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

[King Kazma]

It depends. Are they saying it in a broad definition encompassing all whites. Or are they directing it at me personally as a derogatory remark on my self. For that I would be offended due to it being personally directed.

 

[Busard]

Not really. Sounds kinda funny in fact.

It all depends if there's hatred in the voice of the guy saying it. But at this stage, he could say anything with hatred and I would feel threatened/offended.

 

[Gregory McMillan]

The thing is, the current use of the term "cracker" came from the sound of a whip used by white slavemasters and their workers. It's not even meant as derogatory. Yes, I know words can gain new meaning over time, but I highly doubt we'll see the day anytime soon when "cracker" and "******" carry equal weight.

 

[Lightknight]

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.

Slurs generally only carry weight when applied by a majority against a minority. Or really, applied by any person or group in general power over the other group where a majority in numbers may also be equated to a power disparity. The N-word, for example, is still used in other countries but because it was used in America by a group that actually had size power over black culture it became a slur in this country. This is an interesting part of linguistics to study.

But yeah, none of the white slurs have really stuck. I've also been pretty interested in hearing jokes about whites that are biting or funny but haven't been very fortunate in my findings. It's been indicated that due to the size of the white demogrpahic it isn't very easy to make vague cultural references. We may easily make pejorative terms regarding certain sub-cultures (such as white trash) but the whole thing is fairly difficult to pin down.

 

[FalloutJack]

Oh please. If I don't view people by race, why should a slur mean anything to ME? Oh no, I'm being called a dumpy white guy. For shame. I don't even raise an eyebrow at people who make an Irish or Italian stereotype, of which they are the two strongest heritages within me.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I don't really get offended by things.

I consider it a weakness and something that inhibits logic and rationality.

Now and then something will come along that makes me feel offended, but I always clear the feeling and look at it again with a clear head to see if action should really be taken.

So no, I couldn't care less if I got called a "Cracka"

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

I know it is racial slur yet, I have a hard time taking it seriously. in other words no because it's more likely to make me laugh. I would see it as a weak insult at best made by a person not creative enough to make a real insult that required some actual effort to come up with.

 

[Something Amyss]

If you call me Craka, Cracker, Milk, Milk-face... etc... Then I am allowed to call you black, ******... ect...

We are all equal that means that you can not say that you have the unique right to some words, if it is so then we have that right also.

The false pretense that we're currently equal aside, there is such a thing as context which does grant bodies unique rights to use words without offense. For example, I can make a crack about any one of my friend's mothers without repercussion. They can do the same about mine. We trash talk each others' families, beliefs, and even spouses where applicable. I wouldn't expect to be able to make a joke about your mother, or anyone else's here without repercussions, because I'm capable of understanding the difference. And I wouldn't want someone random attacking any member of my family, period. Even though I know they're all screwed up.

If you're going to equate a word tied to centuries of slavery, hate, and even abuse and violence to one literally derived from being the one holding the whip, well...I'd say it sounds like you're going out of your way to look for a reason to be offended or even possibly combative.

And honestly, if you've got a grasp of the English language (or almost any other), you should probably have some grasp on the way language always has tiers of severity in its connotation. This is one of the reasons "******" is reacted to with more vitriol than even other slurs against black people, of which there are TONS.

 

[frizzlebyte]

It would depend on context, I think. I was brought up to abhor racial/ethnic slurs of any kind, regardless of context, because it reduces the person to a stereotype. That said, if it were a white friend saying it out of playfulness, I would still think it was inappropriate, but I probably would not be very offended, in much the same way that blacks are not offended by that use of ni**a.

If it were being used as an insult, yeah. I'd be entirely offended being called a cracker, honky, or any other slur.

 

[Something Amyss]

But yeah, none of the white slurs have really stuck.

Maybe we should work on a few.

Ummmm...I'm at a loss.

 

[FancyNick]

Nope, can't say I am. I don't really know of any white racial slurs that are really powerful. At least not as much as those directed at other races.

 

[Whiskey7]

Honky, cracka, whitey...I can honestly say I never been offended by them or any other slur towards me. I even get called nazi and kraut, nothing not even a shrug.

 

[TheOneGuyInNebraska]

As a not white person I would definitely not find being not called cracka not offensive (or would I?)

 

[Mezworld24]

Im half white and black, so I'm not offended by either 'cracker' or '******', yet It would be probably considered wrong of me to say either word to anyone else

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

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.

I can simply second what Lilani said. When someone insults a person who has been in a historical position of power (men over women, white people in America over blacks, etc.), it's seen more as a joke, or jest (hence why jesters were able to mock the king to his face). Basically, when the insult goes uphill, it's not really perceived as a threat or insult in the first place (most times), but someone already with the advantage who then insults those in a lower station is seen as exercising their power in an abusive way.

EDIT: I'm likely the whitest dude in the room at any given moment (Scandinavian descended ginger guy here) and have been called "cracker" or "whitebread" a few times and it really means absolutely nothing to me. So...I'm bland looking? I guess? I dunno.

 

[WarpedLord]

Nope.

As others have stated many times already, yes... it's technically a racial slur, but it has no real weight or history behind it (even if it does refer to whips), so it doesn't have any "cut" to it.

May as well be calling us "paleface". Just rolls right off...

 

[Pandaman1911]

No, but I'm also not offended if someone calls me ******, "American Pig", "Capitalist Swine", or makes any other negative reference to my actual or perceived ethnic, political, or socioeconomic background. Because they're just words. And if there's no hate behind them, I'm not going to be offended by them.

 

[briankoontz]

Racial slurs are used in conjunction with fear. So Americans in Iraq murdering Iraqis call Iraqis "hadjis" since they fear repercussions from the murdering, and also fear and loathe the ongoing degradation of their souls.

Trayvon Martin was afraid, and his fear was due to it being a creepy person following him - if it had been a creepy black person he may very well have called him a "creepy ass ******", but since it was a white person (according to Trayvon) he was a "creepy ass cracka".

If I was following someone around with the intent of murdering them I would consider myself lucky to get off with merely a "creepy ass cracka" remark.

Crime always breeds fear, for both the criminal and the victim. The best way for Americans to stop calling Iraqis "hadjis" is for them to stop dominating their country and their resources. If they continue the policy of "it's our oil under their soil" they will continue to live in fear of the repercussions.

Take Daniel Day Lewis's fine performance in "There Will Be Blood". He went from a greedy scheming bastard to a rich miserable old man. That's precisely what America is becoming on behalf of the transnational elite - an amoral thug whose reach is limited only by the extent of the cruelty of their surveillance and weaponry.

 

[Get_A_Grip_]

I don't think any racial slur aimed at white people could offend me.
Most of them just make me laugh.
And as I live in Ireland I would find it incredibly weird if I heard the word cracker used seriously.

 

[Soxafloppin]

Its a racial slur, but it wouldn't offend me.

Then again, I'm white, male, straight and non-religious, so words don't really offend me.