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

[Cartographer]

I also mentioned the French and Russians. They're all "white" but you'd be a fool if you couldn't tell the difference between them.

Wow, just Wow.
Talk about bigoted and ignorant.

Are you saying it's bigoted and ignorant to be able to tell the difference between someone from France and someone from Russia?

I'm saying it's bigoted to claim that all members of any nation are the same and ignorant to claim you can tell them apart, the implication of your post was such. Or are you saying that you somehow intrinsically know that Thierry Henri is French and Stanislav Lebamba is Russian, from looks alone?
How about Mo Farah, you can tell he's English how exactly?

First off, LMFAO. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Good job confusing nationality with genetics there, chief. There are certain genetic predispositions perpetuated within societies. It's like the Swedish/Finnish etc have a large population of blondes. It's for no other reason than that is the defining trait within the gene pool so it is replicated most often.

Your examples are people who have drawn their genes from a foreign source but live in this country. Unless one of their parents was a national then they wouldn't inherit any traits commonly associated with their place of birth.

People are not unique little snowflakes. They're boring, mundane and infinitely repetitive.

Talk about missing the point, might want to work on your reading comprehension skills there friend.

Nationality has nothing to do with race, nothing, hell both are basically artificial constructs we invented to define ourselves (usually in reference to "foreigners"). 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. It's a broad generalisation revealing the ignorance of the poster.

Your assertion that there are geographically isolated, inherited traits common to people of a specific area is fine, claiming they are anything to do with nationality is however, rubbish.

Obviously you can't read since that was the point I was making.

Then why quote and attack my point, if you're making the same one?

 

[Mutie]

It is one of my favorite words... And I am VERY white. But then again, I'm English. So have fun trying to offend me.

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

No, as I often try to crack wise so I take it as an encouragement. Using the topical word is like a nigga whipping himself.

Kinda related - is using the word ****** prohibited on this forum and that's why people use nigga? Which is still essentially the same.

This informative sketch will show you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NY1y1aggUA
God I love Boondocks.
OT: not really, get called it ALL the time by my friend. To be fair we take the piss outa each other a lot. Which can get awkward when her incredibly far left black power sister comes round.

I'm very familiar with the The Boondocks but that episode never clarified anything other than white people always being wrong, like with the PC name for coloured people - oops, I'm racist/insensitive again. Also, I don't acknowledge nigga as a different word but rather a bastardization caused by lacking education/pronounciation or regional accents. I just don't see how the africanized version is any less racist than the original. It would be like homos preferring themselves to be called fags.

Holy passive aggressiveness batman!
And like many things it depends on context and usage. One was used to oppress and be a dick, the other one is a reclamation of that word, and has come to be a synonym of brother.
But you already knew that. And there's a difference between being called homo and fag, but here is neither the time nor place for such a discussion.

Also, if that's what you took from the Boondocks, then most of it's humour went over your head.

 

[ZeroMachine]

Technically, it's a racial slur.

But no... no one takes offense to it.

 

[Gormech]

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.

 

[Yeager942]

Terms like these and whether or not they offend someone has to be taken by a case by case basis. I am not personally offended by the term "cracka" or "honky," on the contrary I find them pretty funny. However, I wouldn't doubt that someone out there would take offence to them, so if someone does take offense to your language you have the choice to either respect how they feel or...not I guess.

 

[triggrhappy94]

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

You're kind of missing the point then.
I'm not saying you should be offended by the word, but if refers to the cracking of a whip that a slave master would do.
So yeah the reason it's an insult is because your ancestors were (supposedly) performing the persecution. And use of the word cracker implies that you also do so, or condone it in some way.

In that case, I still don't feel it holds up.
I don't think an insult really works if it's trying to guilt someone in to feeling bad.
It'd be like trying to get your opponent to admit that they were wrong at the start of a heated argument.

 

[DoPo]

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.

 

[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.

Is it because you think they're calling you a crispy topping holder served at parties? cause they're not.

They're calling you a filthy bigot asshole if they call you a cracker.. it goes back to being a cracker of whips.

It means "fuck you, your thoughts aren't worth anything because you're a filthy degenerate pig that takes pleasure in the pain and suffering of other human beings"

if you don't hear the word with any context, of course it falls flat

I actually didn't know the whip reference. Huh. Well I learned something today.

Is that legit common knowledge or am I just really that ignorant?

 

[DudeistBelieve]

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.

I'm wondering now how many black people today, if ever, use the word incorrectly to just mean all white people. Cause I think then, the only time I've ever heard it used in that context was that scene in Chasing Amy with Hooper X.

Kinda like how people incorrectly use the insult "Hack" in reference to artists they don't like when the definition of a Hack is someone whos lost passion for their art and just does it for the money.

 

[irishda]

That's the thing about racial slurs against white people though, and the whole "it's racist that black people can call each other '******' but other races can't call black people that". White people enjoy a rather unique position which I believe Louis CK puts it best:
White people are not in any way shape or form in danger of experiencing the REAL problems of racism unless they troll through a ghetto at 3 in the morning after some black kid gets shot by a cop and acquitted. There's no worries about not being able to get a job because the interviewer thinks you're just going to steal everything. There's no fear that you're having a bunch of kids with different men just so you can collect a bigger welfare check. You don't have to worry about being wrongly profiled by the cops, maybe even being assaulted or shot for the slightest bit of error. There are clearly instances where white people have been the victims of racism, but, overall, it is the absolute whitest thing ever to believe that you've experienced true racism because you were called "cracker" or because you can't say a word.

 

[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.