Seeing as this thread proves there are actual Jewish people who claim they don’t think it’s a slur, how, pray tell, did you determine this? I see nothing in the thread indicating that it’s supposed to be an insult.
If you, say, talked to the poster via PM, told her it was a slur, and she refused to remove it, then I have no problem. But if you just banned her because she used a word you think is an insult but others clearly don’t, then I say you should reconsider.
Heck, do we even know that the poster is not a Jewish person and thus exempt from it being an insult, apparently?
One thing I like about this board is that you don’t make snap judgements. But, unless I don’t have all the information, it sure looks like you did here.
The dictionary doesn’t work by popular vote, BigT. And the OP is the only person who suggested it’s not a slur. Everyone else said it is a slur or that they were not personally familiar with the word. And it’s not clear to me if Hari Seldon meant it’s not a racial slur or that it’s simply not a slur. If it’s the first, I’d say he’s technically correct and that it’s not racial. If it’s the second, see the dictionary cites posted by Colibri. And I would add that people who are uncomfortable with the word Jew probably wouldn’t pick “Hebe” as their second choice. You can argue about the OP’s intention, but there’s no argument to be had over what the word means.
I said we’d voted to ban her before her “Heil Twickster” thread. The “For the Hebes” thread was the last straw.
How “actual Jewish” are they? Only card-carrying Jews may opine on this topic. Which probably excludes me, though for what it’s worth I think “hebe” is derogatory, though in a rather old-fashioned and silly way.
Of course it’s a slur. Just because one person doesn’t think it is doesn’t mean it isn’t. I mean if there’s a random black person who for some reason thinks “nigger” isn’t a slur, that doesn’t mean it’s not.
It’s extremely simple. Consult a dictionary, like the links I posted above. The word is unquestionably a slur and usually used insultingly.
While it’s possible that one Jewish person might use it to friend in a jocular fashion (although I have never heard any of my Jewish friends use it themselves in any way), cynyc posted it to the board as a whole. This was not some private joke between close friends. Most of our members are non-Jewish, and even if a few Jews like the OP don’t find it offensive others might. Even if it were intended as a joke, it showed extremely poor judgement.
BigT, you can assume you never have all the information.
Unlike the other two words though, I’ve never heard a Jewish person use it affectionately or make any attempt at “reclaiming” it.
In fact, I’ve never heard it used as anything but a slur.
Moreover, it’s the context a word is used in that counts.
“Jew” is certainly not normally considered a slur, but I can guarantee you that were I to say to another poster “Fuck you, Jew!” the mods would take pretty swift action and would not treat that phrase any differently than “Fuck you, Kike!”(apologies to Marley, using the term to make point not to piss people off).
Yes, this, thank you. Plus the thread was started by an uber-troll who was uber-trolling again. Do we need to discuss every banning, or the dumb thread(s) leading up to it, ever? If you’d like to pretend this is a “When it’s okay to use certain sluts thread,” stop pretending now, because it’s an old discussion that’s been had before. Dude was trolling, was banned, huzzah.
Mods, I have another and different issue to pick about this (and other) banishments, not revolving around the actual merits or the banning itself, but regarding the habit of issuing a warning and then banning without further notice.
I’ve started a separate ATMB thread with this question, here:
