White People! Are you offended being called a "Cracka"?

[DudeistBelieve]

Been watching a lot of the George Zimmerman case. Last night I was flaberghasted when Erin Burnette of CNN referred to the word as a racial slur.

I'm sorry, but there is not a world where Cracka or Cracker could offend any white person. Right? I mean I'm pretty sure any of hear the word our minds do not jump to our skin colour but to delicious Saltine crackers. It's like calling someone Spaghetti.

Even honky... If I get called a honky the only thing my mind jumps is the old Jefferson's TV show.

Is there any white slur that has any bite at all? I mean I suppose "You impearalist swine whos anncestors kidnapped and enslaved my ancestors for years and then tried to pull that segration bullshit" but that'd be to hard to say in conversation.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Frankly I'd be wondering what somebody would be doing using that slang where I live. It seems very American to me.

 

[tippy2k2]

Well whether it offends you personally or not is negligible for it is a racial slur. I'm sure there are black people who would say that it's OK to call them "Nigga" but you'd be a fool to think that it's still not a racial slur. Same thing here.

Personally, I could care less and am not offended by it at all. I have never had anyone call me a cracka but I imagine I'd just roll my eyes at them if they did.

 

[ThatQuietGuy]

Not really offended but my opinion of anyone who uses the word in all seriousness would probably drop ten-fold.

 

[Abomination]

Only if they didn't let me call them Spic, Nip, *****, ******, Coconut, Raghead, Curry-Muncher, Frog, Comrade, Christ-slayer, or the ultimate insult "Auzzie" in response.

And even if not I really wouldn't care... I actually don't mind slang terms for races. We call Americans "Yanks" and the English "Poms" and they don't take much offense.

 

[madwarper]

I'm sorry, but there is not a world where Cracka or Cracker could offend any white person. Right? I mean I'm pretty sure any of hear the word our minds do not jump to our skin colour but to delicious Saltine crackers.

Wrong.
It is very much a racial slur.

Even honky... If I get called a honky the only thing my mind jumps is the old Jefferson's TV show.

Yeah... The TV show where the main character used it as a racial slur.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Well whether it offends you personally or not is negligible for it is a racial slur. I'm sure there are black people who would say that it's OK to call them "Nigga" but you'd be a fool to think that it's still not a racial slur. Same thing here.

Personally, I could care less and am not offended by it at all. I have never had anyone call me a cracka but I imagine I'd just roll my eyes at them if they did.

I'm sorry, but there is not a world where Cracka or Cracker could offend any white person. Right? I mean I'm pretty sure any of hear the word our minds do not jump to our skin colour but to delicious Saltine crackers.

Wrong.
It is very much a racial slur.

Even honky... If I get called a honky the only thing my mind jumps is the old Jefferson's TV show.

Yeah... The TV show where the main character used it as a racial slur.

I don't know man. I don't see it.

I feel it's like calling someone a tomato. It's just odd.

 

[Ryotknife]

Not really, ive been called that many times and other insults because I was white. Most of it in good fun. Been called a Kraut as well.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Why should I?

I think the word wasn't even created as an offensive slang, I think it was created as a joke slang that went on to be offensive. Or try to be offensive.

 

[Kolby Jack]

I've never once been referred to as one. Granted, I didn't grow up near any big cities or in the South or really anywhere where the subculture is prevalent enough to hear often. Now I'm in the military where insulting nicknames are more endearing and professional, like "fuck-stick," "shit-bag," or the ever popular "dumb-ass."

If I were ever called one though, I don't really think I'd care. If it was a joke with no ill will, I'd chuckle, but if it was actually intended to belittle me... I'd still chuckle. I've always thought "cracker" was kind of a dumb insult.

 

[DoPo]

Christ-slayer

Sounds like a good name for a band, though.

It seems very American to me.

I agree, I probably won't get the reference immediately, if at all. I have heard of it before, though - supposedly it's coming from "cracking a whip", hence, "cracker". Seems a regional thing, as we don't share the same historical context as the USA.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

Of course not. White people have never been oppressed or a minority, so it's much easier to just laugh off petty insults. However, for someone who has been oppressed, or is a minority, well.. I can't speak for them, but I could imagine it hitting much closer to home and having an actual impact.

 

[klown]

At the end of the day, it is a racial slur, but it's effects are lost on most people. The only one that gets me is being referred to as any kind of Nazi. That really makes me angry.

 

[Eddie the head]

I think it's a little funny, but I just laugh off insults most of the time.

 

[Arakasi]

I wouldn't be offended, but I'd likely consider the person a racist, and my opinion of them would naturally be lowered.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Been watching a lot of the George Zimmerman case. Last night I was flaberghasted when Erin Burnette of CNN referred to the word as a racial slur.

I'm sorry, but there is not a world where Cracka or Cracker could offend any white person. Right? I mean I'm pretty sure any of hear the word our minds do not jump to our skin colour but to delicious Saltine crackers. It's like calling someone Spaghetti.

Even honky... If I get called a honky the only thing my mind jumps is the old Jefferson's TV show.

Is there any white slur that has any bite at all? I mean I suppose "You impearalist swine whos anncestors kidnapped and enslaved my ancestors for years and then tried to pull that segration bullshit" but that'd be to hard to say in conversation.

You didn't know that Cracker/cracka was a racial slur? Also my ancestors where enslaved and sold by group's of my own race, slavery then and still now is a business that prevails. As I said before in another thread the Defense might have done a reversal. But yeah it is a racial slur that probably means shit to white people as a whole.

I mean I knew it was suppose to be a racial slur. And I know human trafficking still exist in this world, I was just talking specifically on black/white relations in the United States... Which I don't know about the world over, but the fact that at one time one could legally and openly own another human being in this country like cattle is fucked up.

I just don't feel the word carries any weight as an insult.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

As a person whose native tongue isn't English, I'm already amused by English racial slurs and how sensitive people take them. In Argentina everybody pretty much communicates through racial slurs every few words and we're pretty desensitized against them. Having said that, 'cracker' reminds me of parrots and cookies.

 

[triggrhappy94]

No, I can't say I would. Especially seeing how my ancestors have never been systematically objectified, abused, and exploited for five centuries.

"Cracka" is an invented slur too. Most other insults have some background in stereotypes, a negative aspect of history, or both. "White trash" would be the real counter-part, as it did come about as the white version of the n-word. It's had a different evolution, however, and doesn't represent a real slur today.

To quote some comedian: being called cracker really takes me back to when my ancestors owned lots of land and people.
White people really don't have anything to complain about.

 

[Lilani]

You didn't know that Cracker/cracka was a racial slur? Also my ancestors where enslaved and sold by group's of my own race, slavery then and still now is a business that prevails. As I said before in another thread the Defense might have done a reversal. But yeah it is a racial slur that probably means shit to white people as a whole.

The difference between "******" and "cracker" in my mind is that "******" has actually been used to refer to people who are actually being subjugated and treated in the most vile ways. "Cracker" has no such historical background in blood and torture, or at least not in such a widespread manner, which is why it "probably means shit to white people as a whole."

I believe this is also why sexist/stereotypical images of men[footnote]The bumbling father who doesn't know how to clean house properly, the manchild who refuses to clean a house properly, etc.[/footnote] are still acceptable in media rather than sexist/stereotypical images of women[footnote]The subservient housewife, the woman who doesn't know a hammer from a screwdriver, the woman who can't drive, etc.[/footnote]. One of them has only been used in media to poke fun at a gender. The other represents opinions and notions actually held against the gender in the past, and still to a certain extent in the present. It is considered more offensive to say "Women can't drive" than "Men can't clean a house properly" because there was once a point in time where it was actually felt that women couldn't drive, and in many places laws were put in place to either prohibit or severely handicap women when driving. The idea's still got a bit of a sting to it.

I'm not saying this is right by any means, however I think it is perfectly logical that a term or idea which has no historical significance or potency in its use would be more acceptable. It's not a matter of "double standards" or "reverse racism" or "reverse sexism." It's simply the historical baggage that certain terms and ideas carry.