http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-51judgegreene,0,7565832.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Has anyone ever heard this phrase used as a racist statement per the article? I’m from the South, lived in Fort Lauderdale (where this occurred), am fairly well-read and have never heard this used in this context.
Have I been under a rock?
VCNJ~
FTA:
First time I’ve ever heard that, personally. I presume it has something to do with some idea that blacks aren’t humans. I’m guessing here, but it’s the only way I can fit the concept into a pejorative context.
Never heard that phrase in my life. Wow.
Me, either - and I was born in the South and have lived here most of my life.
I heard it on a Law & Order episode where a crooked cop used it when referring to the death of a hooker. From the context and discussion on the show, it seems it’s used to denigrate all sorts of people; druggies, people who aren’t white, the homeless, etc.
I’ve seen it used mostly in reference to crimes involving the homeless, hookers, drug addicts, etc.; basically, those who “respectable” people tend not to associate with. 
Yes, that’s how I’ve heard the phrase - hookers, addicts, homeless. I never thought of it as being racist, but I’m in Canada where crime is probably perceived less as a racial thing and more as an economic issue.
That episode of SVU was just on tonight. I’ve never heard it in any other context.
I don’t use this exact term, but something very similar to it whenever there’s news of yakuza or mobsters killing each other.