Why is it ok to refer to a white person as a cracker or a honkie or any other term ok in some forums, but in all forums racial terms are not ok for blacks, asians, latinos and whoever else?

please move to site discussion

ehuffnsd said:

Because cracker just does not mean the same thing that nigger, or redskin, or gook, or wetback does.

It's like the difference between calling a man a dog, and a woman a bitch. Or calling a straight person a breeder, and calling a gay person a faggot.

There's a power imbalance inherent in the words, and insulting a member of the dominant class will never have the same sting or meaning as insulting someone who belongs to a group that's experienced historical and current hatred. Words used to insult people who are minorities hold in them an assumption of privilege and more than that, an assumption that this privilege is a right of the person saying it. Words like honky and cracker (or dog, or breeder, etc.) are allowed because historically, they were an act of defiance. They may not have hurt in the same way, but that's because they couldn't. It's hard to throw an ugly name and make it stick at someone who, for all intents and purposes, is above you.

Because everyone on the org that is white is guilty as hell and doesn't have the balls, or boobs, to put a stop to it for fear of being called racist. 'nuff said.

NoChances said:

stop what?

ehuffnsd said:

stop racial epiphets about whites being thrown around.

NoChances said:

i tried and the mod ignored my request.

ehuffnsd said:

well, I certainly aren't suprised.

NoChances said:

i tried and the mod ignored my request.

And the rules state:

Do not post racist or 'hateful' material.
This means no racist/homophobic comments, period. Discussions of racism itself in the proper forum are OK. Making hateful comments, directed at a person or group, may get your account immediately suspended. We are extremely serious about this. prince.org is not a place for racial bigotry or hateful speech.

honky 1233 up, 103 down
a derogatory term for a Caucasian person.
there are three main theories for the origin of the word:
1. the word originated from the practice of white males wishing to hire African-American prostitutes in the 1920's, and going to the appropriate part of town while honking their car horns to attract the whores. Some versions state that the reason for this was that the white men were too afraid to actually stop in those neighborhoods, so the honking would bring the hookers to them. Others say that since few African-Americans could afford cars back in that time, the honking signaled a higher-paying white client and would quickly gain the prostitutes attention.
2. the term comes from the word "honky-tonk", which was used as early as 1875 in reference to wild saloons in the Old West. Patrons of such disreputable establishments were referred to as "honkies", not intended as a racial slur but still a disparaging term.
3. "honkie" is a variation of "hunky" and "bohunk", derogatory terms for Hungarian, Bohemian, and Polish immigrant factory workers and hard laborers in the early 1900's. African-Americans began to use the word in reference to all whites regardless of specific nation of origin

hon·ky or hon·kie also hon·key (hông'kē, hŏng'-) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. hon·kies also hon·keys Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a white person.

luv4u said:

yeah and you left the word honkie in the thread, twice.

that whether you know it or not is a racial put down towards whites.


http://www.urbandictionar...term=honky



http://dictionary.referen...owse/honky


why is that allowed to say in the thread and not snipped it is clear race baiting?
[Edited 10/19/08 16:33pm]

luv4u said:

the thread i reported last nigth about Janet Jackson.

meow85 said:

does it make sense to foster an environment where any kind of insensitive term is used?

ehuffnsd said:

The above mentioned terms might be slightly insensitive, but words directed at a majority group just don't mean the same thing as words directed at a minority. I don't know anyone who actually takes words like honky seriously, even when they are said out of anger.

meow85 said:

doesn't matter. negativity is negativity.

ehuffnsd said:

Oh, I'm not denying that. Just pointing out that they're at vastly different points on the spectrum.

meow85 said:

i think it's a pretty broad brush stroke to say that those terms are offensive to the majority as some terms are to the minority. all words have power to degrad and make them feel less than. to be dismissive of that power doesn't ad to the solution.

ehuffnsd said:

That's the thing. Words like honky and cracker don't have the same power behind them as those other words do. I agree that they can be seen as offensive or hurtful, but I'd argue that it's really not the same situation. No one ever had their humanity stripped from them by being called a cracker.

meow85 said:

anytime someone is made to feel less than they have had their humanity stripped from them.

ehuffnsd said:

But has any white person seriously felt degraded or put down by being called one of these names? It's possible, but I doubt it. A name can only hurt if you've had reason to believe it -and what white person ever has been forced to consider themselves as less than human because of their skin colour?

does it make sense to foster an environment where any kind of insensitive term is used?