3 ms·

This is true for all groups, though: black, white, Asian, gay, Romani, Irish, Jewish, Catholic -- all of them. And it's a matter of degree. I'm pretty sure a wh

This is true for all groups, though: black, white, Asian, gay, Romani, Irish, Jewish, Catholic -- all of them. And it's a matter of degree. I'm pretty sure a white guy in Appalachia doesn't like being called a cracker (or maybe that's one of the C words) by other white guys in Appalachia, but he really doesn't like hearing this word come out of the mouth of a black person or a coastal, urban white person, or a tree hugger or whatever. And this isn't a new thing, either. It's just that people are more vocal in their irritation. People act like this is some new invention. It's not. People have never liked hearing people in some group who they feel has unearned power over them use the epithets that encapsulate and symbolize this relationship. Maybe it's wrong, but it's a common feature of people generally.

mc32 6y ago
I’m not disagreeing with you but I would say that to make this less prevalent the in-group should also shun its use internally. If you sell something as part of popular culture, don’t be surprised if you see it used in popular culture.
mlrtime 6y ago
This is a poor example, even here you are free to say "cracker" but you do not say "n-word". I'm not either, there is so much fear even in this thread about using that word because the fallout is unknown. I would say that this thread is proof enough that we all live in fear of using this word even while using it in meta discussions.
- DFHippie 6y ago
  I said it was a matter of degree. The point I was making is that it is universally true that people don't like to hear people from groups who they feel oppress them use those words that symbolize this oppression but they don't mind as much (though they still do mind) hearing these words used by people in their own group. The n-word is an example of this. Is this pattern more pronounced with the n-word? Sure, but the degree and length of the oppression experienced by black people at the hands of white people in the US is quite different from that experienced by hillbillies. And my point in choosing the term "cracker" was just to pick an example from the other side of the skin tone divide in the US, because the people complaining about how unfair it is that some people can say the n-word and they can't are typically from this demographic. I figure this example might hit close enough to home that they'd see my point.

mc32 6y ago

I’m not disagreeing with you but I would say that to make this less prevalent the in-group should also shun its use internally. If you sell something as part of popular culture, don’t be surprised if you see it used in popular culture.

mlrtime 6y ago

This is a poor example, even here you are free to say "cracker" but you do not say "n-word". I'm not either, there is so much fear even in this thread about using that word because the fallout is unknown. I would say that this thread is proof enough that we all live in fear of using this word even while using it in meta discussions.

DFHippie 6y ago
I said it was a matter of degree. The point I was making is that it is universally true that people don't like to hear people from groups who they feel oppress them use those words that symbolize this oppression but they don't mind as much (though they still do mind) hearing these words used by people in their own group. The n-word is an example of this. Is this pattern more pronounced with the n-word? Sure, but the degree and length of the oppression experienced by black people at the hands of white people in the US is quite different from that experienced by hillbillies. And my point in choosing the term "cracker" was just to pick an example from the other side of the skin tone divide in the US, because the people complaining about how unfair it is that some people can say the n-word and they can't are typically from this demographic. I figure this example might hit close enough to home that they'd see my point.