# I may actually go insane with anger **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 18, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848 "2012-08-18T03:04:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/321 "2012-08-21T00:00:11Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > That was funny, but seriously? You think I don’t laugh at racists myself? This sounds like something I would say. Of course, I’d never say it to a real racist’s FACE…because the best way to deal with extremism is to keep things factual, not mock people. On the internet, it’ll just get you a nice “fuck you” in response. In person it just pisses people off unnecessarily. > > If you guys think I’m the enemy, I don’t know what to tell you. I sometimes have to hide my LACK of racism from people, to avoid getting into an argument. That’s what growing up in the rural South forces on you. THAT’S why I say the OP is a mild racist compared to some of his Georgia police brethren. He really is quite mild compared to most of them. Ok, now that you’re (mostly) arguing on topic, I’ll give you the courtesy of a real response. Yes, I know what it’s like in the deep South. See response to **emeraldia** in [post 257](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15404279&postcount=257). And yes, I’m perfectly willing to admit that there are much, much worse racists than you or, possibly, the OP. But being a less-racist-than-average white Georgia cop or a southerner who only says “nigger” in private is like being the richest man in the poor house. I’m not saying it ain’t something, but it sure ain’t much. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/322 "2012-08-21T00:02:31Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > It’s such a rush to feel like you’re part of a group. I’m sure all you weak-minded dogpilers are feeling that rush now, dogpiling so hard. ROFL Gosh, is that anything like the rush you get when you imagine you’re bravely standing up to an Internet mob in support of Truth, Justice, and the American Way? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/323 "2012-08-21T00:11:35Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Ok, now that you’re (mostly) arguing on topic, I’ll give you the courtesy of a real response. Yes, I know what it’s like in the deep South. See response to **emeraldia** in [post 257](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15404279&postcount=257). > > And yes, I’m perfectly willing to admit that there are much, much worse racists than you or, possibly, the OP. But being a less-racist-than-average white Georgia cop or a southerner who only says “nigger” in private is like being the richest man in the poor house. I’m not saying it ain’t something, but it sure ain’t much. And here we go with the hating on the rural South. Look, unless you want to start donating your time and money to the school systems in these areas, kindly let it go. These are most poor, ignorant people without resources, and their schools (because of a lack of resources) fail them, and so the cultural racism doesn’t change. Stop holding people responsible for the cultures and situations they are from. It’s like holding Loretta Lynn responsible for her thick accent. You can, but you’re an asshole if you do. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/324 "2012-08-21T00:12:45Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > You are trash. Racist trash. Sharpening your pitchfork, villager? The monster has been found, you say? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/325 "2012-08-21T00:15:31Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > And here we go with the hating on the rural South. > > Look, unless you want to start donating your time and money to the school systems in these areas, kindly let it go. These are most poor, ignorant people without resources, and their schools (because of a lack of resources) fail them, and so the cultural racism doesn’t change. Stop holding people responsible for the cultures and situations they are from. > > It’s like holding Loretta Lynn responsible for her thick accent. You can, but you’re an asshole if you do. The issue being discusssed is your racism, not the rural south. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/326 "2012-08-21T00:17:20Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > Gosh, is that anything like the rush you get when you imagine you’re bravely standing up to an Internet mob in support of Truth, Justice, and the American Way? :dubious: 6 or 8 kneejerk PC crazies does not a mob make. LOL and I’m not standing up for anything except keeping it factual. That’s the difference between you people and me. I’m interested in fact. YOU are interested in blindly toeing a line. That’s why YOU’RE part of a group, the dogpiling group, to be specific, and I stand alone. Even when I think someone needs to be shut down on a thread, I desperately try to avoid participating in a dogpile. Why? Group behavior is an intense thing, there’s a lot of power in it. It needs to be wielded very gently, when it is wielded. It’s like Mark Twain said about taking a moment to reflect when you find that you’re on the side of the majority. It’s not so much being on the side of the majority as it is YELLING and SCREAMING about the majority’s point of view. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/327 "2012-08-21T00:20:56Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > The issue being discusssed is your racism, not the rural south. The issue was, and still IS, IMO, the OP’s racism. You first have to convince me that it’s virulent (which I am on the fence about), and THEN you have to convince me that my OWN supposed “racism” is virulent. That’s going to be impossible, because you have no facts to back you up. Using the N-word is not evidence of racism. If it is, then you better talk to several thousand black comedians before you come to me. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/328 "2012-08-21T00:21:51Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > A DECENT human being would stop, get out, and _check on the motherfucking dog_. She _did_ stop. Then he came screaming at her. Why was he screaming? It was his fault the dog was in the road. Either by luck or by _her_ efforts, the dog was _not_ killed. So why was **ducati** screaming at her? I live in the rural South, BTW, and I don’t think you’re doing us any favors with this kind of talk. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/329 "2012-08-21T00:30:32Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > _facepalm_ > > …and the pointless dogpiling continues. > > Seriously, somebody says “Negro” and all of a sudden they’re the devil? I am so sick of hearing this argument. _ **No one cares that he used the word “Negro”.** _ We are bright people with a sense of history. We know when and how and why the terms “black”, “colored”, and “people of color” became so … debatable. We remember our parents or grand-parents using “Negro” because it was the polite term. But people believe the OP is a racist because he referred to the man as a Negro, but did not refer to the woman as Scots-Irish. On the other hand, I sort of agree with you. I have known decent people who used “nigger” in the same way they used “bitch” and “dick-head”. (I know they were decent because after I said, “You can’t use that word,” they didn’t.) However, the most racist person I’ve ever know well never used an ugly racial descriptor (at least, not in polite company), and never used one unnecessarily. (Never used a racial descriptor, I mean.) I am not accepting the use of words like “nigger”, “kike”, or “slant”; I am just pointing out that … actually, what I am pointing out is that decent people don’t use them once they are aware that are not acceptable. So, never mind, I don’t agree with you at all. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/330 "2012-08-21T00:31:27Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > … We found a gate ajar out back, apparently left open by the landscaping crew … Mexicans? ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/331 "2012-08-21T00:34:24Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > She _did_ stop. Then he came screaming at her. Why was he screaming? It was his fault the dog was in the road. Either by luck or by _her_ efforts, the dog was _not_ killed. So why was **ducati** screaming at her? > I live in the rural South, BTW, and I don’t think you’re doing us any favors with this kind of talk. I disagree with your version of events. I seriously doubt the OP is fast enough to get outside in time to yell at someone in that situation, before they’ve already burned rubber out of there. You could be right, but I see no evidence that he’s lying about that. I think he MAY be understating how threatening he came across at the woman’s house. However, the LAN still overreacted, based on what I’m reading. What part of the South do you live in? If you are sufficiently well-travelled, then you know that the Deep South is tremendously more racist than the Virginia mountains, for instance, and also that parts of Appalachia are still desperately, desperately poor, Third-World poor, especially West Virginia and east Kentucky. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/332 "2012-08-21T00:38:21Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I am so sick of hearing this argument. \*\*\* > > On the other hand, I sort of agree with you. I have known decent people who used “nigger” in the same way they used “bitch” and “dick-head”. (I know they were decent because after I said, “You can’t use that word,” they didn’t.) > > However, the most racist person I’ve ever know well never used an ugly racial descriptor (at least, not in polite company), and never used one unnecessarily. (Never used a racial descriptor, I mean.) I don’t want to contribute to “seeing racists under every rock and behind every tree”, but,it’s very true that some racists never use the N-word, or any other epithet. The leader of the KKK in NC back in the late 80s was a high-level executive with a large grocery store chain. I doubt anyone ever heard him use the N-word at work. It’s people like that, powerful, wealthy, and educated, who STILL are racist, that are much more dangerous than the OP. And I’ve contributed to the witch hunt. Great. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/333 "2012-08-21T00:45:59Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I am so sick of hearing this argument. _ **No one cares that he used the word “Negro”.** _ We are bright people with a sense of history. We know when and how and why the terms “black”, “colored”, and “people of color” became so … debatable. We remember our parents or grand-parents using “Negro” because it was the polite term. > > But people believe the OP is a racist because he referred to the man as a Negro, but did not refer to the woman as Scots-Irish. > > On the other hand, I sort of agree with you. I have known decent people who used “nigger” in the same way they used “bitch” and “dick-head”. (I know they were decent because after I said, “You can’t use that word,” they didn’t.) > > However, the most racist person I’ve ever know well never used an ugly racial descriptor (at least, not in polite company), and never used one unnecessarily. (Never used a racial descriptor, I mean.) > > I am not accepting the use of words like “nigger”, “kike”, or “slant”; I am just pointing out that … actually, what I am pointing out is that decent people don’t use them once they are aware that are not acceptable. > > So, never mind, I don’t agree with you at all. I agree that you can be a racist and never say “nigger,” but I don’t think you can say “nigger” (or “negro” as a substitute for it) and not be considered a racist. My antenna would have gone up if the OP had said “Large Angry Black Man” or “Large Angry African American man” instead of simply a “Large Angry Man.” However, by using the term “Negro,” instead of black or African American, he removed any doubt I may have had about his character. Remember, he wasn’t giving a description for the police to go look for someone (where race may have been important identifier) He was telling a story on the internet. The only reason to mention race is because he felt that an angry black man was someone more (interesting)(frightening)(annoying) than an angry man of a different racial background. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/334 "2012-08-21T00:50:14Z")
On, and on, and on, but still no justification for your own racism, 052. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/335 "2012-08-21T00:51:38Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > The only reason to mention race is because he felt that an angry black man was someone more (interesting)(frightening)(annoying) than an angry man of a different racial background. Yep. He said as much, > [@ducati](#): > > LAN was simply a descriptor meant to show that a third un-involved, angry, and **frankly scary** party was approaching my car… ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/336 "2012-08-21T01:17:41Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Mexicans? I laughed, but it wouldn’t be Mexicans or he would have said Mexicans. When a white person does something stupid, it’s just stupid. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/337 "2012-08-21T01:19:48Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I agree that you can be a racist and never say “nigger,” but I don’t think you can say “nigger” (or “negro” as a substitute for it) and not be considered a racist. > > My antenna would have gone up if the OP had said “Large Angry Black Man” or “Large Angry African American man” instead of simply a “Large Angry Man.” However, by using the term “Negro,” instead of black or African American, he removed any doubt I may have had about his character. > > Remember, he wasn’t giving a description for the police to go look for someone (where race may have been important identifier) He was telling a story on the internet. The only reason to mention race is because he felt that an angry black man was someone more (interesting)(frightening)(annoying) than an angry man of a different racial background. This depends on the age, and possibly the sub-culture, of the person. I had relatives that would have choked on their own tongue before they would have been so crass as to call a person of color a “Black”. I still know people who just do not get the difference between “colored” and “person of color”. I am totally clueless on “Hispanic” versus “Latina.” I have lived through colored, Negro, black, Afro-American, person of color, African-American, and “Is he Black enough?”. Frankly, if some-one older than I am reverts to the polite term of their youth, I will cut them some slack. Remember the United Negro College Fund? The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People? DO you know the historical difference between “colored” and “black”? Negro was a fine word in its day; I will not condemned a person for using it. Dependlng on the context of course. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/338 "2012-08-21T02:12:20Z")
> [@al27052](#): > > I sometimes have to hide my LACK of racism from people, to avoid getting into an argument. That’s what growing up in the rural South forces on you. You poor, poor bastard. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/339 "2012-08-21T02:16:34Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > You poor, poor bastard. Gosh, you’re compassionate. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848/340 "2012-08-21T02:17:37Z")
> [@j666](#): > > This depends on the age, and possibly the sub-culture, of the person. I had relatives that would have choked on their own tongue before they would have been so crass as to call a person of color a “Black”. I still know people who just do not get the difference between “colored” and “person of color”. I am totally clueless on “Hispanic” versus “Latina.” > > I have lived through colored, Negro, black, Afro-American, person of color, African-American, and “Is he Black enough?”. Frankly, if some-one older than I am reverts to the polite term of their youth, I will cut them some slack. > > Remember the United Negro College Fund? The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People? DO you know the historical difference between “colored” and “black”? Negro was a fine word in its day; I will not condemned a person for using it. > > Dependlng on the context of course. Better watch out, they’re going to pile on you next. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-may-actually-go-insane-with-anger/631848.md?page=18)