# 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:** 2
**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, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/21 "2012-02-15T09:08:18Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > By that criteria, so does the word ‘black’, particularly when used as a noun and not an adjective. This couldn’t be more wrong. Unless you think that referring to black people as “blacks” is not only necessarily insulting, but as insulting as nigger or oreo. You’re not even close to having made a valid point. ---
**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, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/22 "2012-02-15T09:10:49Z")
> [@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. As long as its used against people like Michael Steele who have the audacity to break with the liberal/black politics, it’s all good, right? ---
**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, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/23 "2012-02-15T09:13:42Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 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. It’s used to tell blacks that they’re acting white. In politics that means not toeing the liberal line. In schools it means that a kid is to studious or not dressing the way the other black kids dress. It’s always an insult. ---
**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, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/24 "2012-02-15T09:14:44Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > So because it’s in the Pit, it’s okay to use racial slurs to insult people? It would appear so. ---
**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, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/25 "2012-02-15T09:25:32Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > You’d have done better asking about ‘Uncle Tom’. Having relooked at your original post regarding the term “oreo” this post is even more moronic than it first appeared. You argued that it was okay to call black people “oreos” because not only is it “hardly a racist epithet used by the white man to keep the black man down” but because “It’s a widespread ethnic thing, mostly used in-community”. So, if it’s okay for white people to refer to black people as “oreos” since that’s a term that mostly used by black people, then by your standards it should be even more acceptable for a white person to refer to black people they don’t like as “house niggers” or “house negroes” since those are terms that are even more exclusively used by black people? Correct? ---
**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, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/26 "2012-02-15T10:05:59Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > 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." You had said: > [@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?** When obviously, calling another poster “house nigger” is NOT acceptable, since “nigger” itself is not acceptable. He just tried to offer you a better example to use in your argument. > [@magellan01](#): > > It’s used to tell blacks that they’re acting white. In politics that means not toeing the liberal line. In schools it means that a kid is to studious or not dressing the way the other black kids dress. It’s always an insult. Of course it’s always an insult. I don’t think anybody here (yet) is saying that “oreo” isn’t an insult or isn’t in bad taste, just that it’s not hate speech that rises to the level of “nigger” and other prohibited words. Really, the poster in question’s own username is just a longer and less offensive way of saying “oreo” - it relays the fact that he’s black, but he’s surprisingly (OMG!) different than the majority of black people, in that he is conservative. “Oreo” is just a nasty and insulting shorthand way to describe him the same way he chooses to describe himself. It is nowhere near as bad as dropping the N-bomb, IMO. That word carries \*many \*more negative and hateful connotations. ---
**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, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/27 "2012-02-15T10:31:58Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > When obviously, calling another poster “house nigger” is NOT acceptable, since “nigger” itself is not acceptable. He just tried to offer you a better example to use in your argument.. I’m sorry but your argument is moronic. Bosstone claimed that it was acceptable to call black people “oreos” because the term was “a widespread ethnic thing, mostly used in-community” and “It’s hardly a racist epithet used by the white man to keep the black man down”. Well, if “oreo” is considered acceptable based on that criteria then the same should be true of “house negro”. When was the last time you heard someone other than a black person other than a black person refer to someone as a “house negro”? In fact, the term was first popularized, along with the term “house nigger” by Malcolm X. ---
**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, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/28 "2012-02-15T11:06:08Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I’m sorry but your argument is moronic. There was no argument (much less a moronic one) coming from me in relation to any of that. I was just trying to clarify something I thought you were misinterpreting, as evidenced by you saying “Huh?” a couple of times. But I should have known better than to interject into an argument where people seem to be \*trying \*to talk past each other, so my 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:** [February 15, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/29 "2012-02-15T12:01:51Z")
I understand it has to be a judgment call, but I’d be much happier if the judgment call would go in the other direction–if racial epithets like “Oreo” were unacceptable on SDMB. Allowing them serves no purpose, and forbidding them does. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/30 "2012-02-15T12:18:32Z")
> [@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? ``` inapt - not elegant or graceful in expression ``` ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/31 "2012-02-15T12:36:52Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It took almost three hours from me posting that ruling, to someone starting an ATMB thread about. > > You people are slipping. “You people”! :eek: (j/k) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/32 "2012-02-15T12:45:46Z")
For the record, I have apologized to OMG in the Pit thread and do so again here. That being said, I have enormous respect for Sharpton and what he has done for the fight against injustice, and not just for black Americans. In my opinion, he deserves an enormous amount of slack and when he gets sniped at for his occasional lapses, I get upset. Perhaps too upset. ---
**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, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/33 "2012-02-15T13:14:31Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > It’s used to tell blacks that they’re acting white. Right, that part is not in dispute. > [@](#): > > In politics that means not toeing the liberal line. In schools it means that a kid is to studious or not dressing the way the other black kids dress. I can agree with that. You said earlier it was always or almost always applied to conservatives, and I think you’re wrong about that. > [@](#): > > It’s always an insult. Not disagreement there either. ---
**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, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/34 "2012-02-15T16:20:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t think there are any racial insults that are even in the same league as “nigger.” Huh? On that very thread, you proclaimed “we’ve only invoked this rule for the most egregious slurs: nigger, kike, faggot, and so forth.” You’re very specifically listing words that you clearly feel are in the same league as “nigger”. Beyond that you’re decision to declare “kike” to be one of the most “egregious” racial slurs that’s totally unacceptable while declaring “oreo” to be acceptable is extremely hypocritical since the words have similar origins and uses. ---
**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, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/35 "2012-02-15T16:27:47Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Not disagreement there either. True, but the board moderators have determined that while “oreo” is an insult it is acceptable, though discouraged, for board members to use the term to refer to blacks they don’t like in the pit. Similarly, it is also presumably acceptable though discouraged to refer to black board members one doesn’t like as house negroes and house niggers. That isn’t by the way trolling, I’m simply assuming that’s the decision because they’re words who share the same purpose and the same origin and are generally used by the same people. However, it hasn’t been explained as to why “oreo” was considered an insult but acceptable to use in the pit while other racial slurs aren’t. I can understand if you’d rather have Miller explain, but would you mind explaining why oreo, and presumably house negro and house nigger have been deemed acceptable yet discouraged? ---
**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, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/36 "2012-02-15T16:40:16Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > You’re very specifically listing words that you clearly feel are in the same league as “nigger”. Note the differences between “I don’t think” and “we’ve only invoked this rule.” > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I can understand if you’d rather have Miller explain, but would you mind explaining why oreo, and presumably house negro and house nigger have been deemed acceptable yet discouraged? I’ll let **Miller** explain his discussions with **Gfactor**. In the meantime, please stop presuming. **Miller** ’s own statements make it obvious that “house nigger” wouldn’t be acceptable, and we’ve said nothing about anything else being acceptable, your assertions notwithstanding. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/37 "2012-02-15T16:42:10Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I understand it has to be a judgment call, but I’d be much happier if the judgment call would go in the other direction–if racial epithets like “Oreo” were unacceptable on SDMB. Allowing them serves no purpose, and forbidding them does. I agree. I was really surprised to see **Bob** use that term, and although I didn’t report it, I thought about it. It may not be on the same level as “nigger”, but it’s a racially based offensive word, and I don’t see any need to have one poster call another poster by a racially based insult. I don’t think we’d stand for calling a Mexican poster a “beaner” and it’s about on that level. ---
**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, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/38 "2012-02-15T17:04:04Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **Miller** ’s own statements make it obvious that “house nigger” wouldn’t be acceptable, and we’ve said nothing about anything else being acceptable, your assertions notwithstanding. No his statement doesn’t make that obvious at all. Why would “House nigger” be unacceptable while “oreo” is considered acceptable yet discouraged? For those unaware, the term House Nigger was popularized by Malcolm X to refer to blacks and had the same purpose as the term “oreo”. It seems pretty obvious to me that if one is allowed to call black posters one doesn’t like “oreos” without violating the board rules, so long as done in the pit, then one should also be allowed to refer to black posters one doesn’t like as house negroes. Why would “oreo” be considered worse than the term “house negro” or “house nigger”. The only difference is that “oreo” is more commonly used by whites while “house negro” is more commonly used by blacks. > [@](#): > > we’ve said nothing about anything else being acceptable, your assertions notwithstanding I didn’t say “acceptable”, I said “acceptable yet discouraged”. Miller decided that he wouldn’t mod note a white person for calling a black person an oreo and classified oreo as in insult but said that using it as an insult, so long as done in the pit, was not against the rules. How did I mischaracterize his ruling? That is by the way an honest question. I’ve never met anyone who thinks that the term “oreo” is acceptable but “house negro” isn’t and have yet to hear any explanation as to why the latter is somehow significantly worse than the former. ---
**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, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/39 "2012-02-15T17:08:13Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I agree. I was really surprised to see **Bob** use that term, and although I didn’t report it, I thought about it. It may not be on the same level as “nigger”, but it’s a racially based offensive word, and I don’t see any need to have one poster call another poster by a racially based insult. I don’t think we’d stand for calling a Mexican poster a “beaner” and it’s about on that level. Agreed. I was also floored that Miller specifically declared “kike” unacceptable while “oreo” wasn’t. Truth be told, I think “kike” is a better comparison than beaner. The term was popularized by Jews to describe other Jews who behaved stereotypically and embarrassed the community but eventually gained wider use. The same is true of the word “Wop”. I think it would have been far better if Miller had simply ruled that we can’t use racial slurs to refer to other posters which I thought were the rules. That said, I do think it’s ironic that a thread involving a white person using racial slurs had a minority given a formal warning for making a joke about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/40 "2012-02-15T17:30:07Z")
What about egg and banana? (need answer fast) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901.md?page=3)