# Is this really acceptable in GD? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 1, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420 "2014-05-01T04:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/41 "2014-05-02T00:38:55Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I disagree with most of the distinctions people are making here. Honesty didn’t say all white people. He just said white people, meaning collectively or generally. I don’t think anyone would get the impression from his posts that he thinks every single white person has the characteristics he describes. > > Ultimately, what it really boils down to (and what I think people are dancing around) is the fact that what he said is so offensive and so removed from reality. It’s a lot worse to be a murderer than to have below average intelligence, and the notion that whites generally are out to kill as many blacks as possible is a lot loonier than the notion that blacks have on average lower intelligence than whites. > > But these are subjective judgements (particularly the second). There’s no way to draw the line without making these judgments. People who like to think they are in favor of freedom of expression no matter how distasteful are trying to find some more objective difference. But they’re failing at it, IMO. So when Cliven Bundy joins the board and says about black people > [@](#): > > They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves we shouldn’t have a problem with that because didn’t say all black people. He just said black people, meaning collectively or generally? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/42 "2014-05-02T01:13:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > All blacks on this message board are lazy and stupid and all they want to do is sit around and eat watermelon and fried chicken. > > _Not racist???_ Probably but not necessarily, because it is not attributing the allegedly bad behavior to all members of a race. It is conceivable, though very unlikely, that it is true, because it is about a select set of individuals. What if the argument was, “This message board seems to attract a particular type of black person, the type that does X and Y”? OTOH, you have the “race realists” who do indisputably equate behavior or some set of character traits with race, and so every racial opinion they have indisputably applies to SDMB members of that race as well as everyone else of that race. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/43 "2014-05-02T02:56:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > All white posters on this board? And less sensitive to who-all black posters, or a particular black poster? How the hell should I know? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/44 "2014-05-02T03:20:24Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Probably but not necessarily, because it is not attributing the allegedly bad behavior to all members of a race. It is conceivable, though very unlikely, that it is true, because it is about a select set of individuals. A racist comment can be directed at a single individual. Where are you getting this idea that it must insult the entire race? Sounds like you’re just unwilling to give up a poorly thought out assertion and are now just making up rules as we go along. “Get out of my, you filthy nigger” is a racist comment directed at no one other than the target. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/45 "2014-05-02T03:29:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > “Get out of my, you filthy nigger” is a racist comment directed at no one other than the target. But the implication here is that all black people are niggers, this particular one being a _filthy_ nigger. So in that sense an entire race IS the target. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/46 "2014-05-02T03:33:46Z")
And “white people” doesn’t target the entire race? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/47 "2014-05-02T04:46:54Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > But the implication here is that all black people are niggers, this particular one being a _filthy_ nigger. So in that sense an entire race IS the target. No, that is not the implication. Unless you are going to say that any racial epithet thrown at any individual or group is thrown at the entire race. In which case, \*\*Boyo Jim’\*\*s claim is still invalid since it’s impossible to make racist remark only against an individual or group smaller than the entire race. And if you want to argue that, open a GD thread for debate. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/48 "2014-05-02T06:00:16Z")
I don’t know if I’d call the post in question racists, but it would seem that it’s been written by someone who has experienced the adverse impacts of racism and is carrying serious emotional scarring. If some of the posts in this thread about how whites get an easy ride are generally believed, that’s a worry. If they can be shown to be factual that’s a SERIOUS worry ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/49 "2014-05-02T10:43:39Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > And “white people” doesn’t target the entire race? Well, _this_ white person felt the sting of that (q)whip. :crying smilie: ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/50 "2014-05-02T11:25:43Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > …“Get out of my, you filthy nigger” is a racist comment directed at no one other than the target. No, it’s intended as an insult to the person _because_ the person is a member of a “lesser” race as far as the shouter in concerned. Had my earlier example been “The niggers of the SDMB do X”, that would have been necessarily racist, not because they all do or don’t do the thing, but because the poster considers them “niggers”. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/51 "2014-05-02T11:45:26Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m not entirely sure that post was racist (though I will hardly shed a tear if **Honesty** is banned.) He ascribes some unpleasant _views_ to white people, . . … > [@many others as well](#): > > Honesty referred to as ‘he’, ‘him’, ‘the guy’ I’m almost certain that Honesty is a ‘she’. Let’s not be racist _and_ sexist, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/52 "2014-05-02T12:40:43Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > So when Cliven Bundy joins the board and says about black people > > we shouldn’t have a problem with that because didn’t say all black people. He just said black people, meaning collectively or generally? I’m not sure who your point is directed at. I’m not the guy claiming there is a distinction between saying “all black people” and “black people” generally. Other people have made that claim. I’m only saying that this distinction doesn’t get you much in WRT honesty’s comments, because he didn’t say all white people. My broader point is that people consider racist what they find offensive and based on bigotry. People would prefer to believe that they are using more subjective criteria and are positing other criteria, but these do not hold, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/53 "2014-05-02T14:30:58Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Could the board owners afford necessary reparations? Not if it cuts into the “new smileys” fund. I also correctly predicted the poster who shoveled that load, which should tell **Der Trihs** that there’s a new sheriff in town. :smack: ---
**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 2, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420/54 "2014-05-02T23:27:33Z")
I called the poster too and I’m new here. Yes, it was racist, although we’re veering into GD or IMHO (poll anyone?), and I don’t know why “all” has to be included to make it clear. Apparently white folks would be entertained by black vivisection, because that’s how we roll, when we’re not wrecking the roads. Let’s see, blanket statements based on race, in this case white. Check. Pile on complete. Check. Yeah. That was pretty offensive, so I’m chiming in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-really-acceptable-in-gd/687420.md?page=2)