# Has anyone ever called you whitey as a racial slur? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197 "2018-02-20T14:02:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/21 "2018-02-20T19:27:21Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Wally Cleaver had a friend named Whitey. Nitpick: Whitey was Beaver’s friend. Wally hung around with Eddie and Lumpy. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/22 "2018-02-20T19:45:55Z")
A guy I went to college with used to tell us, _“My dad taught me to never trust Whitey”._ ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/23 "2018-02-21T01:40:55Z")
I was approached by a panhandler once when I was filling my car up with gas. As he got closer, I held up my hand in a don’t-even-try-it gesture. His response: “Fuck you, white boy”. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/24 "2018-02-21T01:46:33Z")
I’ve been insulted because of my race, but I don’t think I’ve ever specifically been called “whitey”. I don’t remember the last time I even heard someone say it seriously, rather than a joke. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/25 "2018-02-21T04:19:31Z")
About 1980 by three young men who may have intended to attack me; both whitey and honky were thrown around. Didn’t amount to anything; the uncle of one of my students (who basically owned the streets in that neighborhood) intervened on my behalf. Many more times in a joking fashion by friends. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/26 "2018-02-21T04:54:42Z")
[Whitey On The Moon, by Gil Scott-Heron](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goh2x_G0ct4) ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/27 "2018-02-21T05:10:08Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > To make things clear, the question isn’t - “Do white people experience racism/anti-white bigotry?” Of course. Personally I can remember a few times being called “cracker”, but not “whitey”. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/28 "2018-02-21T05:48:06Z")
My cousin was a teacher in a certain city’s school district. She left because she got tired of her co-workers referring to her as “the white bitch” and / or “the Jew bitch.” ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/29 "2018-02-21T07:21:46Z")
I’ve heard “peckerwood” and “cracker” on a couple of occasions, and “devil” once, and there was even someone who _tried_ to racially insult me by calling me a hillbilly–but “whitey”? Not within earshot. The closest I’ve come was “white faggot” on a bus one time. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/30 "2018-02-21T07:31:38Z")
A guy at the bar that is kinda a creepy dick, but also im sorta friendly with calls white boy a lot. And i respond by calling him black boy. Then I won’t here from him for a while. Then at the end of the night I’ll still give his drunk ass a ride home. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/31 "2018-02-21T09:53:01Z")
Yep. White Boy, Cracka, White-Ass, White Motherfucker and variations and combinations. Never “Honky” or “Peckerwood” though, I may be mistaken but I think those last two terms are used more in the south. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/32 "2018-02-21T13:17:59Z")
Yep. This one time while on vacation in the BVI while shopping for groceries. It was a drive-by call-out by a woman pushing a grocery cart in the opposite direction. Took a few beats to register. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/33 "2018-02-21T16:29:05Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > It’s not impossible that some white person has had racial crap yelled at them at a screening of Black Panther because there’s always a jerk in the crowd but I sort of doubt it’s anything common. If such an event did occur I’d expect the racists to do their best to make it go viral as “proof” that the black are out to get whites, or whatever their current conspiracy theory is, but one or two isolated incidents do not represent a trend. The incidents that have been reported so far were absolutely faked. They came complete with pictures of injuries stolen from old news stories and stock photos. Someone replied to one story that they knew it was a hoax because no one actually says whitey (which has been my experience too), which inspired this thread. Thanks to those who shared your stories. \*I’ve heard anti-white slurs used in real life, but not this particular one, outside of racist hoaxes, which is why I tried to steer this away from being an all-purpose thread about racial insults. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/34 "2018-02-21T19:47:02Z")
I’ve never been called a racial slur that I’ve heard. It’s not that I’ve lived in whitebread communities with no minorities. Quite the opposite. My HS was 40% minority. Sometimes we get these “reverse racism” threads where people claim they get called “Whitey” or “Cracker”. I always wonder "How old are you? That and “You’re making this up, aren’t you?” ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/35 "2018-02-21T20:01:56Z")
I’ve been called whitey, cracker and everything else. Even blocked from entering businesses on Canal in New Orleans because I was/am white. That was twenty years ago. fortunately, things are better now. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/36 "2018-02-21T22:04:28Z")
No, but I was once called a blue-eyed devil. It was meant as a racist slur but I can’t say I was hurt that much. And growing up in Dallas I have been called old fade a few times. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/37 "2018-02-21T22:38:39Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > A guy I went to college with used to tell us, _“My dad taught me to never trust Whitey”._ Sounds like a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/38 "2018-02-21T22:47:22Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Sounds like a jerk. Perhaps he was being warned against placing faith in James “Whitey” Bulger, who was in fact a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/39 "2018-02-21T23:36:21Z")
Nm I’m dumb ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197/40 "2018-02-22T01:15:29Z")
No, I haven’t, but then again I don’t remember any specific slurs against me other than “nerd” back when the vast majority of the time it was meant as a slur. I mean every boy gets subjected to some homophobic slurs in school but I don’t remember those if they occurred. The closest I’ve come was the couple of times when a black person has used the N word to imply that I, specifically, use it\*. The most obvious of these was when my brother and I were seated in a movie theatre and a group of black people sat behind us and started talking during the movie. After several minutes of this (during which we didn’t say anything), one of them put on a “white person” accent and voiced over “now you black n—ers stop talking during the movie.” The most charitable explanation for this was that he was being distracted by them himself, or was embarrassed by them, and he was trying to use humor and embarassment himself to make them be quiet, but he was still putting words in my mouth. \*As opposed to just using it as a neutral descriptor for a black person which I find also implies that white people like to use the term, I mean if no one actually called you that then there is no need to “reclaim” anything. But the implication is more tenuous and diffuse than the situation I describe above. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-called-you-whitey-as-a-racial-slur/809197.md?page=3)