# In BBQ, why mod a hint at a racist joke but not an actual racial slur? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 26, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970 "2021-05-26T17:49:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/41 "2021-05-26T23:40:26Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > If you’re going to mod race-based insults at all, it’s a piss-poor look to not mod the White ones. And that’s _me_ saying it, I’m _hardly_ Mr Redneck Pride. But dear departed **Liberal** shamed me once - even hillbilly is a slur, so I don’t use it anymore. > [@BigT](#): > > I was under the impression that the rule is to ban racial slurs. And it very much does seem like the poster in question was using the term as a racial slur. His goal was to attack poster(s) for being white. He wasn’t cracking a joke, so that definition wouldn’t apply. I agree that “cracker” is a derogatory term and that the poster clearly intended it to be a race-based insult. So which is it: do we allow race-based slurs or not? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/42 "2021-05-26T23:43:54Z")
I wasn’t offended by the slur, but the context, that supposedly my wife and child hate me and think I’m a “cracker”, was awfully obnoxious. But it’s the Pit; being extremely obnoxious isn’t necessarily against the rules. > [@I Pit damuriajashi and DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disingenuous-racist-bigoted-posters-damuriajashi-demontree/928300/573): > > I already did, but even if I went back and got you a page full of cites, it wouldn’t matter. You would make some excuse and the members of your tribe would ignore your transgressions either because they only care about the tribe or they don’t want to get attacked the way MaxS way attacked by Mr. Dibble. I think you probably owe your black and hispanic (and asian if you have them) relatives and apology. But that’s between you and your conscience. I suspect they will forgive you. I suspect t… ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/43 "2021-05-26T23:52:16Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > The Pit is largely unrestricted, all other forums are much more heavily moderated. So racial sluts are acceptable in the Pit. At least, some racial slurs are. Depending on the personal views of the Pit Moderator. Other racial slurs are prohibited in the Pit. If them’s the rules, them’s the rules. Thanks for clarifying. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/44 "2021-05-27T00:00:18Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > So racial sluts are acceptable in the Pit Pretty sure you meant _slurs_ here. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/45 "2021-05-27T00:05:20Z")
They seem to think that the BBQ Pit makes them immune from things like Internet harassment laws, etc. When one of our members was being harassed by another board here, they shut it down… everywhere but the Pit. That was wrong. Honestly, dudes- that does not cut it. The law is the law, racist terms are racist terms, hate speech is hate speech, and harassment is harassment. They do not magically change into “Okay” in the Pit. But this is not a new idea- it has been Okay here to be racist against whites, against old people, or Misandry. True, whites & males have not gotten the short end of the stick by any means. That does not mean bigotry is right. And sure “cracker” is not as bad as N\*\*\*\*r. But we don’t throw around “Pickaninny” casually here either. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/46 "2021-05-27T00:07:23Z")
Point taken. What do you expect from a guy who asks if you can call someone a liar in the Pit? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/47 "2021-05-27T01:19:41Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Pretty sure you meant _slurs_ here. Quite so. Darn auto-correct - has a very dirty mind. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/48 "2021-05-27T01:20:15Z")
Snort 😄 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/49 "2021-05-27T01:38:29Z")
I also think @MrDibble is in the right, here. Regardless of whether or not white posters here would be offended by _cracker_, it’s clear that **damuriajashi** _meant_ it as a racial slur. And should thereby have been modded for it. Now, I’m a Southern white, and I have to say, I wouldn’t be bothered if someone called me a cracker. That’s because I’m educated and middle class; _I’m_ not that slur’s target. Like _po’ white_, _hillbilly_, and _white trash_, _cracker_ has historically been aimed at poor, uneducated, working-class Southern whites who were looked down at by the middle and upper classes with almost as much contempt as African-Americans. _To Kill A Mockingbird_ illustrates this nicely; the moderately well-off society of Maycomb looks at Tom Robinson with sympathy or genial indifference, but they scarcely hide their disdain for the Ewells. Atticus isn’t a cracker, but Bob Ewell is. TL:DR version: _cracker_ isn’t just a toothless slur for white people; it has a history as a racial and classist slur, and should not pass unchallenged, even in the Pit. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/50 "2021-05-27T01:41:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > or Misandry. or Misogyny, as my thread about a year ago on the c-word demonstrated. ---
**Author:** ![shh1313](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shh1313/32/8020_2.png) [@shh1313](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shh1313)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/51 "2021-05-27T01:50:58Z")
What is a ‘Bright Line’ in context to posting on SD? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/52 "2021-05-27T01:51:49Z")
Yeah, I started off thinking like **Miller** , that’s it’s too toothless to worry about. But the way it was used, to make an extremely personal attack on iiandyiiii, suggesting that his own loved ones see him call him racist epithets because of his own racism, is super fucked up, and is a way to put teeth behind that racist slur that wouldn’t otherwise be there. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2021, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/53 "2021-05-27T01:54:46Z")
“Bright line” means “Here’s a rule, period.” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/54 "2021-05-27T02:25:47Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Yeah, I started off thinking like **Miller** , that’s it’s too toothless to worry about. But the way it was used, to make an extremely personal attack on iiandyiiii, suggesting that his own loved ones see him call him racist epithets because of his own racism, is super fucked up, and is a way to put teeth behind that racist slur that wouldn’t otherwise be there. Yes, the test seems to be based on the absolute discretion of the mod, not how the person used the term, nor how it was received by the target of the slur. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/55 "2021-05-27T02:32:00Z")
> [@shh1313](#): > > What is a ‘Bright Line’ in context to posting on SD? A precise and objectively defined rule, such as _you can’t say the word “moist”_; as opposed to a loose and subjective rule that requires substantial moderator discretion, such as _don’t be a jerk_. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/56 "2021-05-27T03:19:25Z")
BTW, As I saw on the note from @Jonathan_Chance, slurs in a hate speech context are forbidden, and it is important then to notice that the poster making the ‘not so a slur’ in the OP pointed at by **MrDibble** has done something else: he has made a sport of following many on the right to willfully ignore that “woke” is being used as a slur and an insult against minorities and people that think justice is important. > **[How “Woke” Became a Slur - Colorlines](https://colorlines.com/article/how-woke-became-slur/)** > > Three scholars explain the complex history of the polarizing buzzword. Now, I linked to that and other evidence of what is going on with that word that was originally used by black people as a warning to keep looking for racism that was not overt, but it was turned into a slur, first by extreme caution from some moderates that advised not to use it and then turned into a slur by the right wing. The first times it was used, the poster could have not known about the change to a slur, but then after coming back and blaming **me and other liberal and minority posters** for that change when that word was not mentioned by me or many other posters, he **continued** with the use of the word as a slur willfully. By now, IMHO, it is way past the time to give him the benefit of the doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/57 "2021-05-27T06:15:42Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > So racial sluts are acceptable in the Pit. At least, some racial slurs are. Depending on the personal views of the Pit Moderator. Other racial slurs are prohibited in the Pit. But we can’t know which ones are which. Thus, if iiandyiiii had responded with an anti-Asian slur, would he have been modded? Not that I’m curious for my own use, I have my preferred terminology for the party discussed. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/58 "2021-05-27T06:17:33Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Thus, if iiandyiiii had responded with an anti-Asian slur, would he have been modded? As I said, just a _hint_ at an Asian joke, no actual slurs, already attracted a modnote in that thread. You know how _rare_ modnotes are in BBQ? ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/59 "2021-05-27T07:24:55Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Us white people really upped the ante in the racial slur department over the last few hundred years, and must have thicker skin than to be affected by such a harmless term. So, no complaints about racial slurs for a couple of hundred years until everything evens out? That seems like a terrible solution. Why not just stop it now, it’s quite easy to do. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > So racial sluts are acceptable in the Pit What an unfortunate thread for this typo/auto correct. 🙂 > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > TL:DR version: _cracker_ isn’t just a toothless slur for white people; it has a history as a racial and classist slur, and should not pass unchallenged, even in the Pit. This is point on. Cracker or hillbilly or redneck is not a white person insult. It’s a stereotype of a poor southern rural white person. That’s why most white people shrug it off, it’s not likely to ever be applied to them. There is a very small similarity between cracker etc. and n\*\*\*\*r. Some members of both groups will claim the word for themselves, and use it among themselves, that doesn’t mean they tolerate other people using the name. > [@Riemann](#): > > A precise and objectively defined rule, such as _you can’t say the word “moist”_ Let’s not do this one tho, it’s amusing how unpopular this word is to some folks. > [@MrDibble](#): > > As I said, just a _hint_ at an Asian joke, no actual slurs, already attracted a modnote in that thread. > > You know how _rare_ modnotes are in BBQ? No kidding. A mod note in the pit for a one liner Asian driving joke?. I guess I better never mention the old Calgon laundry commercials in the Pit, I’d probably get banned. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970/60 "2021-05-27T08:19:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > The only white people I ever see complaining about “cracker” are the same ones complaining about “wypipo,” and in both cases, those people tend to have questionable motives for making the complaint. Fwiw, I got a three day suspension from FB for an offhand use of “wypipo.” Not even an attack, just casually including it in a sentence. Which, of course, says very little about the actual offensiveness of “wypipo,” but a great deal about the motives and intentions of the people who operate FB. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-bbq-why-mod-a-hint-at-a-racist-joke-but-not-an-actual-racial-slur/942970.md?page=4)