# Is the term "Oreo" a racial/ethic slur? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512 "2020-06-12T04:00:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/41 "2020-06-12T22:46:34Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > {…} There’s another one for white on the outside AND inside, that I can’t remember the name for. It’s the vanilla cream sandwich cookie you get in those generic cookie packs with fake Oreos. I’m not aware of any racial connotations but… The vanilla cream sandwich cookie you got a long time ago in those real Oreo cookie packs were called ‘Swiss’. Two sleeves of Oreos, one sleeve of Swiss. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/42 "2020-06-12T23:16:14Z")
I’m rather surprised no one objected to Mallard calling Clarence Thomas an Oreo. Or maybe I’m not. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/43 "2020-06-13T05:53:31Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > I’m not aware of any racial connotations but… > The vanilla cream sandwich cookie you got a long time ago in those real Oreo cookie packs were called ‘Swiss’. Two sleeves of Oreos, one sleeve of Swiss. > > CMC fnord! Close. Looked it up and found out generically they’re called sandwich creme cookies. Same idea as you mentioned, generic “Oreos”, vanilla/vanilla, sometimes vanlla/lemon sandwich creme cookies in one bag. I think the term I’m looking for is White Oreo. White outside and inside. Definitely meant as an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/44 "2020-06-13T07:43:23Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > According to George Jefferson, he’s/she’s a zebra! Or according to many black people, “Mudblood”… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/45 "2020-06-13T13:23:05Z")
Well you freaked out when I said “quadroon”. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/46 "2020-06-13T16:05:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Well you freaked out when I said “quadroon”. Damnit Archer! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/47 "2020-06-13T20:05:44Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > Way older than the '90’s, possibly back to the 70’s as I think I first heard it used on _Good Times_. The Historical Dictionary of American Slang has its first citations from 1969. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/48 "2020-06-14T01:56:37Z")
the meaning I first heard was in the mid-80s when my foster parent’s son was married to a caucasian woman and we were in a grocery store with their twin daughters and someone made a snotty comment about “look what the worlds coming to …arent they the cutest pair of Oreos you’ve ever seen?” aunt gathered us up looking totally red wanting to commit murder and said “we’re done here” and i didn’t get to pick out a toy like everyone else and was upset … we couldn’t figure out why she was so mad until we went back to their house and their dad explained that was a mean thing to say …later I got a big 3 scoop ice cream which i liked better than the dollar toy aisle at the store while everyone else got singles … ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/49 "2020-06-14T02:48:05Z")
“And now it’s time for…Is it Racist?” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqLjzBC06p0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqLjzBC06p0) Dangit, I can’t find the first one. I absolutely love that Asian lady! Edit: Found it! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAU263vaIiM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAU263vaIiM) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/50 "2020-06-14T04:44:43Z")
Yeah, much older than the '90s. I saw two cops (one white, one black) get very offended after a guy (black) yelled it at them for several minutes while they were working security for a McDonald’s on Commerce in downtown Dallas in the mid '80s. It was a very instructive incident. I was unaware that the term was offensive (yeah, I figured it out quickly). The guy hurling the epithet apparently knew it was, and as soon as one of the cops put his hand to his nightstick (I honestly don’t remember which one), he took off, with quite a lead. He and I were both unaware that the doors on the East side of the Greyhound bus station were locked on that Friday night. It seemed we both thought for sure he was going escape them as soon as he got into that crowded place. Sadly, we were both wrong. I don’t really advise of hurling racial epithets at cops, not even then as a young punk rocker. But I really wish those doors had been unlocked. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/51 "2020-06-15T01:20:50Z")
[The first time I ever encountered the term.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8XBaMTX7g) ---
**Author:** ![pabstist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@pabstist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pabstist)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/52 "2020-06-15T02:50:54Z")
I had a white neighbor whos daughter had a half white/half black baby, and he always called it an oreo. ---
**Author:** ![Smudge777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@Smudge777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smudge777)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/53 "2020-06-15T03:46:10Z")
As far as I can tell, anything is a slur if you just start making people feel bad for using it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/54 "2020-06-15T04:15:29Z")
> [@Smudge777](#): > > As far as I can tell, anything is a slur if you just start making people feel bad for using it. Well, anything is a slur if people are using it to be contemptuous and demeaning. That’s how originally inoffensive words like “coon”, “spade”, and “oreo” got to be racial slurs in the first place: because people were using them as race-specific derogatory insults. I see nothing wrong with “making people feel bad” for using race-specific derogatory insults. If their little feelings are so sensitive that they can’t be called out on their use of race-specific derogatory insults without getting upset about being made to “feel bad”, then maybe they should stop using race-specific derogatory insults. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/55 "2020-06-15T11:55:34Z")
> [@Smudge777](#): > > As far as I can tell, anything is a slur if you just start making people feel bad for using it. I think you mean that anything can be a slur if you starting using it to make people feel bad. ---
**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:** [June 15, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/56 "2020-06-15T13:18:27Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I’m rather surprised no one objected to Mallard calling Clarence Thomas an Oreo. Or maybe I’m not. I’m surprised that, rather than object to that, you’d express your surprise that nobody objected to that. Be the change you want to see, and all. Anyway, yeah, that was pretty gross of Mallard. Words like “oreo” are a way of policing blackness, and our society is already fucked up enough around racial inequalities without this sort of nonsense to reinforce stereotypes and undermine folks’ own identities and desires. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/57 "2020-06-15T16:38:28Z")
> [@pabstist](#): > > I had a white neighbor whos daughter had a half white/half black baby, and he always called it an oreo. If I had a mixed race grandchild and he/she is getting a nickname it certainly isn’t going to be anything to do with race. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/58 "2020-06-15T19:59:18Z")
I and my friends used to collectively be called Oreo on the school bus because I was the white kid sitting between 2 black kids. That had nothing to do with the modern usage of the word though and wasn’t used as in insult. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/59 "2020-06-16T01:16:45Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’m surprised that, rather than object to that, you’d express your surprise that nobody objected to that. Be the change you want to see, and all. > > Anyway, yeah, that was pretty gross of Mallard. Words like “oreo” are a way of policing blackness, and our society is already fucked up enough around racial inequalities without this sort of nonsense to reinforce stereotypes and undermine folks’ own identities and desires. I reported the post actually. My surprise includes zero reaction to my report. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512/60 "2020-06-16T03:31:56Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I reported the post actually. My surprise includes zero reaction to my report. Gotcha. Yeah, much as I loathe Thomas, racist epithets aren’t the way to express that loathing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-oreo-a-racial-ethic-slur/855512.md?page=4)