Guess somebody is a moron. Or maybe there is another way of looking at it like many others have pointed out. You do realize that a lot of those that are playing first person shooters online are young teenagers. Maybe if you are not totally out of touch you would know that music and culture that glorifies a gangster lifestyle is pretty popular and has been for many years. My 11 year old daughter was just complaining to me about boys in her class acting gangsta. All white suburban kids. Often alternative spellings are used. Such as killa instead of killer. In a first person shooter where it is the purpose of the game to “kill” using killa is almost the norm. Especially when you have to come up with unique user names. I can certainly see a young jewish kid (or even an older one) using killa jew as a name. Even if only ironically.
I can also see it as being antisemetic too since there is a lot of trolling that goes on in those games. Without asking the guy I can’t tell.
But I guess I’m just a moron who don’t know words too good.
The way I see it too is if a stupid but well-meaning Jewish kid calls themselves Killa Jew, why wouldn’t they change their name just as soon as it becomes obvious what their handle implies? Seems improbable that they’d keep the name just to be stubborn and douchey.
The assertion for it not being antisemitic is it meaning Killa Jew. As in a badass Jew.
But I wouldn’t take any chances. I’d just say the name is unacceptable because it could be antisemitic. I mean, I wouldn’t be able to call myself faghater and mean I didn’t like cigarettes, would I?
Some of you folks are new to the internet, aren’t you?
Mentioned upthread, but it bears repeating:
Capitalisation: This is an online game we’re talking about. I wouldn’t be surprised to see killajew KILLAJEW KiLlAjEw KILLAjew KillAjew k1ll4j3w or any other number of iterations. Capitals mean nothing more than “Hey what does this button do?” in some circles
Obnoxiousness/Douchosity: Again, online game. Douche is the default setting. Without being in the game and seeing any possible in-game chat from this dude, my default instinct is to assume it’s a 14YO Jewish kid who’s gone “HURR I am KILLA JEW”. And I’d say any attempts to get him to see the potential for offense (especially with vague capitalisation) would simply result in “lol stfu fag” and possible teabagging. Maybe teamkilling depending on what game you were playing.
I read the word and could see going either way. But I’d make an inquiry as to wondering if the applicant understood that it was a double entendre.
What would you do with an applicant who wants to use niggardly as their handle? Is that like a quasi-double entendre? (pseudo-double entendre?)
First saw the word in the Economist back in the late 90’s. Reading the “letters to the editor”, somebody complained how racist the magazine was for using niggardly–the editor’s response was, “How is it we only receive these letters from America?” I assumed it was a derogatory term, but a dictionary inquiry into the etymology described it as an old Norse word. Hmmm…not only are the British understated in their humor, but the context of usage in their magazine could not be more relevant.
A few weeks later, somebody in DC was fired, or quit (don’t remember which) over usage of the word and was accused of “racism”. I gotta say, while I’m not inclined to use the word for the all the volatility associated with it, I’m not terribly sympathetic with those who argue that even if it used in the correct context in a limited fashion, its use constitutes racism. I’ve seen it used in printed matter here and there, but that doesn’t garner much public debate; use it in public speaking, OTOH, is just asking for hostile publicity.
That’s not to say you can’t use it as an incendiary remark in a subversive matter (e. g., “President Obama sure seems niggardly with the proposed DOD budget this year”); the kind of public remark that would result in a national apoplexy.
I’d assume that any user who wanted to use niggardly as a handle had a better vocabulary than average. Killa, on the other hand, suggests a deliberate dumbing down of vocabulary, as does nigga and gangsta. And I’d reject killa<whatever> as an overly aggressive handle, no matter which way it was meant. If I thought that it was meant to be a kewl spelling of killer, I’d probably get ask in the mod loop first. If I was reasonably certain that the person meant “Killer of Jews”, though, I’d ban first and ask questions later, if at all.
People who choose handles like that are trying to provoke others. Do we really NEED more people who are just trying to provoke others? I don’t think so.
I think ‘niggardly’ is a whole different kettle of fish, and people who get all up on their high horse about it are being overly sensitive fethwits. Even if it was used about Obama it has no etymological relation to “negro” in any fashion, so it’s a fucking storm in a teacup to try and pretend otherwise.
Hence the point Loach was making. Someone else said that surely someone wouldn’t use an ethnic slur without being a douche, especially if someone else pointed out their faux pas to them, and Loach was making the point that most of the teenage dickbags who play these games are set to “douche” by default, so it could be and probably is wholly intentional.
Its an online game where the object is to kill each other over and over and trash talk is the norm. Of course its to provoke. Many of the names have something to do with their prowess at killing. We are not talking about a SDMB user name.
Which is why I said it could go either way.
I will say that if I was a mod on such a site and there was a rule against racial/ethnic slurs in user names I’d ban it regardless of intent because it could be seen that way.
The mistake is believing that douchetitude is equally distributed across all demographic groups irrespective of the subject of douchery on the table.
I can’t imagine a Jewish kid using that handle. Yes, I know doucheness transcends color, ethnicity, and religion. A Jewish kid being a douche in some other way (like calling someone else a chink or something) doesn’t strike me as at all unreasonable. But a Jewish kid being a douche in a way that suggests he’s all for ethnic cleansing of his people is borderline implausible to me. It would be like a black guy going into a racially mixed forum and calling himself “killanegro”. Yes, this is possible, but not very likely.
At any rate, if we commit the error in assuming a poster that calls himself “killajew” is antisemitic when he in fact they’re just a massive douche, it’s not like we should jump off the bridge in embarrassment. As far as I’m concerned, such assumptions are the proper reward for doucheness.
I can see it because I have seen it. I have seen online players with names like “Killanigga” and “AznInvazn” who claim to be the races associated with their names.
I can totally see an obnoxious 14 year old Jewish boy calling himself “Killa Jew” because he’s a jew and he’s a killa. And I can also see him being accused of being anti-semetic by someone assuming he means “kill a jew” and telling them to STFU and stop being a fag.
Why? Because I have seen it happen. Different races, but this is the mentality of the people who play these games. They are in it for the lulz. And even if it’s something that can be perceived as self-hating, they will keep it up if it wads someone else’s panties because It Is Lulzworthy to them.
You obviously have no clue about the mentality of the players of these games, so your lecture about “I cna’t see this happening” is just completely off-base.
