# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/121 "2012-02-16T01:15:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Take a looksee at the list **Vinyl Turnip** found, and tell be you would have no problem banning all of those words. Seriously? Yeah, that piece of silliness is exactly what this is about. :rolleyes: ---
**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 16, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/122 "2012-02-16T01:23:06Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “I didn’t intend it as an insult” > “How can it be an insult if they say it to each other” > “The reference is to her/his ethnicity/country of origin, not her/his race” > “It may be an insult in that culture, but it isn’t in this other culture” > There are probably a few more excuses that exist. Are you in favor of lifting restrictions on insulting people outside of the pit? I’m not being snarky, I’m asking because using the above logic we shouldn’t ban insults because people will say things like “I didn’t know this was considered an insult”, “that’s not an insult where I’m from” or “I didn’t know he’d misunderstand.” In fact, I’m sure the mods receive protests like this all the tim from people who’ve been warned. ---
**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 16, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/123 "2012-02-16T01:25:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is this your master list? Er no. Could you please list me some insults that you think would be misinterpreted. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/124 "2012-02-16T01:25:57Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Seriously? Yeah, that piece of silliness is exactly what this is about. :rolleyes: Is it “silliness” because it includes terms you don’t think are legitimate slurs? Someone’s obviously offended by them. ---
**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 16, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/125 "2012-02-16T01:40:46Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Moreover, I’m in full agreement with Ta-Nehisi Coates, the writer, who argued that when Ralph Nader called Barack Obama an Uncle Tom he was being no different than D’Nesh D’Souza ranting about Obama’s “anti-colonial” background. My Google-fu isn’t quite up to the challenge, so, cite? ---
**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 16, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/126 "2012-02-16T01:49:46Z")
Having thought about **Shodan’s** post: while he made the point in a pretty obnoxious way, he’s mocking something thoroughly contemptible. There are leftists out there who are so convinced that liberalism is the correct course, especially for minorities, that they seem to consider any minority who is not liberal to be guilty of false consciousness or otherwise corrupt. It’s a reductionist approach to politics that glosses over the many different aspects of individual humans, and it’s often fairly racist in its expression. There may be some parallels among the right, but it’s not about that: it’s about something that leftists should scorn and not do. Black people and gay people and women may be conservative for complex reasons, and they have every bit the same right to hold those beliefs as do straight white men, and when straight white men act as though said conservatives are idiots, they reinforce the idea that only straight white men may make rational decisions. Knock it off. ---
**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 16, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/127 "2012-02-16T02:14:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is there a master list available for reference, or a cut and dry definition that everyone can agree to? As **Colibri** said in the other thread: look in the dictionary. If it’s a racial term and it says derogatory, don’t call other posters that term, not even in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/128 "2012-02-16T02:20:07Z")
🙂 > [@sleestak](#): > > 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 1. As I have pointed out before, where there is a specific Pit Rule on a topic, we apply that one instead of similar rules that apply generally. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12618830&postcount=103](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12618830&postcount=103) 2. There is a specifc Pit rule on this topic. It says: > [@](#): > > No hate speech > > If you say hateful and/or racist things, **you may get warned or banned**. Some slurs are likely to be viewed as hate speech when used as insults, some aren’t. **No, we aren’t going to give you a list.** Our goal is not to restrict any and all speech which could be viewed by someone as offensive, but simply keep a modicum of decency, even here. The rule was written by **Giraffe** , **fluiddruid** , and **TVeblen** , and has been substantially the same since 2006. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7339875](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7339875) 1. So: a. No we won’t give you a list; b. The Pit hate speech rule is different from the hate speech rule for the rest of the board; and c. Not only is **Miller** ’s ruling consistent with my interpretation of the Pit rule, but it’s consistent with the rulings of the previous Pit moderators. To be fair, they mostly issued no moderator notes or warnings, but I guess that’s my point. ---
**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 16, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/129 "2012-02-16T02:38:21Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My Google-fu isn’t quite up to the challenge, so, cite? Are you asking for a link to Coates essay or to Nader calling Obama “an Uncle Tom”? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/130 "2012-02-16T04:57:21Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > My point stands. I’m sure you think it stands. It was still wrongheaded and ill-informed. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/131 "2012-02-16T05:45:20Z")
My respect for a number of posters (and one mod) has dropped a notch or two from reading this thread. This saddens me. That’s all I have to say. ---
**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 16, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/132 "2012-02-16T06:01:55Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > My respect for a number of posters (and one mod) has dropped a notch or two from reading this thread. This saddens me. That’s all I have to say. I’m sure they are devastated. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/133 "2012-02-16T07:35:00Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I’m sure you think it stands. It was still wrongheaded and ill-informed. Afraid not, as I explained. And since you offer no counter-explanation to my last post, I’ll just assume you got nuthin. ::shrug:: ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/134 "2012-02-16T08:17:36Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > And since you offer no counter-explanation to my last post, I’ll just assume you got nuthin. ::shrug:: A counter-explanation would assume that you offered some explanation worth countering. As usual, you didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/135 "2012-02-16T13:07:11Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Having thought about **Shodan’s** post: while he made the point in a pretty obnoxious way, he’s mocking something thoroughly contemptible. There are leftists out there who are so convinced that liberalism is the correct course, especially for minorities, that they seem to consider any minority who is not liberal to be guilty of false consciousness or otherwise corrupt. It’s a reductionist approach to politics that glosses over the many different aspects of individual humans, and it’s often fairly racist in its expression. I don’t think there was any doubt about what I was saying. Other posters have made it clear that my post was generally understood. **Marley23** just didn’t like the point, and didn’t want it to be discussed in relation to the moderation. I believe that is what he meant by saying it didn’t add anything to the discussion and was off-topic - he meant it didn’t add anything to the discussion that he wanted to hear. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/136 "2012-02-16T14:46:14Z")
Ah now I remember why I have to leave here for extended periods of time. And no, I’m not referring to Shodan. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/137 "2012-02-16T15:09:15Z")
It’s a litttle disappointing that so many people support the use of racist slurs. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/138 "2012-02-16T15:19:47Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > A counter-explanation would assume that you offered some explanation worth countering. As usual, you didn’t. Oh, snap! Translation: you got nuthin. Thanks for verifying that. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/139 "2012-02-16T15:33:31Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > It’s a litttle disappointing that so many people support the use of racist slurs. Yeah. Well, thankfully they aren’t _real_ people, just ones made of straw. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901/140 "2012-02-16T15:52:29Z")
The mods are not made of straw. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-acceptable-racial-slurs-by-political-leaning/612901.md?page=8)