Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

Joe Tall's recent post got me thinking about how racism is often inferred by the context in which one might use racially offensive or insensitive phrases. On more than one occasion up here in lilly-white New Hampshire, I've had patients say the following anti-semetic phrase in the context of a normal conversation such as:

Yeah, I met with the guy who responded to my ad about the truck for sale, but he tried to Jew me down on the price...

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

I voted racist just because I don't really see how you can argue that it's not racist at all, but it's the Diet Coke of racism if anything. This statement wouldn't jar me or cause me to speak out.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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it's the Diet Coke of racism

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Just one calorie, not racist enough!

It's quasi-racism.

It's the margarine of racism.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

this is 100% racism. im shocked it's split atm.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

You have a doctorate in psychology and you need to ask this question?

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

I can't believe it's not racism

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

It's a racist figure of speech, that even if used does not imply that the person who is using it is racist. I've said it before, I know many people who've said it before, and I don't believe that it makes you a racist person. Maybe not the most politically correct person, but yeah. The statement is racist.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call. *DELETED*
 

Post deleted by astroglide

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

are you serious?! of course that's racist! anyone who says that non-ironically is almost certainly never setting foot inside my house or getting any business from me.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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I find that like the term "nigger-rig" You would never use it in front of a black guy, but if you did he would only be, at the most, minorly irriatated

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please use it in a sentence and find me a black person who would only be minorly irritated.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

I think that the best play here is after the guy says that, just make a face like u farted. He knows what he said was racist, and if you don't give him any positive feedback he'll probably feel like a douche, and second-guess it before he ever says it again [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

Racial stereotypes = racist the vast majority of the time, especially in non-joking situations.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

I could get my roommate to niggerrid a response but he's asleep right now. I guess it all depends on how serious you think the person is. I would never use the term in front of a person I didn't know.

On second though I think you are right, it is racist but It is a kind of term that can be taken as ambivalant by people who are associated.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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He knows what he said was racist, and if you don't give him any positive feedback he'll probably feel like a douche, and second-guess it before he ever says it again [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

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Actually, I believe that the majority of the time these individuals didn't think they were saying anything racist or inflammatory.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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You have a doctorate in psychology and you need to ask this question?

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If I only wanted my opinion I'ld just poll myself.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

Since "Jew", politically speaking, is sort of a not 100% race because it's also a religion, this is on the border of racism.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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You have a doctorate in psychology and you need to ask this question?

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If I only wanted my opinion I'ld just poll myself.

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Generally, in these matters, those are the best polls, or at least the only ones that make a difference.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

What about gipped? I said that in class once and my teacher flipped her cookie. "I don't wanna hear you say that in my class room ever again!" I reply with a confused look, "I said gipped not japped." She wasn't amused.

Is it like.. a disrespectful term against.. gypsys?

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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Racial stereotypes = racist the vast majority of the time, especially in non-joking situations.

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If someone said this I would assume they were probably joking. I can't remember ever hearing someone say something like this and actually mean to imply that they believe jews are cheaper than gentiles.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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What about gipped? I said that in class once and my teacher flipped her cookie. "I don't wanna hear you say that in my class room ever again!" I reply with a confused look, "I said gipped not japped." She wasn't amused.

Is it like.. a disrespectful term against.. gypsys?

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Yes, "gyped", from Gypsy (Roma).
Few people who use it know the origin, and some others argue for a different etymology.

She played this one wrong. It was a teaching moment, not a flipping-out moment.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

Don't make me do the nigger work.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

clearly racist

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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Don't make me do the nigger work.

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Hahahaha.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

Anti-semitic. Not even close. Heard the phrase for the first time in college, and as a jew was pretty pissed off about it. I guess that's one way to define racism, that a person of that race/religion/ethnicity feels insulted by the comment. Sure, some are overly sensitive, and this is not the best measure of racism, but I know few jews who would particularly like the phrase.

Oddly, my parents, who were always sensitive to any anti-semitism they saw, showed a pattern of using offensive terms to describe other ethnic minorities. Strange that people do that without getting the irony.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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If I only wanted my opinion I'd just poll myself.

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tee hee. <font color="white"> think about it </font>

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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I find that like the term "nigger-rig" You would never use it in front of a black guy, but if you did he would only be, at the most, minorly irriatated

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please use it in a sentence and find me a black person who would only be minorly irritated.

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Most blacks I know, and I know a lot - my city's population is over 1/4 black and I live on the poorer side of town.

Edit: I found that the people that would most get offended at such a term are either a) whites or b) educated or middle-to-upper class blacks. You can clearly see signs of racism amongst some of the middle-to-upper class blacks, similar to Chris Rock's "black people and niggers" distinction, or the division of light and dark skinned blacks in New Orleans.

Then again, racism - or relics of them - have been around so long here that it's done without thought.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

Anti-semitic.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

I wonder if people would have the same repsonse if your example used the word "gypped."

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

I voted racist, based on the implicit assumption that "jew" is a race. If we want to get nitty, I'll say it's not racist.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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I wonder if people would have the same repsonse if your example used the word "gypped."

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it just occurred to me that this was a slur against the gypsies. and i've used it for how long? holy [censored]

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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I wonder if people would have the same repsonse if your example used the word "gypped."

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it just occurred to me that this was a slur against the gypsies. and i've used it for how long? holy [censored]

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Don't even mention blackballed.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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I wonder if people would have the same repsonse if your example used the word "gypped."

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Gypped as in gypsie? I never knew that's where that word came from, I guess I assumed it was spelled jipped.

I was thinking that this is so commonly in use it isn't racist, but then I realized that's a stupid thing to think and it is racist.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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I wonder if people would have the same repsonse if your example used the word "gypped."

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it just occurred to me that this was a slur against the gypsies. and i've used it for how long? holy [censored]

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Don't even mention blackballed.

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The word blackball has absolutely nothing to do with race.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

Of course it is racist. Anything that singles out a group and uses a stereoype will be racist.

However, the more pertinent question in my mind is whether it is offensive or at least in context does it matter?

I've used this phrase before and laugh my butt off when they makes jokes about this on south park. Do I think jews are tight with money and try to rip people off? No. In fact most of the jews I know are very giving and charitable. And if asked why I laugh at the jokes I'm not really sure.

Maybe it has to do with social grooming or maybe I find the sterotypes as ironic or maybe they are just fun to joke around with b/c in my mind they don't really matter. To me calling someone jewish b/c they are tight with money just translates in my mind that someone is tight with money. Not that all jewish people are tight with money. Using the word jew in this context is associated with being tight with money but has really no association with being jewish. I don't know if that will make sense to everyone, but for me there can be clear distinctions made.

Regardless of the context, the comments are still racists and do indeed promote stereotypes and racism. However, I do find a lot of jokes funny and think that context really matters.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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I find that like the term "nigger-rig"

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What does this term mean?

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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I wonder if people would have the same repsonse if your example used the word "gypped."

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it just occurred to me that this was a slur against the gypsies. and i've used it for how long? holy [censored]

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Don't even mention blackballed.

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The word blackball has absolutely nothing to do with race.

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No sh1t Sherlock. How about 'humourless'?

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

After a certain point a term loses all of the racially motivated meaning. I doubt anyone in the last 30 years has said "jew you down" while thinking: "I hate jews because enough of them are fiscally responsible so as to warrant stereotyping."

EDIT: ok I misused the quick reply thing. This should be in response to the first post in this thread.

~D

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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I find that like the term "nigger-rig"

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What does this term mean?

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I've also heard the term be used as the less offensive "jerry rig"

It basically means that you fix or make something using spare or random parts. For example. Say your car broke a belt. Well instead of getting a new belt you decide to tie together some socks, wire, and glue to make a new belt. It is much like being McGuyver.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

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After a certain point a term loses all of the racially motivated meaning. I doubt anyone in the last 30 years has said "jew you down" while thinking: "I hate jews because enough of them are fiscally responsible so as to warrant stereotyping."

EDIT: ok I misused the quick reply thing. This should be in response to the first post in this thread.

~D

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this was exactly my point. many phrases are now just terms of art and have nothing to do with their original stereotypic meaning.

Re: Racist or not?...you make the call.
 

[ QUOTE ]
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I wonder if people would have the same repsonse if your example used the word "gypped."

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it just occurred to me that this was a slur against the gypsies. and i've used it for how long? holy [censored]

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Don't even mention blackballed.

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The word blackball has absolutely nothing to do with race.

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No sh1t Sherlock. How about 'humourless'?

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When do we get to talk about anti-asian sentiment in math classes? Why do they have to call it a "slope" instead of just an "m" (in y=mx+b)? I think it has to do with asians being stereotypically good at math.

~D