Quote:People that insist the work thug is racist are under the false impression that all thugs are black.
No, no no. I'm saying it becomes a racist word when it is only used in reference to young black men. I hardly ever hear or read the word "thug" in reference to young white men. I almost always hear or read it used in reference to young black men. So eventually, the word takes on a racial connotation.
1) Can a word eventually take on an underlying meaning if it is almost always used in a certain context? Yes.
2) Is the word "thug" by far most often used in relation to young black men? Yes.
Therefore, the word "thug" has taken on a racial connotation.
Are young black men thugs? Irrelevant
Is black culture in many ways a thug culture? Irrelevant
The question isn't, "should young black men be considered thugs?" The question isn't "Is black culture thug culture?" The question is,"should the word "thug" be considered racist?" The word itself is not racist. It's just a word. But in our society, the way we use the word, it has taken on a racial connotation.
Quote:
Here's a recent example from a crime in St. Louis of the term " black thugs" being used. In this case, it was used a great leader who happens to be black, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson:
http://www.wnd.com/2015/03/help-pleads-w...-question/
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Civil rights leader and founder of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny Jesse Lee Peterson blames the increase in racial tension on actions taken by the Obama administration.
“This latest black on white attack in St. Louis does not surprise me. It’s another example of the growing racially motivated violence against white folks,” Peterson said. “Barack Obama, Eric Holder, and the so-called civil rights leaders have given blacks the justification to attack whites. White people, for the most part, are afraid and too cowardly to fight back and it is bringing out the worst in these black thugs.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/03/help-pleads-w...vb7G4GZ.99
</div>
Wow, those are pretty strong words coming from a black man, and a Rev/leader at that.
I wonder how he is perceived in the black community?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thug
a violent criminal is the definition of a thug.
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In my opinion it is more racist to accuse a person of being a racist simply for saying that violent criminals in the process of destroying a city are thugs because you are assuming that the person has some kind of motive behind each word that person says that doesn't have a racial meaning by itself simply because of the color of their skin & the color of the skin of the people that person was talking about.
Quote:No, no no. I'm saying it becomes a racist word when it is only used in reference to young black men. I hardly ever hear or read the word "thug" in reference to young white men. I almost always hear or read it used in reference to young black men. So eventually, the word takes on a racial connotation.
1) Can a word eventually take on an underlying meaning if it is almost always used in a certain context? Yes.
2) Is the word "thug" by far most often used in relation to young black men? Yes.
Therefore, the word "thug" has taken on a racial connotation.
Are young black men thugs? Irrelevant
Is black culture in many ways a thug culture? Irrelevant
The question isn't, "should young black men be considered thugs?" The question isn't "Is black culture thug culture?" The question is,"should the word "thug" be considered racist?" The word itself is not racist. It's just a word. But in our society, the way we use the word, it has taken on a racial connotation.
So we the people, in our society, have the power to make any word racial, or even just change the connotation of the word, if we want to, just by using it in a certain way?
Kind of like society did with the word "gay" In the early 1900's 'gay' meant happy or merry and was even used in several songs, movie and book titles. These days it means something a little different then it did in the early 1900's.
And poor Santa who has been saying "ho ho ho" for a very long time. Even that word means something very different from when Santa uttered it for the very first time.
The word '[BLEEP]" used to mean a bundle of sticks, usually bound together as fuel. Boy has that word changed.
Quote:Wow, those are pretty strong words coming from a black man, and a Rev/leader at that.
I wonder how he is perceived in the black community?
My take is that Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson is popular amongst Conservative black people who are familiar with him. But is considered unpopular or worse amongst most black people who are familiar with him that are followers of Jesse Jackson and/ or Al Sharpton. The same with former Congressman Lt. Col. Allen West, who also has been very critical of Obama and Holder. Even amongst non black people, the divide of opinion is similar though probably not as pronounced in terms of those who dislike Peterson and West.
Quote:Context? Like the n word ? Saying it ending in r or saying it ending in a. Like..hey R.....or hey my A?
Thug is universal. Italian mobsters? Thugs. Irish Hoodlum? Thugs. Is Paddy racist? They called them Paddy wagons due to many Irish arrests.
What we need is thicker skin. Regardless of its color.
If you think that all Italians are mobsters, yes, you are bigoted against that group. How is that so difficult to grasp?
Quote:No! Political correctness has turned every event into a spectical. Media runs with the stupidity and now it' a "thing". I'm offended by the word cookie because it has another derogatory meaning! (Not really, I love me some cookie)
I live for cookies!
Look, I'm no fan of the corporate media... and again nobody is saying that everyone that uses the term we are discussing its racist...
But, to think that there isn't a rather substantial part of this society are using this term because they know the "n" term is no longer acceptable is just ignoring reality.
I'm very confident that almost all, if not all, of the posters on this MB are not bigots. But can we all concede that there are in fact bigots in this country?
Quote:I live for cookies!
Look, I'm no fan of the corporate media... and again nobody is saying that everyone that uses the term we are discussing its racist...
But, to think that there isn't a rather substantial part of this society are using this term because they know the "n" term is no longer acceptable is just ignoring reality.
I'm very confident that almost all, if not all, of the posters on this MB are not bigots. But can we all concede that there are in fact bigots in this country?
Yes we can and they come in all colors, can we agree on that as well?
It's all Tupac's fault, lol.
Tupac Shakur and his "Thug Life" or "Thug 4 Life," (I can't remember what it was exactly called) perpetuated an image that has morphed the past 20 years into the stereotypical label many people (certainly not all) see it as today.
No matter how it was meant to be understood,, the image is what came across strongest (as it does in many other instances).
It's all Tupac's fault, lol!
Note- for me personally,, it's a class of people and their actions that I'll perceive as "Thug," regardless of any ethnicity.
Quote:It's all Tupac's fault, lol.
Tupac Shakur and his "Thug Life" or "Thug 4 Life," (I can't remember what it was exactly called) perpetuated an image that has morphed the past 20 years into the stereotypical label many people (certainly not all) see it as today.
No matter how it was meant to be understood,, the image is what came across strongest (as it does in many other instances).
It's all Tupac's fault, lol!
Note- for me personally,, it's a class of people and their actions that I'll perceive as "Thug," regardless of any ethnicity.
It's not Tupac's fault.. It's the idiot people that idolized Tupac and wanted to be like him..
Blame Tupac. Thats a new one.