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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCommon Racial Slurs Non-Blacks Use as Codes to Describe Black People
http://racisminamerica.org/common-racial-slurs-non-blacks-use-as-codes-to-describe-black-people/This is especially imperative when dealing with police officers.
Its critical to know the type of language thats being used to reference us by those sworn to protect and serve without bias. The dialogue used by cops when referencing Black people might explain why some of them harbor violent tendencies towards us.
Below is a list of completely demeaning and disrespectful racist terms provided by the Racial Slur Database to describe Black people:
uppityperson
(115,677 posts)LittleDuckie
(42 posts)I've never heard any of those in real life, & have only seen two or three of them online.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Are you black? Because you'd not hear them used if you were not unless you were part of the peer group. Curious you'd be so dismissive of casual
Racism.
Police definately have these terms, even in liberal NYC.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Um... Maybe I should work for the NSA, because that doesn't seem like a difficult code to crack.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Brickbat
(19,339 posts)LittleDuckie
(42 posts)If a thing is common, most people can be expected to be familiar with it.
The OP is misleading when it claims that these terms are in common use among whites. They're not.
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,854 posts)I had a former apartment neighbor who was white tell me about a music concert that he attended downtown. I didn't really care, but I feigned some interest.
He said that he left early because there were "too many Democrats" at the concert.
I was perplexed and asked him how he knew their political affiliations. Were people wearing identifying clothes, or what?
He looked at me like I was mentally challenged and replied, "Black people."
So it appears that "democrat" is an identifying word to some people as well.
TheDebbieDee
(11,119 posts)Black or African-American was "Canadian". This was about 2003 - 2004, IIRC.
caraher
(6,278 posts)I hadn't heard that before about a month ago. So I guess it's still out there.
SwankyXomb
(2,030 posts)Meaning African-Americans, like Canadians, don't tip.
Humanist_Activist
(7,670 posts)Can't really say I'm familiar with most of the others, at least as slurs, coded or not. Obviously, for the ones in foreign languages, those who aren't speakers of said languages wouldn't be familiar with them. In addition, others seem quite local. Others are codes within very specific subcultures(police culture mostly), etc.
The most common coded language used around here would be terms such as "Urban" usually used to criticize "Urban Culture", "Urban Youth" or "Urban Music", etc. Others would be localisms such as making references to neighborhoods "North of Delmar", etc. usually in a derogatory way.
xfundy
(5,105 posts)So much hatred, so little understanding, or even trying to understand.
TipTok
(2,474 posts)Not so much...
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)You may want to review the definition of the word 'common', as the listed words fall well within the parameters of four of the seven meanings.
TipTok
(2,474 posts)How about the top of the list (a.k.a. common sense)...?
occurring, found, or done often; prevalent.
You hear a lot of AAs referred to as "Levars", "Nauticas" "Sailors" or "Buppies"? If so, you might want to think about who you are associating with.
Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)And I've been called and heard pretty much everything out there.
The "Canadian" one mentioned above I have encountered, and "Obama Voters" seems to be in style as of late.
And part of what is in the article is just junk- a Gar is a fish nothing like a piranha, for example, and clearly that was just an attempt to make up a reason for that one.
PersonNumber503602
(1,134 posts)I've actually never heard of the Canadian thing. Where/when was that a thing?
ileus
(15,396 posts)PaddyIrishman
(110 posts)I don't buy this one:
CHALKY
Chalky is heard throughout Ireland, extremely derogatory word for blacks, who have an increasing number in the Irish population.
I've lived in Ireland all my life and I've never heard the word "Chalky" being used in reference to black people.
There is an English "Comedian" Jim Davidson who used include in his stage show his voicing of a West Indian character called "Chalky" but seeing as he also told Irish jokes I doubt if he's the inspiration for that.
haele
(12,659 posts)Often used as a nickname by white people for a black man considered socially acceptable - one a white person could do business with, or one who could pass for white - in the Northeast, notably used by Tammany Hall politicians and some of the 2nd wave Irish immigrants. That's probably which is where the confusion as to "it's heard in Ireland" may have come from.
When I was doing a lot of research for re-enactors back in the day, I came across it several times in contemporary writings.
It was not typically used in the South; and there has one instance I've read about in Texas around 1910 and a couple former slaves with their own businesses out west in the late 1800's who referred to by that nickname.
Haele
dawg
(10,624 posts)I'm a white man living in the deep South. I've only ever heard two of them them. (And believe me, I've heard plenty of racial slurs in my life.)
As a fellow southerner, this list appears to mostly made up.
Bonx
(2,053 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Odd that. Having myself lived in the south since the 70's, I've heard all but two. I suppose we are forced to conclude that anecdotal evidence and our own experiences often fall short of the reality that surrounds us, as most fish never recognize the mere existence of the very water we live in.
melman
(7,681 posts)I find that hard to believe.
nolabear
(41,971 posts)and I've heard exactly one of those, maybe once. "BUPPIE." I think it was floated as a trial balloon in the Yuppie era, and it wasn't particularly derogatory.
I could quote you some inventive invective but I've never heard of a one of these.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)as acceptable vernacular, which I would think a no-go on a self-ascribed "progressive" site, so what do I know.
Lint Head
(15,064 posts)the person speaking and being spoken to both know the racist reference for which the word is being used. Because some of the words are used for things other than a racist putdown, it makes the word easier to disguise. It proves racists are cowards who must disguise and suppress thier true beliefs.
I used the word spook once to refer to a cartoon ghost and a friend of mine was offended. I should have thought more before using that word.
Runningdawg
(4,516 posts)Mr Dixon
(1,185 posts)No worries i will not let clowns steal my shine.
loyalsister
(13,390 posts)I will definitely remember it as I sometimes hear it used among people with disabilities. Awareness is helpful. Thanks for posting!