I don’t believe that one’s intentions have much, if anything, to do with whether a slur is a slur. I don’t think intentions matter much at all, in fact, in cases like these (as to whether a mistake was made). I don’t see bringing up their ethnicity for contrast purposes as relevant or necessary in this case. And I don’t see any reason to believe that you don’t like Jews.
I still think you made a mistake here. Not a big one, but still a mistake. No huge deal, and no huge deal to admit you’ve made a mistake (probably due to differences in language and culture, not any philosophy or bigotry). I know you’re capable of admitting mistakes because I’ve seen you do it before.
There are black Jews, you know, so it’s still a big ??? why you’d bring it up. If I were you, I’d chalk this up to different brands of English and move on. Maybe in SA, what you said wouldn’t raise eyebrows, but it certainly raised my American ones-- as I noted in the thread in question? It was a mod note, not a warning.
At a frat partnering with Pi Kappa Alpha to host a racist party?
I’ll move on once I hear from tom why I got noted when he can’t give a damn about hate speech.
I’m well aware of the difference. Note that “note” is all over my OP. I’m not asking for a reversal. I’m asking for an explanation or a defence of tom’s moderator choices when it comes to racist language and even perceived racist neologisms. Because my perception is that only some people’s voices are …let’s say chosen … to be listened to by the mods, when it comes to racist speech, real or imagined.
Thug doesn’t have explicit racial meaning in the US. We called the white boys in my high school who caused problems “thugs”. Maybe it’s different where you are?
Anyhow, the problem with your word is that it is a neologism, of a form that is racist 99% of the time. If it was an established word with a history of benign use, it would be different.
Different things. “Jew-bro” does not have a long history of non-racist usage. A history that continues to this day. Just because some small, sub-group of Americans has decided “thug” is code for “nigger”, that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to agree.
You don’t have to “agree” with a fact of usage; it happens regardless. If you don’t approve of the usage, complain to the people who use it, not the ones that point it out.
Thug isn’t a loaded term where I’m from. I’m referring to US usage
So far, I’m only seeing 50 % of the time, as “jewboy” and “jewfro” are the only examples I’m aware of.
Look, I’m definitely not advocating to be allowed to continue to use the word. It was always going to be a once-off quip. Some people have said it’s shocking to them and I hear that (others have not, but that’s not relevant.) That’s not really what this thread is about. It’s about tom’s moderating of racism and hate speech in general.
You’re right. The spelling makes all the difference. :roll eyes: It wasn’t snark, either. It was the natural response to your very poor attempt at pedantry.
At this point, I think we have to say that the horse has been led to water…
You don’t have to agree. We probably just disagree on the threshold at which something crosses the line – I think “thug” has already done so in American english.
In the context of a hip-hop themed party, what is the problem with “thug”. Isn’t dialing up thugginess part of the art? The oversized gold chains, the metal teeth, tattoos, the disrespecting of women and and police?
To me, it’s part of the genre, the same way tight bell-bottom jeans, polyester shirts open almost to the navel, and thin gold chains were part of the disco genre/culture.
