltine cracker.

It it is true in reference to whipping slaves then I say its to obscure to be offensive.

Being white I personally never found the word offensive at all. As others have said it sounds to stupid to be offensive.

 

[DevilWolf47]

Uh... what do you mean "Should?" If it's used in that context, it already IS a racial slur. It's not like people get together and debate whether or not it's a racial slur or if the memory of the snack should take parlance.

I think he means in a legal sense. Some countries have some strange laws on the subject.

Noted. But still, if we're talking about regulating it so that it becomes valid to use it as evidence for a hate crime, i'm not sure if cracker would count. I rarely see genuine hatred behind the statement, it's used in the same fashion most people use profanity, to make them sound cool or more mature or intelligent than they really are. But again, it all is a matter of context.
...which makes me wonder what legal distinctions you're talking about and if i should be concerned.

 

[GoodEyeSniper]

If I remember correctly the term wasn't originally an anti-white pejorative, but an anti-American pejorative used by the English upper-classes to describe the oafish, backward-thinking colonists. I don't think it carries much weight as a racial slur anyway, mostly because its use is more often met with confusion than consternation.

That said, This Troper lives in a country where neither this term, nor the Afro-American equivalent carry little clout except in an odd way: None of peeps here that are of European descent feel comfortable using the N-word, yet for some reason it is considered all right for the indigenous peoples (of which I am part) to use the term, and that is simply because we have darker skin. I don't understand this attitude at all considering that we originate from South East Asia and have no connection whatsoever with Africa.

Racial politics are a minefield in a junkyard.

 

[Coldster]

Cracker doesn't sound offensive to me. If someone actually called me that then I'd probably start laughing at how stupid it sounds.

 

[Daveman]

I just find it hilarious. It's like British racist slang in that it's shit and unoffensive.