rolling "Is This Racist?" thread

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"Oriental" shouldn't be used to describe anything except furniture and architecture afaik

― houses of the holey (Ówen P.), Thursday, January 19, 2012 12:31 PM (36 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yes, of course, but the racist archetype is "inscrutable Oriental"

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:32 (twelve years ago) link

Well, like I said earlier I never ever knew that it had that history so your mom isn't the only one.

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:33 (twelve years ago) link

if there's a black kid acting in such a way that would cause a white kid to be described as uppity, what do you use instead, just y'know out of interest

(govtname)mac (darraghmac), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:33 (twelve years ago) link

yes, of course, but the racist archetype is "inscrutable Oriental"

Never heard that either. Jesus Christ I am never saying anything again ever.

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:33 (twelve years ago) link

x-post - snobby? stuck up?

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:34 (twelve years ago) link

nothing wrong with "inscrutable," like i said!

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:34 (twelve years ago) link

why are you yelling at black kids?

deltron the escape g.o.a.t. (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:34 (twelve years ago) link

I probably wouldn't say uppity at all.

Snobby would work for me, despite the bike acronym.

pplains, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:34 (twelve years ago) link

I would just say 'snotty little brat' because ime that label applies to every single child who has ever existed

I am that young sis, the beacon, a yardstick (dayo), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:34 (twelve years ago) link

if you find yourself wanting to describe an Asian person as inscrutable, maybe examine your assumptions but lots of things are inscrutable in a non-racist way.

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:35 (twelve years ago) link

lol wgw

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:35 (twelve years ago) link

whiney, a white person should never be allowed to yell at black kids?

I am that young sis, the beacon, a yardstick (dayo), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:35 (twelve years ago) link

BTW 10 million xps but I knew about Agatha Christie's 'ten little... ' but I guess I was just shocked to see the word in a different book that was released obviously recently enough for the Kindle.

kinder, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:36 (twelve years ago) link

i shout at black kids because i can't catch them to batter them obv

(govtname)mac (darraghmac), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:36 (twelve years ago) link

"uppity" does seem like kind of a problem in all contexts. it means, like "acting above your station" which seems to necessarily imply some sort of fixed social hierarchy even if that hierarchy is not about race.

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:36 (twelve years ago) link

only one of the Mr Men is dark brown
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_K4ncs0BvIRA/TVGi-XAhviI/AAAAAAAAKIo/YW1GvdbX4H4/s640/mr_men_grid.jpg

ERIC CANONTA FOR PRESIDETN! (onimo), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:36 (twelve years ago) link

Well in my mom's mind, that station is "I'm your choir director, and I'm higher on the food chain than you are" so fair enough. ;)

It means why you gotta be a montague? (Laurel), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link

to use "snobby" or "snotty" in place of "uppity" would likely be more precise in most people's non-racist usage.

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link

I would just say 'snotty little brat' because ime that label applies to every single child who has ever existed

― I am that young sis, the beacon, a yardstick (dayo), Thursday, January 19, 2012 12:34 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Famous porn scenes like "shake that bear" (Phil D.), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link

wtf is OJ doing in there?

xp

Let A Man Come In And Do The Cop Porn (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link

or maybe "insubordinate," in your mom's case, Laurel?

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:38 (twelve years ago) link

True although I feel like people use it interchangeably (perhaps incorrectly) with snobby a lot? I've probably uttered that word like 5 times in my entire life. It's not something you hear very often and now I know why!

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:38 (twelve years ago) link

Not letting my kid anywhere near Mr. Snow or Mr. Bump.

pplains, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:38 (twelve years ago) link

i think you can act uppity without it being a social/racial situation tbh, not sure uppity is very far from entitled tbh

(govtname)mac (darraghmac), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:39 (twelve years ago) link

omfg I didn't even see OJ!

ERIC CANONTA FOR PRESIDETN! (onimo), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:39 (twelve years ago) link

True although I feel like people use it interchangeably (perhaps incorrectly) with snobby a lot? I've probably uttered that word like 5 times in my entire life. It's not something you hear very often and now I know why!

― ENBB, Thursday, January 19, 2012 12:38 PM (15 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

they do, and language is a living thing; meanings change, but that word just seems inherently shitty to me still.

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:39 (twelve years ago) link

Oh the "true" there was a x-post to HS about it being problematic in a lot of contexts regardless of any racist connotations.

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:39 (twelve years ago) link

Yes - going by it's actual meaning you described above it does seem inherently shitty in most situations.

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:40 (twelve years ago) link

i mean, that's a connotation that i associate with "uppity." it's not in the dictionary definition i just googled. i feel like in america with the history of the phrase "uppity n*****" maybe it carries that connotation more intensely.

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:41 (twelve years ago) link

Yeah, "insubordinate" is a perfect analog but my mom's family are from Tennessee so she has "uppity" in her vocab already and it occasionally gets used. Anyway. She's not trying to make a statement, she just doesn't hear other words around her EVER because no one talks about race in her world, and casual racism that's based on not actually KNOWING anyone in the indicted group is just everywhere.

It means why you gotta be a montague? (Laurel), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:41 (twelve years ago) link

whiney, a white person should never be allowed to yell at black kids?

― I am that young sis, the beacon, a yardstick (dayo), Thursday, January 19, 2012 12:35 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I literally have never been in a situation where I had to yell at black kids, let alone one that requires me to inform one that he's acting snobby, ymmv

deltron the escape g.o.a.t. (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:43 (twelve years ago) link

I used to tutor at a school where my kids were black - I should never have been allowed to yell at him, even if they did some shitty things?

I am that young sis, the beacon, a yardstick (dayo), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:44 (twelve years ago) link

http://i.imgur.com/iIWUO.jpg

pplains, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:44 (twelve years ago) link

pls be my special classroom guest

rocognise gnome (remy bean), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:45 (twelve years ago) link

although i have never said snobby in a classroom

rocognise gnome (remy bean), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:46 (twelve years ago) link

although i have never said snobby in a classroom

rocognise gnome (remy bean), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:46 (twelve years ago) link

Oh wait - I thought Whiney was just kidding with that comment before.

Yes people's milage might indeed vary cause if you were actually being serious then I don't know about Darragh but I've personally had to yell at black kids, white kids, latino kids - all kinds of kids - a lot in various jobs over the years.

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:46 (twelve years ago) link

I yelled at a bunch of black kids last summer for throwing pebbles at other kids climbing on the playground.

I said, "KNOCK IT OFF, YOU INSCRUTABLE MONKEYS."

pplains, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:47 (twelve years ago) link

Before you all think I'm mean or something I didn't actually yell (despite there being many times when I really really wanted to) at them. Just to clarify.

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:47 (twelve years ago) link

x-post - lol

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:47 (twelve years ago) link

about ten years ago i did get chastised for assigning a public speaking project, on whose rubric were allocated 10 points for 'clear and articulate voice.' i :get: that there's racial baggage to this term, but at the same time IN A PUBLIC SPEAKING CLASS I felt it was an apropos component of a grade.

rocognise gnome (remy bean), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:48 (twelve years ago) link

i :get: that there's racial baggage to this term

TO WHICH TERM?

:(

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:48 (twelve years ago) link

pizza guy ftw
xxxxxp

ERIC CANONTA FOR PRESIDETN! (onimo), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:49 (twelve years ago) link

"articulate," again, when used to describe black people. it's not like you can't say "articulate"!

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:49 (twelve years ago) link

i feel like more important than memorizing a list of words you can never use is understanding the racist history of their use.

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:49 (twelve years ago) link

I mean I could guess that you mean articulate because maybe inarticulate has been used in a way that's connected with race but I would never in a million years have looked at that and thought about racial baggage. Jesus.

ENBB, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:50 (twelve years ago) link

I was joking, enbb, i was explaining the joke to dayo

deltron the escape g.o.a.t. (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:50 (twelve years ago) link

Erica, the context is sort of an exceptionalism thing where you're like "my, that black man was so *articulate*" because your expectation is that black men are stupid and can't speak properly.

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:51 (twelve years ago) link

it's, like, unintentionally revealing of assumptions about black people; i really doubt you've ever used the word in that way

horseshoe, Thursday, 19 January 2012 17:51 (twelve years ago) link


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