# Since We Are At War Is Acceptable to use the Term "Towel Heads" Now?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [September 20, 2001, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825 "2001-09-20T16:49:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/1 "2001-09-20T16:49:10Z")
Before ya’ll start freak’n out hear me out. In WWII the US called Germans “krouts”, called the Japanese “Japs” and “slants” the Italians “whops”. In Vietnam the US referred to their people “charlie” “gooks”, and other names. So since this is a declared war now, is it still not polically correct to call the terrorist “towel heads”?
Inotherwords, in the past wars names were acceptable and used by alot of people. Even opposing highschool football teams use duragatory names to their foes. Well? What do ya’ll think?
---
### Author:  [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/2 "2001-09-20T16:51:06Z")
I think this is headed directly for the Pit.
---
### Author:  [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/3 "2001-09-20T16:53:38Z")
Why does it need to go to the pit? I am just making an observation from the past to the present. Can’t we discuss this logically without all the nastyness of the pit?
---
### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/4 "2001-09-20T16:55:00Z")
I believe you meant “Krauts” and “a lot”.
Are racial slurs ever acceptable? It wasn’t a race or entire ethnic group that attacked us. It was a small group of zealots. I’m not going to blame an entire ethnicity for that.
---
### Author:  [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/5 "2001-09-20T16:58:24Z")
WWJD, Bill?
---
### Author:  [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/6 "2001-09-20T16:59:17Z")
No.
In the past it was more acceptable, in general, to stereotype and use racial slurs against people, regardless of whether we were at war with them. All of the slurs you cite were in usage before the wars and were acceptable. None of them are acceptable today. I think the conclusion clearly follows.
There are a lot of things wrong with “towel head” and other slurs. First, it is stupid. Many Muslims wear a head covering for modesty’s sake. It would be like a rain forest tribe calling us “cotten legs” for wearing pants. Second, it negatively groups a large number of people, many of whom are not our enemy. It seems to imply that Muslims who are citizens of the US are our enemies as well as nearly the entire Mideast. This is a very dangerous mind set.
---
### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/7 "2001-09-20T16:59:46Z")
Oh, and Italians were never called “Whops”. _chuckle_
Maybe they did make a mistake _chuckle again_ choosing sides but isn’t “Wop” what you’re unfortunately trying to reference?
Jeez Bill, I’m surprised you spelled towel correctly. What are you going to do to “rug”?
---
### Author:  [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/8 "2001-09-20T16:59:51Z")
Couldn’t we just use towel head when we refer to terrorist?
---
### Author:  [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/9 "2001-09-20T17:01:05Z")
I just got off the elevator in my building, which I rode up with a man who is rather obviously of Middle Eastern descent, if not an immigrant. If I had called him a “towel head,” I would have fully expected him to beat me within an inch of my life.
Also, this is not a “declared war,” unless you have access to some act of Congress of which every single other person in the country is unaware.
I cannot for the life of me perceive it as acceptable for a Christian (or anyone else!) to use racial and ethnic slurs. The mind boggles.
---
### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/10 "2001-09-20T17:03:53Z")
I prefer "d_ckhead" but that’s another story. I had considered starting a thread on just what to call them. Is that where this is headed? You take the lead if you’d like Wild Moses, you cotton-legged sh_t stirrer.
---
### Author:  [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/11 "2001-09-20T17:04:48Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Dr. Lao \*
> \*\*No.
>
> It seems to imply that Muslims who are citizens of the US are our enemies as well as nearly the entire Mideast. This is a very dangerous mind set. \*\*
I am not sure if you have heard this or not. But in Florida two Muslims firefighters that the US pay taxes for their salaries refuse to ride on a fire truck that has an American Flag on it because it represents oppression. I am sure the wonderful ACLU will take up for them.
For me I say since they were once fireman, fire their butts.
---
### Author:  [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/12 "2001-09-20T17:04:56Z")
OK, Bill, we can discuss it logically and without the nastiness.
Here goes: your answer is “no”. It is not now, nor has it ever been, OK to use a derogatory term for any group of people. Consider that while it was popularly _accepted_ to do so in the past, it was never **acceptable**.
And I would point ou that while “it was done in the past” does not mean that no one objected to it.
---
### Author:  [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/13 "2001-09-20T17:07:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Wildest Bill \*
> \*\*Couldn’t we just use towel head when we refer to terrorist? \*\*
I prefer “dead towel head” it’s got a nice ring to it…
---
### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/14 "2001-09-20T17:11:44Z")
**Bill** , it’s wrong to call anyone, even terrorists, “towelheads.” Arabs wear the _khaffiyeh_ or _bernoose_ to keep the sun off their heads in a desert environment. When you call terrorists “towelheads,” you’re not attacking them specifically, you’re attacking the ethnic group they come from, and that ain’t cool.
You can call terrorists “low-live, mother-scratching, dung-eating vermin,” for example, and that’s fine because you’re not attacking the terrorists only, and not traits they share with innocent people.
Think about Tim McVeigh. What if we had said, “All white people are a bunch of terrorists, I want to call them ‘whiteys’.” Would that have been fair or just?
---
### Author:  [@seawitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seawitch)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/15 "2001-09-20T17:11:57Z")
Yeesh. Why bother demonizing their choice of headgear, when a large number of innocent people wear the same style? Just a couple of points:
1. I saw some news footage showing a surveillance camera photo of one of the hijackers. He was wearing slacks and a dress shirt. They were _sneaky_, ya see. A turban, burnoose, and shiny curved blade held between the teeth weren’t the clothing choices. I do support banning those stupid sans-a-belt men’s pants, but that’s a long-standing personal issue for me.
2. For me, and probably for most of us, the term **terrorist** is quite ugly enough. No slurs or euphamisms are necessary.
---
### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/16 "2001-09-20T17:14:24Z")
Whoops, that should read “…you’re attacking the terrorists only…”
---
### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/17 "2001-09-20T17:14:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Wildest Bill \*
> \*\*Couldn’t we just use towel head when we refer to terrorist? \*\*
Yeah Bill, call the Pallestinians towel heads. Call the IRA towel heads. Call The Weather Underground, Black September, Timothy McVeigh and others towel heads and get the stupid f\*cking look you deserve.
---
### Author:  [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/18 "2001-09-20T17:14:51Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Wildest Bill \*
> \*\*
> I am not sure if you have heard this or not. But in Florida two Muslims firefighters that the US pay taxes for their salaries refuse to ride on a fire truck that has an American Flag on it because it represents oppression. I am sure the wonderful ACLU will take up for them.
> For me I say since they were once fireman, fire their butts. \*\*
The facts aren’t clear yet.
MIAMI –
From Key West to West Palm Beach, the US flag waves across South Florida as a symbol of solidarity. But for one South Florida Fire Department, the flag sits at the center of controversy.
The Miami-Dade Fire Department is trying to separate fact from fiction after reports that a couple of firefighters at Opa-Locka Station 26 balked at flying the American flag on their fire truck, saying that Old Glory was offensive.
Initial reports indicated the men are Muslims who see the flag as a symbol of oppression. The two firefighters, one an engine driver and the other a firefighter, showed up for work Saturday morning, saw the flag on the truck and refused to ride, said Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue spokesman Lt. Louie Fernandez.
But some firefighters who work at the station say that’s simply not true. Lieutenant Fay Davis, who was not on duty Saturday, but has talked to the men involved, said: “They are not Muslims, and it disappoints me that PIO for the department would go on TV and make these statements without talking to the men involved. What you have here is hearsay taking on a life of its own.”
Department officials concede they had not spoken to the men who objected to the flag; they’ve been off since Saturday.
---
### Author:  [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/19 "2001-09-20T17:17:33Z")
I’ll add my opinion to the heap. Maybe if the heap gets big enough it will help **Wildest Bill**.
It is never, ever acceptable to use derogatory terms to refer to an ethnic group or minority.
Ever.
Doesn’t matter if people did it in the past. It doesn’t make it right to indulge in that kind of behavior today.
---
### Author:  [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825/20 "2001-09-20T17:17:49Z")
Seriously, Bill, What Would Jesus Do? You call yourself a Christian, after all. Why don’t you try living up to it for a change?
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/since-we-are-at-war-is-acceptable-to-use-the-term-towel-heads-now/82825.md?page=2)