# I Steadfastly Reject This Sudden Rush to Redefine "Thug" as a Racial Slur **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 1, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959 "2015-05-01T03:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/441 "2015-05-04T14:53:55Z")
It just occurred to me. Forgive me if I have missed this point being made elsewhere. Not only is there the possibility of “thug” becoming a word not to be used in conjunction with the word black or any black person actually doing thuggish things. I can foresee a point where just the plain word thug automatically means black people who are bad just because they are black. There were a bunch of thugs at the bar so I came home. You RACIST!. No, you idiot, there were a bunch of white assholes there. Is that better? The first is bad enough IMO. The second is asinine. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/442 "2015-05-04T15:18:11Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > There was apparently some use of “Canadian” as a code term for black a few years back…some DA in Texas sent an e-mail congratulating a prosecutor for winning a case in spite of the large number of “Canadians” on the jury, a restaurant in Kansas City would refer to tables where large numbers of blacks (who the restaurant assumed would be poor tippers) were seated as “Canadian tables”, and so on. > > That being said, I think somebody referring to Michelle Jean as “Canadian” could do so without being inappropriate. I worked in restaurants in North Carolina in the early 1990s. Calling African-American customers “Canadians” was very common. As I understood it at the time, it derived from the lame joke that “Canoes tip more easily than Canadians do.” The perception was that African-American guests were poor tippers, thus “Canadian.” ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/443 "2015-05-04T16:04:52Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I have a problem with people telling me I should not/cannot use the word because of THEIR silly reasons. Which\*\* nobody did\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/444 "2015-05-04T18:32:15Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > No the argument is, and always has been, there are media figures and others who sound like they are using the word “thug” because they know they can’t use the N word. How hard is that to grasp? Then you should address your complaints towards the people you believe are using the word “thug” incorrectly. Demanding that the word “thug” not be used when referring to black men isn’t going to solve your problem. The media figures will simply choose another word (if that’s what they’re doing). Do you intend to demand a race-specific end to the new word as well? Is free speech really dead? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/445 "2015-05-04T18:37:29Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Which\*\* nobody did\*\*. Wrong. People are being told that they will be considered racist if they use the word “thug” to describe black people. I consider that to be politically-correct, word-police coercion (aka a threat). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/446 "2015-05-04T18:41:36Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Wrong. People are being told that they will be considered racist if they use the word “thug” to describe black people. > > I consider that to be politically-correct, word-police coercion (aka a threat). . . . How is that coercion or a threat?! ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/447 "2015-05-04T18:46:01Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > If people are defending racist tactics I am going to assume they are racist. I can’t see inside your head. I can see what you endorse, what you condemn, and what you defend. Is that the wrong assumption to make in great debates? If people assume I’m racist because I support free speech, and have yet to see a compelling argument that “thug” = N-word, I assume that those people (can I say, “those people”?) are ignorant of the definition of the word “thug” and are diluting the meaning of the N-word. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/448 "2015-05-04T18:49:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > . . . How is that coercion or a threat?! 1. It doesn’t involve an act of physical violence, so it is only a threat. 2. It’s intended to make people feel bad if they don’t abide by the edicts of the politically-correct, word-police. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/449 "2015-05-04T18:50:08Z")
Definitions are made by majority rule, unfortunately for that theory. If you cling to an idiosyncratic one, \*knowing \*that general usage is very different, any misunderstanding falls on you. \*Not \*on everyone else. Don’t gotta like it or nothin’, but that’s how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/450 "2015-05-04T18:52:53Z")
Correct, IMO. Thus we would need some hard evidence that a majority thinks that “thug” is a racist term. And that would be hard to collect or to validate. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/451 "2015-05-04T18:52:57Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > I never said the term was in common usage. I said it had started to be used as a derogatory term. Then this is the time you should be educating the currently ignorant as to the proper meaning of the word “thug”, instead of making up a new definition. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/452 "2015-05-04T18:53:28Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Wrong. People are being told that they will be considered racist if they use the word “thug” to describe black people. Yes. Because they likely will, _regardless of the wishes of the so-called anti-thugs_, or the PC police or whoever is your great big bugaboo re:what you should or shouldn’t say. Because racists (conscious and unconscious) have been using “thug” as a racial term for a while now. So that’s a thing. And that thing is already out there, whether you stamp your little feet or not. You want to complain about redefining words or semantic drift, take it up with Hannity. This is wholly different from “telling me I cannot use the word”. You absolutely can. You can say anything you damn well please, it’s a free country. You can even call black people niggers, if that rocks your boat. ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/453 "2015-05-04T18:53:38Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > If people assume I’m racist because I support free speech, and have yet to see a compelling argument that “thug” = N-word, I assume that those people (can I say, “those people”?) are ignorant of the definition of the word “thug” and are diluting the meaning of the N-word. Thug as a racial slur is less than that of the term “those people.” ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/454 "2015-05-04T19:01:55Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Post #258? I wouldn’t change for one person obviously but if a word like widespread, or poppycock, or whatever, if it could be demonstrated to me that it actually bothered a group of people then yes, I would most definitely consider using another term. I find the word “widespread” to be offensive, especially when white people use it. Therefore the politically-correct, word-police should support the banning of it from the English language. Unless I’m misunderstanding some of the opinions posted in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/455 "2015-05-04T19:04:28Z")
> [@mazinger\_z](#): > > Thug as a racial slur is less than that of the term “those people.” Could you supply a complete list of the racial slurs, and their level of priority, for my consideration? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/456 "2015-05-04T19:08:55Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Yes. Because they likely will, _regardless of the wishes of the so-called anti-thugs_, or the PC police or whoever is your great big bugaboo re:what you should or shouldn’t say. Because racists (conscious and unconscious) have been using “thug” as a racial term for a while now. So that’s a thing. And that thing is already out there, whether you stamp your little feet or not. You want to complain about redefining words or semantic drift, take it up with Hannity. Hahahaha. If you have a problem with Hannity’s use of the word “thug”, don’t you think that you are the one who should be taking it up with Hannity? Is no my job. I’m the one who hasn’t seen a convincing argument that “thug” is the new N-word. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/457 "2015-05-04T19:10:09Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > I find the word “widespread” to be offensive, especially when white people use it. Therefore the politically-correct, word-police should support the banning of it from the English language. Unless I’m misunderstanding some of the opinions posted in this thread? Yes you are badly misunderstanding. No one is suggesting banning anything from the English language, and no one is suggesting that people not be allowed to use any word they like. Can you point out any posts in this thread that suggested either of these things? Saying “hey be careful, racists have started using that word as code to get away with saying racist things, you may be perceived as part of this group if you aren’t careful about your usage” is not trying to ban a word, and it is not forbidding anything. Its a simple word of caution, nothing more. You have been, and remain free to say whatever you wish whenever you wish. Any further posts talking about banning words or forbidding word usage should be viewed as thread shitting at this point since these things have nothing to do with this thread and all it is doing is derailing the debate again and again. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/458 "2015-05-04T19:16:03Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Your sarcasm really really really is not making the case that you are not a racist You have yet to make your case that anyone is actually racist. You’ve only threatened to consider them racist if they refuse to follow your interpretation of what the word “thug” means. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/459 "2015-05-04T19:19:08Z")
Hitler was of the opinion that ketchup on hotdogs was an abomination. Even Hitler was right about some things sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959/460 "2015-05-04T19:23:28Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > …sure, it’s a safe bet that he may, or not, be called a thug. You have a weird idea about how wagers work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-steadfastly-reject-this-sudden-rush-to-redefine-thug-as-a-racial-slur/718959.md?page=24)