While I don’t actually hang out with garbage people, I do often wind up seeing them online. And I’ve not seen “gay” used as a slur in a long while.
It seems to me that we were able to convince people it was a problem, while also explaining why “Democrat” is not the preferred adjective.
I’d actually argue the opposite of your position. By having lesser things that are considered offensive, it keeps those who desire to offend from thinking they need to use the worse ones. In other words, why call something “gay” as an insult when you know that saying “Democrat politician” will bug them?
That how it seems to be with me, anyways. When I’m trying to insult someone, my insults get a lot stronger when used against someone who acts like most insults never bother them. If it’s someone easily offended, I don’t push as hard.
I also find it a decent reverse shibboleth. If I see someone use it who should know better, or someone uses it after they’ve been told it isn’t the proper adjective, then I know they’re just a partisan hack not worth my time.
I generally agree with your point, but… an intelligent and thoughtful “good guy” also has the right to disagree with an explanation of this sort, at least depending on context and how many people are claiming offense. In the era of social media and re-tweeting and so forth, it’s very hard to tell how many Jews are actually honestly offended by the original “It’s All About the Benjamins” tweet, as opposed to Jews agreeing without really thinking about it, non-Jews sincerely repeating or echoing the claim, conservatives acting all concerned just to make liberals look bad, shit-stirring trolls, etc.
Certainly, it’s not automatically the case that if you say something that references, say, black people, and one single black person says “that’s offensive”, then you should immediately change your language patterns and never ever say anything like that again.
It doesn’t matter if she intended it as a dog whistle. “Jews control X” is a well-established trope amongst those who dislike Jews. The fact that Omar’s criticism may be solely limited to Israeli governmental influence in US politics is irrelevant.
Let me put it another way. I have always been strongly in favor of equal rights for African-Americans, including access to employment opportunities, criminal justice reform, and so on (both on the boards and in my private life). That doesn’t make it okay for me to use the terms “black people” and “fried chicken” in the same sentence,* even if my intentions were totally pure and divorced from any stereotype.
*my apologies to our African-American posters for using “black people” and “fried chicken” in the same sentence.
For instance, suppose that there’s a black guy named Bob who owns “Bob’s Fried Chicken”. It would seem totally reasonable, when discussing him, to describe him as an “owner of a fried chicken restaurant”.
On the other hand, suppose Bob owned “Bob’s Family Diner”, which served a bunch of things, among them, fried chicken. Randomly referring to him as an “owner of a friend chicken restaurant” would, in that case, strike me as at the very least suspicious.
On the other hand, he might own “Bob’s Family Diner”, but everyone for miles around knows that by far the best and really only reason to go to Bob’s Family Diner was for the fried chicken… what about then?
I think you can at least make a good case that “it’s all about the benjamins” is like the first example: Normally it’s bad to talk about black people and fried chicken. But in this case, it’s obviously and uncontroversially true that Bob owns a friend chicken restaurant. Normally it’s bad to hint that Jews use their money to influence policy. But pro-Israel lobbying groups are largely funded by Jews and literally and directly use that money to influence policy.
I’m not claiming that the original tweet is 100% innocent in this fashion, but there’s at least a reasonable argument to be made in that direction.
Can Popeye’s put out an ad that includes black actors*?
While it’s right to avoid suggesting that “all Jews/Blacks” do X or “only Jews/Blacks” do X, because that’s racist thinking, I think we’ve lost out way if suggesting that “some Jews/Blacks do X, just like everyone else” is fomenting racism as well.
*And yes, I know that there are racists who will look at a Popeye’s ad, with a black actress as the spokeswoman and chuckle inside at the trope being supported. They’re idiots.
Sure, just as Target could put out an ad that includes white women. An ad featuring only black actors might be problematic, though (I’m thinking of the cringeworthy Black People version of the “I’m lovin’ it” McDonald’s ads where the jingle was remixed in an R&B style). As ever, context matters.
I agree, and I don’t think Omar’s tweet was actually anti-Semitic. The point is that this is a sensitive area and she should have known better.