# WTF? Bill O'Reilly just called Mexicans "wetbacks!" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 7, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370 "2003-02-07T03:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/161 "2003-02-12T15:40:32Z")
Listen, you assholes, it’s a fucking offensive word. It’s used in a hurtful, contemptuous and degrading way by enough racist pinheads that it qualifies as offensive. If it’s really that important to you to be allowed to call Mexicans “wetbacks,” then you have more problems than I can help you with and you certainly can’t learn anything from a message board. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/162 "2003-02-12T16:01:51Z")
No, I call _illegal Mexican immigrants_ wetbacks. Which, coincidentally, is what the word means. Isn’t it cool the way that works out? And evidently “assholes” and “racist pinheads” are not offensive words. Or maybe you’re just a hypocrite, and offensive words are ok, just as long as they help you make your point. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/163 "2003-02-12T16:48:36Z")
Asshoes and racist pinheads are not racial groups, and they are not applied to whole group to demonize them. There are plenty of pepole who call _all_ mexican immigrants “wetbacks.” Enough of them do it that the word has lost much of it’s original literal meaning and is basically just another slur. Even applying the word only to illegals, though is still perjorative and hostile in its intent. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/164 "2003-02-12T17:31:52Z")
Is “Cuban Raft Monkey” OK? (Kidding.) Here in North Havana when a group of Illegal Immigrants from Cuba are in the news, they are called “Migrants”. I find that stupid. “Refugees”, “Illegal Immigrants”, or even “Immigrants” are correct terms. People who call all Mexicans “wetbacks” are assholes and racist pinheads. Is the term “Rapist” perjorative and hostile in its intent? I sure hope so, because raping is wrong, raping is illegal, and rapists have done something wrong and deserve (in my opinion) to be called “Rapists”. Same with “Convict”, “Embezzler”, “Burglar”, and “Crack Head”. With all the negative connotations those words carry. When the terms are used to describe people who do, indeed, fit the description, and what they have done is wrong, then SURE they won’t like it! If the Illegal Immigrants don’t like being called “Illegal Immigrants” (about as sterile a term as I have seen), because it CORRECTLY intimates they have immigrated illegally, then we get shitheads who start calling them “Migrants”. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/165 "2003-02-12T18:20:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe\_Cool \* > \*\*No, I call _illegal Mexican immigrants_ wetbacks. Which, coincidentally, is what the word means. Isn’t it cool the way that works out? > > And evidently “assholes” and “racist pinheads” are not offensive words. Or maybe you’re just a hypocrite, and offensive words are ok, just as long as they help you make your point. > > :rolleyes: \*\* so, when I call you, **JerseyDiamond** , and other fundementalist Christians, “Fundies”, we’re fine 'cause it’s coincidentally what the word means??? Even when many Fundementalist Christians have noted that they find the term offensive? ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/166 "2003-02-12T21:25:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe\_Cool \* > \*\*Neither has Oxford, as Leander was kind enough to point out. Don’t you hate it when your cites work against you? \*\* You’re such a dumbfuck, **Joe\_Angry** , that “debating” you is a joke. Oxford doesn’t list “wetback” because it’s an American word. Oxford is in England. (And if you don’t know what “derogatory” means, you’ll have to look it up. I’m tired of trying to “learn you” some fucking knowledge.) And **wring** , I would say ignorant fucking hypocritical fundie if I weren’t a gentleman. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/167 "2003-02-12T21:29:20Z")
Btw, for those of you who aren’t brain-dead, the point is that “wetback” is considered an offensive word - not just by Hispanics, but by society at large - as evidenced by _more than one_ source. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/168 "2003-02-13T03:04:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by leander \* > **You’re such a dumbfuck, Joe\_Angry, that “debating” you is a joke.** Does anyone besides me see the irony with this statement? Perhaps you should change your name to leangry? > [@](#): > > **Oxford doesn’t list “wetback” because it’s an American word. Oxford is in England.** Since you’re evidently unable to read your own posts, I’ll hold your hand a little bit and point out that I was referring to the Oxford definition you quoted for “whore,” which lists it as a matter of fact descriptive term: > [@](#): > > Oxford > whore > /h:/ noun **1 prostitute.** Not listed as offensive when used in its proper context. > [@](#): > > **2 derogatory promiscuous woman.** Listed as offensive when used to describe somebody who is not, in fact, a whore. > [@](#): > > **(And if you don’t know what “derogatory” means, you’ll have to look it up. I’m tired of trying to “learn you” some fucking knowledge.)** Based on what I’ve seen from you thus far, I don’t think I’m interested in any of the “fucking knowledge” that you want to “learn me”. Wring, I really don’t care what you call me or Jerseydiamond or anybody else. First, I don’t know you and really am not affected by what you think of me, whether good or bad. And besides, as I said before, it’s just words. To be honest, I personally have noticed that the word “fundie” appears to be used most often in a mocking and derisive sense. But at the same time, am I hurt by some random anonymous internet person (no offense meant) mocking or deriding me? Not at all. So call me whatever you like. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/169 "2003-02-13T03:14:06Z")
Well, then, I suppose I could call you a fuckstain and be done with it? I personally see no difference between you referring to illegal immigrants from Mexico as “wetbacks” and my uncle referring to jerks who are black as “niggers”. But hey, whatever turns you on. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/170 "2003-02-13T03:45:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **Well, then, I suppose I could call you a fuckstain and be done with it?** Well, since your opinion is considerably less important to me than most people’s opinions, you just knock your little self right out. > [@](#): > > **I personally see no difference between you referring to illegal immigrants from Mexico as “wetbacks” and my uncle referring to jerks who are black as “niggers”.** Well, the word wetback MEANS illegal immigrants from Mexico, whereas the word nigger MEANS derogatory slang for Black. But think whatever you like. Remember, though, that your belief doesn’t alter the meanings of the words. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/171 "2003-02-13T03:51:48Z")
I suppose you missed that little bit in the dictionary definition quoted earlier, Joe, where the word wetback is also listed as a derogatory slur. If that makes you happy, “you just knock your little self right out.” I especially liked the last sentence of your posting just above: > [@](#): > > Remember, though, that your belief doesn’t alter the meanings of the words. Didn’t someone mention Irony? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/172 "2003-02-13T06:06:44Z")
Looks like MSNBC has found someone to make O’Reily look like a PC kiss-ass: Miek Savage From FAIR (not exactly the best source, but at least they get their quotes rights) > [@](#): > > Savage routinely refers to non-white countries as “turd world nations” and charges that the U.S. “is being taken over by the freaks, the cripples, the perverts and the mental defectives” (San Francisco Bay Guardian, 9/20/00). In a recent broadcast he justified ethnic slurs as a national security tool: “We need racist stereotypes right now of our enemy in order to encourage our warriors to kill the enemy,” he explained (San Francisco Chronicle, 2/6/03). > > “Turd world” immigrants are a frequent target of Savage’s anger: “You open the door to them, and the next thing you know, they are defecating on your country and breeding out of control” (Oregonian, 4/24/02). > > At times Savage’s arguments echo the conspiratorial scapegoating of the white supremacist movement: “With the [Latino] population that has emerged, since they breed like rabbits, in many cases the whites will become a minority in their own nation… The white people don’t breed as often for whatever reason. I guess many homosexuals are involved. That is also part of the grand plan, to push homosexuality to cut down on the white race” (San Francisco Bay Guardian, 9/20/00). > > Commenting on the “Million Mom March” in favor of gun control (which he dubbed the “Million Dyke March”), he dismissed organizers’ reference to American children killed by guns (5/15/00): “They’re not kids, they’re ghetto slime… they’re the same kids that are in Sierra Leone toting AK47s.” > > Misogyny and homophobia are staples of Savage’s show as well as racism. In his book Savage Nation, he argues that Sen. Hillary Clinton and Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor have “feminized and homosexualized much of America, to the point where the nation has become passive, receptive and masochistic.” > > Discussing student volunteers distributing food to the homeless in San Francisco, Savage declared that “the girls from Branson [school] can go in and maybe get raped… because they seem to like the excitement of it. There’s always the thrill and possibility they’ll be raped in a dumpster while giving out a turkey sandwich” (San Francisco Bay Guardian, 9/20/00). > > In announcing the hire, MSNBC president Erik Sorenson described Savage as “brash, passionate and smart,” and promised that he would provide “compelling opinion and analysis with an edge.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/173 "2003-02-13T06:08:59Z")
Mike Savage makes Rush Limbaugh look like Jimmy Carter. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/174 "2003-02-13T06:14:24Z")
My lord God! MSNBC is going to put this cretin on the air? I agree, O’Reilly looks like Noam Chomsky compared to this guy. I can’t believe MSNBC is comfortable putting out blatant white supremacy. What the hell is happening to this country? ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/175 "2003-02-13T06:42:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monty \* > \*\*I suppose you missed that little bit in the dictionary definition quoted earlier, Joe, where the word wetback is also listed as a derogatory slur. If that makes you happy, “you just knock your little self right out.” > > I especially liked the last sentence of your posting just above: > > Didn’t someone mention Irony? \*\* No, I’m not missing anything. I thought it was obvious that the offensiveness of “wetback” is in dispute among several different dictionaries. I happen not to care whether it’s offensive or not. I am saying that it is not a racist term. It does not mean “those stupid mexicans”, it means illegal immigrants from Mexico. If the group described by the term feels offended by being described as what they are, then too bad. Wetback is no more a derogatory slur than whore, crackhead, or thief. Yes, they all have negative meanings, but then they are describing negative things. I guess I should have posted a “Monty alert”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/176 "2003-02-13T07:23:27Z")
Joe: I guess I shouldn’t have expected you to not be a jerk. The term “wetback” is also used as a slur for any Mexican, as indicated by the quote from the American Heritage Dictionary above. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/177 "2003-02-13T11:11:43Z")
Oh Lord. It’s like arguing with a “crackhead.” I give up. > [@](#): > > I happen not to care whether it’s offensive or not. The problem, I think, is that some people have a set of beliefs that they are unable to alter, despite all available evidence. So we can only be happy that most are not so simple minded. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/178 "2003-02-13T16:49:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by leander \* > \*\*the point is that “wetback” is considered an offensive word - not just by Hispanics, but by society at large - as evidenced by _more than one_ source. \*\* Ok, out of curiosity, what’s your source for saying that “hispanics” find “wetback” offensive to themselves? For example, I am of Mexican ancestry, and I’m not offended by it. I grew up, and currently live, in an area that WAS Mexico, just 155 years ago, and to my knowledge, nobody that I have ever known has felt personally slighted by the word “wetback” except those whom it properly describes: illegal immigrants. Actually, on second thought, I don’t need your source. This whole discussion is sickeningly PC and has become quite stupid, so I’m going to go ahead and drop out of it, unless a really good opportunity to annoy Monty comes up. (I’m kidding!) ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/179 "2003-02-13T18:24:49Z")
**Joe** you missed where I also mentioned that **other fundementalist Christians** identify “Fundie” as offensive. As you repeatedly point out we don’t know each other and you don’t care what I think, we then don’t have to care that you aren’t offended. But. You keep insisting that since only ‘most’ dictionary sources state that the term ‘wetback’ is offensive and that you don’t care if you are being offensive, and that the term ‘wetback’ as far as you’re concerned means literally illegal Mexican immigrent, **then** how do you reconcile that position with: “fundie” is a term that literally means “fundementalist Christian”. it has been identified (by at least ‘some’ ) fundementalist Christians to be offensive and insulting. then, according to your standards, it should be fine to continue to refer to such folks as ‘fundies’ since it’s literally true and the idea that it may be considered offensive shouldn’t enter into the equation 'cause it’s only words. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370/180 "2003-02-13T20:31:19Z")
Joe: I thought that line was absolutely hilarious. It really brightened my morning when I read it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-bill-oreilly-just-called-mexicans-wetbacks/153370.md?page=10)