# List of acceptable racial slurs by political leaning **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 15, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901 "2012-02-15T04:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/1 "2012-02-15T04:50:39Z")
So, after reading this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=642022&page=2)I’d like to know which racial slurs are acceptable if one is a liberal and which ones are acceptable if one is a conservative. [Link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14772777&postcount=19)to specific post. Certainly, if the poster in question was a conservative, the poster would have been issued a warning at least. The moderators seriously need to reconsider their response. Unless, of course, the mods think that only conservatives can be racists. Slee ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/2 "2012-02-15T05:07:33Z")
I would like to see evidence for your assertion that a conservative poster would be warned for calling someone an oreo. (Which, frankly is a really rude thing to say. Of all the prepackaged cookies on the shelf at the store, oreos are one of the most disgusting types.) Also, things that don’t persuade me towards your point of view include disingenuously asking for a breakdown of allowable insults by political leanings. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/3 "2012-02-15T05:16:15Z")
It took almost three hours from me posting that ruling, to someone starting an ATMB thread about. You people are slipping. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/4 "2012-02-15T06:04:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It took almost three hours from me posting that ruling, to someone starting an ATMB thread about. > > You people are slipping. Actually, you people are the ones slipping. That’s a bad ruling. It’s clearly derogatory. In another current ATMB thread talking about the offensiveness of “injun”, [Coibri gave a poster a warning and defends his decision with this:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=642046) > [@](#): > > Probably the first thing to do if you want to know if a word is derogatory or offensive is to look at a dictionary. And then he posts several dictionary entries showing that the word is “derogatory”. Okay, well here’s what I get for “oreo”: (emphasis mine) 3 definitions from [here](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oreo): > [@](#): > > noun, plural O·re·os. Slang: **Disparaging and Offensive**. > a black person who is regarded as having adopted the attitudes, values, and behavior thought to be characteristic of middle-class white society, often at the expense of his or her own heritage. > [@](#): > > Oreo > **derogatory word** for “black person felt to have a ‘white’ mentality,” 1968, black Amer.Eng., from the snack cookies, which consist of dark chocolate wafers and white sugar cream filling (hence “brown outside, white inside”). The cookies (made by Nabisco) date from 1912; the source of the name has been > > Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper > [@](#): > > oreo definition > > n. > an American of African descent who behaves more white than black. (Like the Oreo brand cookie, the person is black on the outside and white on the inside. **Rude and derogatory**.) : They called Sam an oreo because he wears a suit and works downtown. > Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. [From Merriam-Webster:](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oreo) > [@](#): > > **usually disparaging** > : a black person who adopts the characteristic mentality and behavior of white middle-class society [Dictionary of Race Relations:](http://racerelations.about.com/od/understandingrac1/g/Definition-Of-Oreo.htm) > [@](#): > > Definition: To much of the public, an Oreo is simply a black cookie sandwich with white cream filling. In the African-American community, however, an **Oreo is used as a racial slur to insult blacks** who “act white” or identify as such. The racial name Oreo is controversial because many blacks recount being called the racial term for doing well in school or speaking proper English, not because they didn’t identify as black. In short, these African Americans were singled out as sellouts simply for excelling academically and in other areas. **Many blacks find this term hurtful** , for they are proud of their African-American heritage. [From AllWords.com:](http://www.allwords.com/word-oreo.html) > [@](#): > > (US, **derogatory** slang; from the metaphor of being black on the outside and white on the inside, like an Oreo) A black person who has sympathies with white people or who favors white culture to black culture or who acts in mannerisms deemed to be “white” (i.e. Standard English grammar, extended vocabulary, etc) [Oxford:](http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Oreo) > [@](#): > > informal, **derogatory** a black American who is seen, especially by other black people, as wishing to be part of the white establishment. So, I guess we’re left with the space between “derogatory/insulting/rude/demeaning” and “hate speech”. And I am not surprised that these boards find room to allow it. The reason is that the term is almost always (always?) used to insult a black person who espouses what are seen as conservative principles. And thus, "Well, it is an insult, but its insulting people who deserve to be insulted, so we’ll let it slide. You guys really should reconsider this. Or art least you and Colibri should get on the same page. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/5 "2012-02-15T06:10:26Z")
The board has been quite clear and consistent over the years on their policy of giving slack to long term posters with few or no warnings or notes. Have you considered the possibility that the reason one poster was warned and another was not is not because of the relative offensiveness of their language but because of their posting history? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/6 "2012-02-15T06:16:32Z")
**magellan** , you’re comparing a ruling about an insult in GQ, to a ruling about an insult in the Pit. Do I really need to explain why the comparison is inapt? ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/7 "2012-02-15T06:18:31Z")
Personally, I just shrugged it off, as I found it funny more than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/8 "2012-02-15T06:18:59Z")
How offensive can a word used on _Fresh Prince_ really be? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/9 "2012-02-15T06:23:21Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > **magellan** , you’re comparing a ruling about an insult in GQ, to a ruling about an insult in the Pit. Do I really need to explain why the comparison is inapt? No. But if someone insulted another poster by referring to him a nigger or kike in either forum, would it matter? Wouldn’t there be a Warning in either case? My view is that oreo is a disgusting word, every bit as bad as nigger. They both 1) are always applied to blacks only and 2) seek to demean the person by stripping him of his own identity as a man, or woman. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/10 "2012-02-15T06:24:30Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > How offensive can a word used on _Fresh Prince_ really be? Good point. Certainly no more offensive than a word used in _Tom Sawyer._ Or used everyday in the black community. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/11 "2012-02-15T06:37:04Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > My view is that oreo is a disgusting word, every bit as bad as nigger. They both 1) are always applied to blacks only and 2) seek to demean the person by stripping him of his own identity as a man, or woman. By that criteria, so does the word ‘black’, particularly when used as a noun and not an adjective. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/12 "2012-02-15T06:38:23Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > No. But if someone insulted another poster by referring to him a nigger or kike in either forum, would it matter? Wouldn’t there be a Warning in either case? Yes, there almost certainly would be a warning in either case. But we’re not talking about the word “nigger,” we’re talking about the word “oreo.” And I don’t agree that the terms are equally insulting. They’re both racially based insults, but not all racially based insults are the same. I don’t think there are any racial insults that are even in the same league as “nigger.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/13 "2012-02-15T06:38:43Z")
> [@sleestak](#): > > Certainly, if the poster in question was a conservative, the poster would have been issued a warning at least. Not to break up a pity party, but this isn’t going to be a productive way to have this conversation. I don’t think you could back up this assertion if you tried, and I don’t think making a series of comparisons about other slurs and other mod responses is going to be productive. Let’s see if we can deal with the facts instead of making up another liberal vs. conservative bias debate: As far as I can tell, we’ve never warned anybody for trotting out this term. (I checked our warning documentation and about three years of uses of the word “oreo.”) It also hasn’t happened very often. (There is some discussion of the word, without namecalling, here.) That being said, **BobLibDem** , you’ve used this one a couple of times for conservative black guys. What the hell? Racist or not, it’s dumb. **Colibri** did warn **Pablo O’Malley** for his comment about “Injuns,” but that was after **Pablo O’Malley** got a handful of other mod notes, [including this one for another (weird) racial comment.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14767601#post14767601) I can understand why people would prefer to see a warning here, but a single usage in the Pit might’ve been treated differently for reasons other than politics. > [@magellan01](#): > > The reason is that the term is almost always (always?) used to insult a black person who espouses what are seen as conservative principles. That’s how it was used here, but no, that’s not what it always means and I don’t think it’s even what it usually means. You’ll notice conservatism is not mentioned in any of the definitions you just posted. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/14 "2012-02-15T07:02:32Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > As far as I can tell, we’ve never warned anybody for trotting out this term. (I checked our warning documentation and about three years of uses of the word “oreo.”) It also hasn’t happened very often. (There is some discussion of the word, without namecalling, here.) That thread also points out some words used by other non-black communities. It’s a widespread ethnic thing, mostly used in-community. It’s hardly a racist epithet used by the white man to keep the black man down. Maybe not the wisest word to use, but it’s hardly horrific. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/15 "2012-02-15T07:15:44Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > **magellan** , you’re comparing a ruling about an insult in GQ, to a ruling about an insult in the Pit. Do I really need to explain why the comparison is inapt? So because it’s in the Pit, it’s okay to use racial slurs to insult people? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/16 "2012-02-15T07:21:47Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > That thread also points out some words used by other non-black communities. It’s a widespread ethnic thing, mostly used in-community. It’s hardly a racist epithet used by the white man to keep the black man down. Maybe not the wisest word to use, but it’s hardly horrific. So then since “house nigger” isn’t typically a “racial epithet used by the white man to keep the black man down” you think one should be able to use it regarding black posters one doesn’t like? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/17 "2012-02-15T07:33:36Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > So then since “house nigger” isn’t typically a “racial epithet used by the white man to keep the black man down” you think one should be able to use it regarding black posters one doesn’t like? You’d have done better asking about ‘Uncle Tom’. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/18 "2012-02-15T07:48:42Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > You’d have done better asking about ‘Uncle Tom’. Huh? I’m not playing a game, I’m simply asking a question based on your logic. Since the term “house nigger” and “house negro” aren’t “racial epithets used by the white man to keep the black man down” then presumably you think they are acceptable racial slurs to use regarding black people you don’t like in the Pit. If you think that they’re examples of “hate speech” while “oreos” aren’t then please explain your reasoning. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/19 "2012-02-15T08:30:25Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Huh? > > I’m not playing a game, I’m simply asking a question based on your logic. I think he was trying to help your argument. Obviously, “house nigger” would \*not \*be alright, because “nigger” itself is _not_ alright. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/20 "2012-02-15T08:49:37Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I think he was trying to help your argument. Obviously, “house nigger” would \*not \*be alright, because “nigger” itself is _not_ alright. Huh, Bosstone argued that it was acceptable to call black people “oreos” because " It’s hardly a racist epithet used by the white man to keep the black man down." Based on that logic, it’s perfectly acceptable to call black people one doesn’t like or who are seen as hurting the cause of black people “house niggers” because it isn’t a racist epithet used by the white man to keep the black man down." In fact, it was a term regularly used by black lis H. Rap Brown, Huey Newton and Malcolm X. In fact, I’ve never heard any white person use the term “house nigger” while I’ve heard white people use the term oreo. Have you heard any white people use the term? Similarly, by his logic, it would be perfectly acceptable to, in the pit, refer to black posters as “house negroes”. I assume you’d have felt that it would be perfectly acceptable to use such terms for blacks. If not, please explain why “oreo” is okay but “house negro” and “house nigger” isn’t? Thanks [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901.md?page=2)