Poll: Is Cracker a derogatory term? And can one be racist against white people?

[Politrukk]

So I was browsing my twitterfeed

When I came across this gem of an account https://twitter.com/socialistdad

Apparently someone pissed "ryan" off and this was his response :



‏@socialistdad


cracker is not a racist slur please be educated before tweeting thank you https://twitter.com/EtherealStoic/status/605516965306855424 ?

cracker is not a derogatory term is this even real right now https://twitter.com/EtherealStoic/status/605522485140975616 ?

And:
‏@socialistdad

white people are privileged and have always had the upper hand in society you cannot oppress white people shut up

white people are privileged.. that's not racism thats a fact... once again you can't be racist towards white people https://twitter.com/EtherealStoic/status/605522013143363585 ?


(Sorry I don't know how to do those shiny quotes from twitter).



Now obviously "Socialist Dad" is wondering if this "is even real" whilst I'm countering that with my opinion that I'm seriously wondering if he's not a joke account.



Personally I think racism can be exacted upon anyone, that includes white people, heck the exclusion of white people from racism is in and of itself racist to me.

And personally I've only ever come across the term "cracker" when looking at salty stuff or when a black person was trying to be demeaning to a white one even if they had every right to be hostile in the situation.


So escapist what is your opinion on this?


Ps: poor guy he was attacking by the way, citing tweets like that can cause a real firestorm.

 

[Risingblade]

Cracker is a racist slur, as well as a tasty snack further proving that racism ruins goods things.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Cracker refers to slave owners (crack of the whip).

I guess it's racist in that it's a racial term?

I was never really offended when people called me 'Beaner' and 'Jewbagel', but I guess it's a personal thing.

 

[Politrukk]

Cracker refers to slave owners (crack of the whip).

I guess it's racist in that it's a racial term?

I was never really offended when people called me 'Beaner' and 'Jewbagel', but I guess it's a personal thing.

Agreed but isn't calling a white man today a slaver or well 'cracker' a bit inapropriate?

 

[Darks63]

Its a derogatory term towards white people, but like Honky its not one i've heard outside of a Dirty Harry movies and other 70's and 80' cinema.

 

[Kopikatsu]

Cracker refers to slave owners (crack of the whip).

I guess it's racist in that it's a racial term?

I was never really offended when people called me 'Beaner' and 'Jewbagel', but I guess it's a personal thing.

Agreed but isn't calling a white man today a slaver or well 'cracker' a bit inapropriate?

Kind of? I mean, a slave owner is in a position of power. Can that really be considered offensive? If anything it seems like anyone who'd call someone else 'Cracker' is kind of disrespecting themselves. Unless they're trying to inspire some feelings of white guilt?

I'm not saying minorities can't be racist, but I'm not sure cracker is a... bad term for lack of a better phrase.

 

[Michel Henzel]

If used in a derogatory way towards white people then it's no different than ****** in a derogatory way against black people. It's racist pure and simple. And this bs logic of that one cannot be racist against white people or sexist against men or any other stupid shit these people come up with can piss the hell off.

 

[Politrukk]

Cracker refers to slave owners (crack of the whip).

I guess it's racist in that it's a racial term?

I was never really offended when people called me 'Beaner' and 'Jewbagel', but I guess it's a personal thing.

Agreed but isn't calling a white man today a slaver or well 'cracker' a bit inapropriate?

Kind of? I mean, a slave owner is in a position of power. Can that really be considered offensive? If anything it seems like anyone who'd call someone else 'Cracker' is kind of disrespecting themselves. Unless they're trying to inspire some feelings of white guilt?

I'm not saying minorities can't be racist, but I'm not sure cracker is a... bad term for lack of a better phrase.

But its usage has no positive connotations whatsoever in that context?


To me slave trading and plantation ownership were very harmful things, I've never once in my life had anything to do with either.

 

[KissingSunlight]

Simply put, if you mean the word in a racist way, then it's racist. If you call me "Cracker", because I am white. Then you are a racist. Same way that calling a black person the "N" word is racist.

Also, I am very sick and tired of people claiming you can't be racist or sexist against white people and men. I am a white male. No way in hell can you look at my life any and say that I am privileged and/or in power. I don't have time right now to look it up. There is an insightful and funny commentary about the myth of privilege from a book written in the late 90's. I'll find it and share with you tomorrow.

 

[Kopikatsu]

But its usage has no positive connotations whatsoever in that context?


To me slave trading and plantation ownership were very harmful things, I've never once in my life had anything to do with either.

Slave owners were rich and powerful. It's like when people taunt Jews about their 'Jewgold'. You're insulting them by referencing their wealth. Surely that's a poor insult?

 

[Bobic]

Cracker refers to slave owners (crack of the whip).

I guess it's racist in that it's a racial term?

I was never really offended when people called me 'Beaner' and 'Jewbagel', but I guess it's a personal thing.

Agreed but isn't calling a white man today a slaver or well 'cracker' a bit inapropriate?

Kind of? I mean, a slave owner is in a position of power. Can that really be considered offensive? If anything it seems like anyone who'd call someone else 'Cracker' is kind of disrespecting themselves. Unless they're trying to inspire some feelings of white guilt?

I'm not saying minorities can't be racist, but I'm not sure cracker is a... bad term for lack of a better phrase.

If anything, learning the actual definition and origin of cracker actually makes it seem like more of a slur. Like, yeah, slave owner is a position of power, but, thanks to all these morals we've built up since the 1800s, it's also the position of a colossal dickbag. I'd rather not be associated with human rights violations. I mean, from that perspective, it's worse than ******, which is just a corruption of negro and/or the latin word niger, meaning dark.

Though, before someone leaps down my throat, I'll quickly backtrack and say the true meaning of a word is the meaning we give them, there's nothing intrinsic, regardless of proper definition and roots. ****** is tied to a long history of racism massively biased against black people, with lots of mistreatment, abuse, and problems that still exist to this day. And me calling a black person that, conjures up all that imagery. However, if a black person, in all sincerity, called me a cracker, I'd probably just burst out laughing. So, ultimately, it's clearly meaningless (to me).

That said, whether or not cracker is a slur or not, the alarming attitude here is the 'you can't be racist against white people'. You absolutely can, if you treat someone badly (or even differently), because of their race, that's racism, regardless of the race's position in power, or any other factor whatsoever. And this thought-line can only lead to more animosity, which will only beget more racism, directed in both directions. The goal of equality is to bring us all together as equals where race doesn't matter, not seperate us all into angry groups of same coloured individuals, all with the same privilege, rights and power, but pouring hate at the other groups.

 

[Lightspeaker]

Yes, its racist. Most people don't actually get offended by it but at its heart it is a racially-motivated insult which makes it, by definition, racist.

 

[Politrukk]

But its usage has no positive connotations whatsoever in that context?


To me slave trading and plantation ownership were very harmful things, I've never once in my life had anything to do with either.

Slave owners were rich and powerful. It's like when people taunt Jews about their 'Jewgold'. You're insulting them by referencing their wealth. Surely that's a poor insult?

Well don't take this the wrong way

but calling a white man a cracker to me seems more like calling a german a nazi (an innocent german born at the very damn least after the fall of the wall making this a very long stretch away from that time).

 

[NeutralDrow]

Yes, it's a derogatory term (though fairly recently; in the early 20th century it was a proud Southern term, especially compared to those damned "yankees" in the north), and yes, you can be racist against white people.

Ultimately, at least in the US, it rarely matters. "Cracker" as a slur doesn't have either the weight of history or the weight of politics that the n-word has, and racism against white (specifically European) Americans is invariably a localized issue when it appears, rather than a systemic problem.

 

[Tono Makt]

At least one academic definition of racism defines it as the system of beliefs and actions which was created by Europeans and people of European descent in the America's to justify the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the continued enslavement of people of African descent. So from this academic point of view, only whites can be racist, and only against people of African descent who were brought to the Americas via the trans-Atlantic slave trade. No one else can be racist.

Colloquially, we tend to use the term "racism" as a more emotionally loaded way of saying "prejudice", and as a more specific way of saying it. Racists are prejudiced against people not of their race, or of people belonging to certain races. (Similar to Homophobia, Antisemitism and Misogyny - all words which describe specific forms of prejudice.) When you say "That guy is prejudiced!", you need a follow up question "Against what?" because it could be just about anything. Prejudiced against blacks. Against women. Against homosexuals. Against dogs. Against pets. Against meat-eaters. Against people who drive cars. Etc. When you say "That guy's a racist!", people know that it's an ethnic/racial prejudice, against people, and against people don't look like him. Whole lot of information from one word combined with a whole lot of emotion.

So you get arguments which are at best, honest arguments between two sets of people who are passionately arguing about different topics while using the same terminology. At worst, people cynically using the difference between an academic definition and the colloquial definition to manipulate the argument for their own ends.

That being said, as I've been caught too often by people being disingenuous with their arguments, I've tried to stop saying that someone is racist and said they were prejudiced against specific other races or ethnicities. The only time I use the word racism is in discussions like this, or when I don't edit my post properly and I forget to go back and change "racist" to "prejudiced". So can blacks be racist against whites? They can most certainly be prejudiced against whites. [footnote]I know, I deserve to be smacked for that obvious sidestepping the question.[/footnote]

I think a large part of these discussions forgets to mention geography as well. In America, it's easier for whites to be prejudiced against blacks. You take a white guy and toss them into Nigeria, or Egypt, or Japan, or Turkey, or Saudi Arabia, or Pakistan? Not so easy for the white guy to be prejudiced against non-whites. Also you'll find a hell of a lot of anti-white prejudice in those nations as whites are the extreme minority. We aren't the Top Dog everywhere in the world - just in the West. You drop most of us off in another nation, particularly a non-European nation... and you're likely to find out pretty fast that you can say "They can't be racists! This definition proves it!" all you like, when you're on the other side of the angry mob it really doesn't matter what you call it - by any name it's a horrible thing.

 

[Zhukov]

Cracker refers to slave owners (crack of the whip).

Ohhhhhh.

All this time I thought it was something to do with dry biscuits. Y'know, crackers-with-cheese type crackers. I thought it was used because white skin is the same colour as cracker biscuits. Err... kinda... sometimes. Well, I suppose it would depend on if the person has a tan and what brand of cracker we're using.

...

Yeah, your version makes much more sense.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

1) It is, 2) Of course you can.

 

[Eddie the head]

It might be a slur but I can't say I'm offended by it. Oh no you're reminding me of a time where my ancestors owned a lot of land and people. . .ahhh. . . . I do get the implication that somehow because I'm white I'm morally repugnant due to the actions of my ancestors, but cracker is just a silly word.

 

[kris40k]

Yes, cracker is a racist term used in a derogatory manner to insult white people.

Yes, people can be racist against whites.

Spoiler: Storytime!

So, this is a bit of a personal subject, and one I normally don't go on about as it has a tendency to get me a bit more upset than others, but its relevant to the topic and I think should shed some light on why someone like myself would hold such a view.

Spoiler: First off, this is a rake. It's relevance will come later.

I was raised in the deep south, Alabama specifically. As I am a center-left anti-theist, I moved to the Left Coast a few years ago as the South is a bit too much Guns, God, and 'Murica for me. No offense to the people there, I had plenty of friends, and not everyone is that way but enough of the population to know that you are effectively throwing your vote away and fighting an uphill battle against the status quo that will never really change. Besides smaller towns, I lived in Montgomery for awhile, met, talked, and worked with people that took part in the Civil Rights era when they were younger, on both sides of it, and as a white guy living in a city that is predominantly black[footnote]http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/01/01101.html[/footnote] you learn a lot different viewpoints if you are willing to listen to people's stories. I only mention this as what I am going to say is in no way belittling or attempting to state that white people have it worse, or racism is equal between races, or anything of that nature.

Spoiler: and oh yeah, Portlanders...

Oh, and a side note, people in Portland OR that believe they are somehow less racist than Southerners? The city is 6% black, the state less than 2%[footnote]http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/41/4159000.html[/footnote]. You can probably count all the black people you know on one hand. The damn state banned black people from living here until the 1920's. Don't give me any shit about how virtuous Portland is compared to the South when it comes to race relations.

21 years ago, I was a teenager attending high-school in a smaller town in southern Alabama. If you know much about rural AL, high-school football is a religion of its own. Everyone goes to the games, even those that have no interest in football, its a big social function. Myself, being a punk/metalhead that ran around with the skater crowd went not to watch the games, but meet up with friends and hangout before heading out for parties or whatever trouble we could get into afterwards.

The particular stadium of the school I attended had a practice field next to it, with some parking on the far side of it. After a home-game had ended one night, myself and two friends, all three of us white, were leaving the game and crossing the practice field to get to my friends truck. Our path crossed with five black guys our age walking somewhat perpendicular to us. We didn't know these guys, and in a small town school, you know everyone. Our guess after the fact was that they must have been from the opposing school. A couple glares at us followed by a, "What the fuck you looking at, white boy?" let us know shit was about to go down, but I tried to just get on by with "nothing, man" and kept walking. I got bum rushed in the back which lifted me up off the ground (I was about 5'5" - 5'6" then) and thrown down. Then the kicking started. Kicks/stomps to the side/back weren't too bad at first, but they kept me off balance so I couldn't get up. This was accompanied with being called a "cracker", "white boy piece of shit", and so forth. The other four guys were jumping my two friends. A kick to the back of the head sent the world spinning and that was pretty much it for me until my friend picked me up off the ground sometime later after the other guys got done with us and left.

This wasn't the first fight I was ever in. Wasn't the last. Wasn't the first I'd lost. The damage from the fight wasn't anything particularly lasting. I don't blame black people for what happened to me and my friends. The event didn't make me hate black people or any bullshit like that. I only hold those particular individuals that jumped us responsible for their actions.

However, anyone, and I mean anyone that states that it cracker is not a racist term, that it is impossible to be racist against white people, or following that train or reason that you can not commit a hate crime against a white person, can go fuck that rake.