If "Paki" is acceptable to use then what other slurs are? Nigger? Spic? Homo? Jap?

About This Message Board
1

A couple of weeks ago there was a bit of a flare up in one of the Israel threads when a poster decided to add this bit of gasoline to the fire.

For those unaware, Paki is a racial slur used against not just Pakistanis but South Asians, particularly Muslim South Asians and referring to a Pakistani or a South Asian Muslim as “Paki” is comparable to calling a black person a “nigger”.

I was under the impression that it was against board policy to use racial slurs outside of the pit and reported it expected the mods to issue a warning or at least instruct Truthseeker2 to refrain from using racial slurs.

However, the only thing the mods did was to declare there would be no further discussion as to whether or not “Paki” was a racial slur.

I decided to wait awhile to see if there would be further action.

Since there hasn’t been, they seem to have tacitly ruled that it is considered acceptable to use the term “Paki” to refer to Pakistanis, though, I assume, not to refer to Pakistani, Muslim, or South Asian posters on SDMB outside of the pit.

Ok, in that case, I’d like to know what other bigoted slurs are considered acceptable for use.

If it’s okay to complain about a “paki” poster on youtube is it okay to complain about a comment made by a “nigger”, a “spic”, a “homo”, or a “Jap”?

Similarly, while I imagine that it would be unacceptable to refer to another poster as a nigger or a paki, would it be okay to refer to Barack Obama as a “nigger”, Steven Speilberg as a “hebe”, Manny Ramirez as a “spic”, or Rupaul as a “tranny”?

I’ll be honest and say that if I and other Muslim and South Asian posters have to put up with people making references to “pakis” then what’s good for the goose is good for the gander and it should be okay to use other racial slurs, though I’d rather the mods simply reconsider their decision, make it clear that racial slurs are not to be used outside the pit and mod note Truthseeker’s post.

2

Apologies for not including a link.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15221339&postcount=18

Also the OP came across as a bit more vindictive and accusatory than I meant.

I apologize both to the mods who may have felt, understandably, insulted.

There’s difference between disagreeing with a decision(which I do) and feeling the people were tolerating racism or being insensitive to Muslim(which I don’t).

3

You’re correct that the word “paki” is a racist term similar to those others you mention, I don’t know how widespread it is, though. Here in the UK it’s essentially culturally equivalent to “nigger” in the US.

4

This might be a reflection of the American predominance of the board’s administration. Paki is a very uncommon word in the United States and people here probably don’t appreciate its full impact.

5

I know. My father was called it in the UK.

6

I didn’t know that the word was offensive, though I would not have used it in conversation.
I tend to not use short terms for ethnic groups primarily because I am never certain which ones are acceptable and which aren’t. Some people think the word ‘Jew’ is opprobrious. I don’t know of any Jewish people who think this, but I have been corrected before by others for using that word.

Some of these words are downright obscure to me. I swear I never heard the derogatory terms for a person of Italian descent growing up in Atlanta, Georgia back in the middle of the 20th century. Likewise, the commonly used offensive terms used for Latinos. Now, of course, the most commonly used word for Americans of primarily African descent made up for all of that.

Thanks for bringing this up. I have been spared the embarrassment of using yet another offensive word to describe a group of people.

7

Generally, “Jew” as a noun to describe a person who practices Judaism is fine. “Jew” as an adjective isn’t.

“Look at all those Jews!” - fine.

“Look at all those Jews going into that big 'ol Jew building for that Jew holiday!” - uhhh … no.

Most Jews won’t get offended by “Jew’s harp”, “Wandering Jew plant”, and the like.

8

I think Gagundathar’s point was that he wasn’t aware Paki was a derogatory term. I can see an American thinking it’s just a ordinary demonym like Afghan or Kurd.

9

I knew that it was an unacceptable slur but most Americans wouldn’t. The word is almost never used here in any context. This is more an instance of ignorance rather than neglect.

10

Truthseeker2 isn’t an American but is Indian and I would find it preposterous considering the relations between India and Pakistan that he was unaware that it was a racial slur.

Beyond that, if the mods are going to decide that it’s okay to refer to “Pakis” because it’s a shortened version of “Pakistani” then by that logic they’d have to say it’s perfectly okay to refer to “Spics”(short for Hispanic) “Homos”(short for homosexual), tranny(short for transexual) and “Japs”(short for Japanese).

Anyway hopefully some mods can explain whether or not racial and ethnic slurs are allowed to be used and if they’re not, why “paki” is considered okay and if so what other slurs are considered acceptable.

11

posting from Canada, I’m surprised to hear that people in the US aren’t aware of the derogatory nature of the term. difference in Commonwealth v. US vocabulary, I guess.

Plus, I’m also surprised at the lack of awareness on these boards, given the heart-burning that occurred when it was proposed to re-name the DOMEBO boards the Pachy (short for pachyderm) boards a few years ago…

12

And “Jew” as a verb *definitely *isn’t.

13

I didn’t even read the linked thread and had no opinion on it. I was merely trying to explain that the Moderators may not have been aware that the word is a slur. I can see that the guy who made the post certainly did.

14

‘Jew’ as a verb! That’s weird. Oh, but I guess you mean the same kind of thing some English people do when they use the word ‘Welsh’ as a verb.

Danggit, it is hard to keep track of all of these words!
Perhaps we should just refer to each other by our chosen names.
Like Ibn Warraq, Northern Piper and Alessan.

15

Yes, given the context, it is quite clear that the poster referred to by the OP was using the word in a dismissive and derogatory manner.
‘Pakistani’ is the correct usage for a citizen of Pakistan, is it not?

16

At least once in the past I’ve instructed posters not to use “Paki.” The user had already apologized and said he was not trying to be derogatory (nevermind that this whole thing was more than two weeks ago), so just tried to keep the thread on track.

17

I take it that PakiPop will be verboten as well? Going by your theory at least?

Or Pakirecipes? Or[PakiMag](http://www.pakimag.com/\)

Look, I more than anyone am aware that the moderating standards of this board are…rather provincial lets say. That is alright, this is a private entity and it can have whatever standards that it wants. But, to get hot and bothered about a term which is only derogatory in certain countries, seems weird to me.

18

Ideally this board is open to many people from many different countries, so if a term is derogatory in certain countries I hope that you are not suggesting that people from those countries be excluded from this board, or just put up with what they would consider to be a slur.

19

No, just as I don’t teachers should refuse to teach Lord of the Flies, The Nigger of Narcissus, or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or that people shouldn’t listen to Chris Rock or Jay-Z because of the use of the term “nigger.”

20

If seriously try to accommodate every possible view you will limit the board to discussing safe things. Like the fact that heart attacks are bad. Or childbirth is painful. And that is about it.