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

[irishda]

Considering that white people have never spent hundreds of years being enslaved and oppressed[footnote]Inb4 some white supremacist "proves" me "indisputably" wrong on this point[/footnote], there really isn't a white equivalent of the N-word which says "oh hey, I think you're utterly inferior and I wish I could put you back to work on my plantation".

Yes, but of course - thanks for clearing this up for me apparently my ancestors didn't spend five centuries being enslaved and oppressed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_%28Ottoman_Empire%29], no that must have been something I fabricated in order to feel superior about my skin colour. Thank you for this revelation - I...I didn't know. I am sorry that until now I thought the word "giaour" was used by the Ottoman to refer in disdain to the white slaves and to remind them to know their place but apparently it was literally delusions of grandeur.

Honestly, go read some history, and THEN throw your snide remarks when you're sure, you aren't, you know, wrong or actually insulting. The world is a big place, you just showed you don't know it enough to try and preemptively insult people...while, in fact, insulting people at the same time.

So you live in Turkey eh. And were still feeling the sting of social repression and segregation as early as the mid 20th century. Not to mention, as per the article you linked, outside forces worked hard to curtail the Ottoman slave trade during the 19th century, especially Russia. In other words, other superpowers led by white people told that superpower to stop, which surely must've happened with the black slave trade to get it to stop.

 

[Nobuoa Schniell]

There isn't really a word that I've heard relating to white people that I consider particularly offensive. I'm more offended by the fact that, because I'm a "straight white male", I'm basically not allowed to be offended by anything. And any argument I seem to make against things like racism and sexism are immediately dismissed, and I simply have to take criticisms against my race/gender/sexual orientation because I'm in the majority and I have no right to argue against those who have been oppressed for so long. I basically don't know "the struggle" so I'm supposed to just shut the fuck up and let people ***** to my face about how I'm so privileged and I don't deserve the life I have because it was essentially handed to me.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I don't have anything to say, I just wanted an excuse to post that. :3 But really, the word ****** has a deep seated history behind it that invokes the memories of hundreds of years of oppression. Honky and cracker are words that sound like they were conjured up on the spot in a desperate attempt to have some kind of equivalent to throw back at white people and that's because they essentially are. I've never known any person who was legitimately offended at hearing either so called 'slur'. Also, Louis CK. No more needs to be said.

 

[Denamic]

No, but I think it's a stupid and unnecessary term, and think less of anyone who uses it seriously.

 

[Snowbell]

I honestly don't mind, it's the way in which people say it is often worse than the word that is spoken.

 

[Th37thTrump3t]

'Cracka' is technically a racial slur. Though to be honest it is a very weak one. It just tends to make me laugh when I hear it. Being hispanic myself I really don't get called a 'cracka' more than I do a 'spic' or 'beaner' so I really couldn't tell you if I were offended by it or not.

 

[BarkBarker]

It IS a racial slur, the same way you may not think of ***** as anything other than a dent in ones armor, I call my black friends the N word because they call me the N word, we use it quite casually now that I think about it, but doesn't change the fact it was used as a means to insult and put down people of a race and while it may not be used as such anymore the term still maintains as a means to insult someone.

 

[Syzygy23]

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 imperialist swine who's ancestors kidnapped and enslaved my ancestors for years and then tried to pull that segregation bullshit" but that'd be to hard to say in conversation.

Pffff Hahahahahaha! Honky just sounds too silly to be insulting. Same with Cracker or Cracka. There aren't a lot of insults you can use against a vaguely related group of people with a single physical dominant trait when said group has dicked over everyone else in the world multiple times in the past and gotten away without repercussions every single time.

 

[happyninja42]

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.

For me, it's not the fact that they use what are obviously racial slurs about me
being caucasian, it's the fact that nobody seems to really care when they are used
directed at me. It's definately a 1 way direction with the cultural indignation about the terms. Nobody seems to lose their jobs, or their endorsements when they call a white person 'cracker' or 'honky'.

My personal feelings on the subject are "if you're going to get offended by racial slurs, be offended by ALL of them, for ALL ethnic groups, or don't be offended by any of them."

And to answer your question about 'does it offend me?" Yes, when a guy gets up in your face and says "I will kill you, you mother fuckin cracker" I can't help but be offended by that. When it happened to me, and yes that example did happen to me, I was angry, my face got flushed and red, and I wanted to fight him for saying it. Because it was rude, disrespectful, and insulting to me. But for some reason, nobody seemed to care that he said it.

 

[Raioken18]

Uhh... I live in Australia and we are pretty lax with any slurs. The thing is sometimes Aussies go overseas and use racial slurs a lot and people assume they are racist. It's like the word Voldemort, by not using it you give that word a power over others.

I refer to black people I know as N-word, Jewish people as J-word, Asian people as Y-word, Arabic people as the A-word... etc.

As a white person I'm most often referred to as Snowy or White, sometimes a Bogan. Frankly I don't mind and as long as that person isn't actually discriminating against me I don't have a problem with it. Actions speak louder than words.

Like one time a Muslim woman fell down on the escalators in a shopping complex near where I live. This asian girl and I helped her up but when she saw I was white she spat on me, then a group of what I'm assuming were also Muslim dudes followed me to the carpark and abused me for daring to touch their women, even though they hadn't offered to help this poor woman. I view Muslim religion as inherently racist, especially considering that they don't allow other races (Non-Arabic) to enter their Mosque even for educational purposes.

 

[Undead Dragon King]

Yes, the work Cracker or Cracka' is offensive if the person it's being directed at knows the meaning. It's a swapped version of using the N-word to refer to a black person.

And now, the origins of the term.

Way back in U.S. history, a lot of white people ran plantations (big farms) by having a lot of black people work as slaves for them. Usually, the plantation owner would survey the work by walking around the area with a whip and slinging it at any worker who seemed to be slacking or just at anyone they felt like beating at the time. This action is called cracking the whip on someone. The phrase was later shortened in slang to calling anyone who did this a Cracker.

In short, calling someone a cracker is the same as calling them a slave driver.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Well done.

 

[Phasmal]

No, why should I?
I would not suffer anything through this kind of `racism` except maybe a hurt feeling.
And probably not even that.

 

[kortin]

Nah, I don't give a shit. It's just a word.

 

[Dendio]

Its all relative to the individual. Some of these racial slurs sound down right silly to me. Others seem very offensive. At the end of the day they are just words, and its up to the individual to determine how they interpret them

 

[Fidchell Attano]

When somebody calls me a "nigga" or cracks a few black jokes, I laugh it off for comedic value as they are only joking, but some people take it a step too far. Some people think black people can only be communicated with through "rap music, grape soda, fried chicken, and watermelon." Some even take it a step above that by bringing the "yo fidchell, why do black people ***** about slavery, I mean its not like they were the only slaves."

Its not so much the slur as so much it is the intention of demoralizing blacks by calling them "******" to remind them "your people used to be this, and your people are still this." and demoralize them.

I wouldn't imagine it being as impacting on white people considering white people were on top and to this day are still on top.

I'm not going to complain about "the struggle" as I am in a first world country, grew up in a good home with good parents and have a good standard of living, albeit I do have my own personal demons to which I will not brand with: "The struggle".

Its not the word itself, its what the word does.

 

[Fidchell Attano]

Its all relative to the individual. Some of these racial slurs sound down right silly to me. Others seem very offensive. At the end of the day they are just words, and its up to the individual to determine how they interpret them

Yet at the end of the day, words still have power.

 

[6urk17s]

Claiming that you can identify someone's "nationality", in fact claiming that you would be a "fool" not to be able to tell the difference between two "whites", one from France and one from Russia is what I took issue with.

Perhaps I don't understand what you mean by nationality, but I can actually tell if someone is Russian by looking at them, at least, those that I see on the street. Maybe not all the time, but still, Russians have a faces with specific features that Latvians don't have, they dress differently as well as they have a different choice of haircuts.

As for the nationality thing, Latvians have two words that translate as Nationality - "Tautība" and "Pilsonība", each with different meaning. "Pilsonība" is something along the lines of citizenship, while "Tautība" is, well, ehh, your ethnic group? For example, You could say that someone from India can be a citizen of England, but his "Tautība" is still going to be Indian. Like, "Tautība" is something you can't change while "Pilsonība" is. Even if you are the third generation living in England, your still going to be Indian, not English.

 

[II2]

A really angry black guy called me a cracka-ass-honkey once and flipped me off, punctuating the display with a 'Fuck you'. I don't even know what he was mad about... I hadn't interacted with him at all until he started yelling at me. It was in the city, though, so there could have been any number of reasons why he was yelling at strangers.

Anyway, the point of this tale is he was using the racial epithphet in discussion and putting some real hard feelings behind it, but it was still more puzzling than hurtful. I think the whole situation tends to lean itself to bewilderment over offense, for anyone of cool demeanor, but it was an interesting show of someone reaching for the most hurtful thing they could think of and the words not carrying much weight.

 

[Metalix Knightmare]

As far as I'm concerned, the only people who would be offended by being called Cracka would probably be just as offended by a black person speaking to them at all.

 

[DoctorImpossible]

Not in the slightest. I rise above.