A deep dive into the origins of the word "Cracker"

[doopayo]

Currently the ever so recent bannings of the popular Twitch streamers HasanAbi and Vaush which recently took place because of the two using the word cracker to describe racially white individuals. This incident has seemed to spark lots of controversy and debate over social media relating to the use of the word cracker. So I’ve taken it as an opportunity to do my own research and actually take a deep dive into the origins of the word cracker. Just to have a look as to why some believe the word to be a slur, why others believe it to not be a slur at all, and if the word itself is even a slur.

In order to truly decipher whether the term cracker is a racially charged slur or not we must first have a basic understanding of what makes a word a slur in the first place.

A pejorative or a slur, according to Dictionary.Com is defined as being “disparaging, derogatory, and belittling.”. This is the popular and more widely understood meaning of what a slur is, however this definition proves to be extremely lackluster and bare as it doesn’t touch base on the nuance and linguistic complexity that actually makes a slur, a slur.

Many people also tend to falsely [whether intentionally or not] hold the belief that a slur and an insult are the same exact thing. This is a popular misconception about slurs as it fails to recognize that insulting someone is a matter of causing someone to be offended, whereas offense is a subjective psychological state the concept of slurring doesn’t require any actual intended offending target or even the elicitation of a reaction whatsoever. Which is why the act of referring to someone as being a “loser” is different from referring to someone as being a “n*gger” since even though referring to someone as a loser is intended to solicit listeners to view said someone as being undesirable, damaged, or inferior, the act of referring to someone as a n*gger diffrentiants as being a slur due to the fact that it performs the function [whether intended to or not] of normalizing hateful attitudes towards various non-white groups as speakers have used the term to derogate African americans, Black Africans, East Indians, Arabs. And Polynesians (among others).

This also isn’t meant to suggest that the derogation accomplished by use of pejoratives are always highly destructive. Within the context of the act of referring to someone as being a “loser” you could also use it to playfully refer to a friend in a completely different context. The same can be applied to pejoratives like “n*gga” which is a term widely used by African americans today in a context that’s completely removed from the racialized violence and hatred the word originates from as it has been reclaimed and repurposed by the black community. This is a concept referred to as ‘Linguistic Reclamation’. You can also observe similar forms of linguistic reclamation done by the Lgbtq community as they reclaimed the word “queer” which was once originally used to derogate those who engaged in sexual behavior that was deemed “abnormal”. The term queer now has litlle derogatory force as a result of Lgbtq individuals appropriating the word.

Now that I believe I’ve given a pretty detailed look as to what actually constitutes a slur being a slur we can finally get into the history on the origins of the word Cracker. How it was used in the past, how the way it’s used linguistically has changed, and if it’s truly a slur.

The origins of the word cracker originate from the period of the Antebellum South that at the times, it’s culture around plantation slavery produced a society that regulated poor landless whites to the fringe of society due to their economic position and lack of property.

During this period many southerners cherished a type of chivalric honor cultured: Which was propagated by the elite southern slave owners which emphasized the idea of paternalism, patriarchalism, social hierachy, and white supremacy. Most landless white southerners were unable to hold up to these standards so as a result they were often compared to enslaved black laborers and characterized in ways that blurred the lines of race and privilege.

Because these landless whites did not meet up to the elitist plantation owning whites understandings of whiteness, white supremacy ended up serving as their rhetorical tool for keeping non-slave holding whites loyal to slavery.

In the late-antebellum period, elite southern whites made efforts to justify slavery for non-slave holding whites by emphasizing the economic and social privilege it afforded them, and appealed to them throught the prospect of social mobility through slave owning. The reasoning as to why the southern elite created the ideology of white supremacy in order to justify slavery to these landless working class whites was because of the fear these white elites held of these landless whites being “radicalized” by anti slavery arguments that concerned these white elites with the possibility that the working class whites would elicit political change if they began to figure out the actual cause of their marganalization in society which was largely due to slavery and the exploitation of their labor by these working class elites as these landless white laborers were largely viewed as nothing but temporary and expandable labor

Because of this the term cracker was originally used by elite whites to reffer to how they viewed poor landless whites as being lazy and dumb for “not owning a home” as the word itself is actually from the 16 and 17th centure, it derives from the word “cracked brains” a term used by British aristocrats to refer to lowerclass people as being dumb and lazy. This idea of cracker being a term to put down the lower class continued on well after the “American revolution”. It was just adapted to refer to lower class landless whites which later became a word used among enslaved black people to describe the crack of a slave masters whip and is now currently used as a broad term to describe all white people.

Now what does this all mean for the word cracker, does this make it a racialized slur against white people ? Absolutely not, since the word historically has been used as a classist one against the working class whites and the elites, it doesn’t make the word a racially charged one since given historical context white people as a whole were not oppressed by this word.

So what does this make the word cracker you might ask ? To this day poor working class white individuals might not be being oppressed by this exact word, rather they like the rest of the working class under a capitalist system are being oppressed by the [majority white] elites through the exploitation of their labor that still continues to go on till this day under a capitalist system.

These white elites continue to work under a capitalist system giving the poor working class white the false idea that if they just pull themselves up by their bootstraps they can do exactly what the capitalists are doing similarly to how poor landless whites in the past believed in the false hope of social mobility through the ownership of slaves and their false sense of superiority under white supremacy that in reality was just constructed to keep them complacent under a system that was made to fail them.

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Footnotes: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2050&context=etd

https://networks.h-net.org/node/11465/discussions/4297558/poor-whites-antebellum-us-south-topical-guide

https://rockhawk.org/cculture-slavery/

https://iep.utm.edu/pejorati/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0388000110000975?via%3Dihub

https://www.jstor.org/stable/454380?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

[lilyanony1]

I found this to be a very interesting and well written piece of information.
My lack of knowledge of the origins found that I learned something today.
Not a term I've used but something I've heard mostly in American films or shows, used to display racial prejudice against a lower class white.
Whereas others here have mentioned the other ways it's used, usually in the form of gentle ribbing.
Crackers is something I've said when eluding to someone being a bit crazy but mostly in a humourous way.
But that in itself with the hand gesture of a finger circling the temple of the head whilst pulling a silly face coz be seen as offensive.

In this pc world we really ought to be robots.
I find it so weird.
An example being were so pc about sooo many things, but sex for example is something people want to talk about openly and incredibly crudely.
. Very bizarre.

Thank you for educating me.

I will say this, it's not a term I'd use, but in the event I used it in the humourous context I mentioned and someone said they felt offended and even questioned whether I was a racist. I'd very quickly apologise and explain that that wasn't my intention, and hope to god the person doesn't blast me all over social media...

[lilyanony1]

Thank you for mho x

[nirvana55]

*Not only lower class white

[Lliam]

This was a fascinating MyTake, doopayo. Prefacing it by discussing the distinction between a slur and an insult was very smart.

In regards to the word "cracker" as a pejorative, I had no idea. I always assumed that it had to do with the color of crackers, similar to use of the term "white bread".

I love your grasp of the complexity of history and issues such as racism. You're interest in research and your amazing writing skills are impressive. In fact, I've been impressed by every MyTake you have posted. I know people with college degrees who aren't as bright as you. I don't know your background, but I'm guessing that, on top of you're natural brilliance, you're parents raised you right. Seriously, I'm not blowing smoke up your ass. You're the kind of people I like to have as friends.

Anyway, thank you for this MyTake. I think this kind of stuff is fascinating.

[doopayo]

Awe thankyou so much ! That means a lot, I’ve actually just always been into writing and all things literature as well as history so that might be why but seriously thank you so much ! That’s the best compliment I’ve ever gotten in my work 😄

[Lliam]

I just read the other comments and was honestly surprised by how many idiots were offended and even called you racist. It's embarrassing.

[LesterJester]

You know, I could write a big long essay about the history of other racist terms, like the N word, and even try and attempt to justify its use by non-blacks. Actually, some white people have tried this in the past and guess what happened? They got shit on, and rightly so.

It doesn't change a damn thing. What it was meant as in the past does not always remain the same today.

The point is, nobody should be defending other's racist ways, which is exactly what you're doing.

Two clowns got banned for using racist terms, but because they're using a racist term against white people, you think it's perfectly fine for them to do so, that they shouldn't have been banned and that it's OK to go around calling every white person you see a fk'n cracker.

Think about it for two seconds:

Your own argument goes on to say how the black community had reappropriated the N word to use amongst themselves. Regardless of the origins of the term Cracker, it's the same black community who reappropriated the work Cracker for themselves to slur white people.

You got a double standard going on here. They reappropriated one word they use amongst themselves to take some power back with the N word, while anybody else who's white isn't allowed to say the same word, otherwise they're racist assholes and get beaten... Meanwhile they reappropriated Cracker to use as a racist slur against white people and you think they're perfectly OK with using it as much as they want, to whoever they want, and get away with it... Because you're argument is it isn't a racist term due to origins.

Well, if it's reappropriated to be made into a racist term, then it's racist. It's as simple as that.

The bottom line is that nobody should be tossing slurs at one another in the first damn place. Treat others as you wish to be treated and all that. Lead by fk'n example.

Even if you have experienced white assholes who treated you like shit or made your life more difficult, regardless of the country you live in, community, etc., not all us white people are racist assholes, just as not all of any other race are racist assholes. Generalisations is the start of a slippery slope.

I come from a large family of mixed races, mixed sexual orientations, mixed religions and more... I myself am part Irish, part Scottish and part Mi’kmaq, but typically identify as a white Irish Canadian. Everyone in my family, both immediate and extended, treat each other and others with the same level of respect and dignity as each of us would want to be treated.

So if one doesn't want to head down a messy racial situation, don't start tossing around racial slurs.

Whether you think Cracker is racist or not is irrelevant. Other people do think it is racist, therefore IT IS.

[doopayo]

Slurring someone and insulting someone are two fundamentally different things. My take explains this

[doopayo]

And yes poor southern whites (the people the insult was geered towards) did reappropriate they word as that’s a concept you can do for both insults and slurs, look up cracker culture. Many southerners called themselves crackers with pride. Not as an insult like it originally was created to be

[doopayo]

And I also already debunk the intentions of using a slur fallacy, I explain why your intentions while using a slur for a particular group you aren’t apart of is inherently harmful weather intentional or not

[LesterJester]

So one group of white people use the term amongst themselves, so therefore everybody should be able to use the term and not be deemed racist. OK, so because some in the black community use the N word amongst themselves, does that mean I can toss the N word around as I please?

No, it doesn't. It's still deemed by many others to be racist, just as cracker is deemed racist by many others.

If someone called me cracker, I'm not going to lose my crap and start a fight over it, but they sure as hell are not going to be making a new friend. But just because I won't make a scene and start a fight over it, doesn't mean it isn't any less racist.

Bottom line is that intentions matter and also if others find something racist, it usually is. If someone calls someone else the N word or Cracker with the intent to offend (which most do) then it's based off of the colour of their skin and therefore racist.

[doopayo]

Everything you’re confused about has literally already been explained in detail throughout the first few paragraphs of this my take

[LesterJester]

I see my previous replies were deleted. Guess you don't like counter arguments that are better than your own and prove you wrong.

I'm not confused about a single thing and you saying so doesn't make it so.

I'm moving on, because there's no point debating or discussing something with someone who deletes comments to skew context and perspective to favour themselves.

[doopayo]

What are you even going on about? I never deleted any of your replies and of course your criticism isn’t valid because instead of explaining how you think how I should improve (like a good critique would do) you accuse me of having a double standard, you go on to just refute my argument (instead of using facts and logic) you actually weather intentionally or not misrepresented my argument by implying my argument came to the conclusion cracker was a racialized slur (which it was not) as it can best be described as being an insult not a slur (I explain the difference between the two in the my take, I also explain what linguistic appropriation is which you don’t seem to understand in your criticism of my work.

“Well it’s reappropriate do to be a racist term” I’ve already explained the difference between a slur and an insult and how insulting someone or a group of people is different from slurring a group of people which you also still conflate the two and confuse.

And the rest of your criticism was stuff that should’ve been left out since they’re not critiquing my work at all; it’s just an embarrassing failed attempt to critique my character? (Which is extremely out of line and disrespectful)

[doopayo]

And now since I’m guessing you can’t respond to me adequately you’re doubling down by trying to act like I deleted your replies?
Seriously, I’d expect more maturity from an adult

Be honest; this wasn’t a critique of my work this was a critique of my morality and self interest cause otherwise you would actually give me constructive advice instead of this bullshit

[LesterJester]

My apologies. I'm using the app rather than the Web site and at the time of my posting, none of my past replies or your comments appeared except your last one prior to my reply. It appeared as though the posts were removed... However now they're showing up again.

I've had comments deleted by users in the past and that's what it appeared to have happened, so I again apologise for the confusion.

Regarding the topic at hand, I'll just respectfully disagree and move on. I believe we've both said all there is to say and we'll just go around in circles.

[ChrisMaster69]

I said in the other posts and will say again, it’s crackers that cracker is used as a derogatory term.

in English it is used for:

an attractive woman - She’s a right cracker or cracking.

something that you think is very good, funny, etc. - that was a cracker of a goal, I have a great joke for you, it’s a cracker. Or cracking.

If you say that someone is crackers, you think they are crazy or are behaving as if they are crazy.

also with it being Christmas, we have them on the table and pull them, Christmas Crackers.

Personally, it’s more likely to have come from Craic and be attributed to Irish , Scots that moved over to the US. The English who were over there would have really looked down on them. Also the crazy comment could come in to it ‘those crackers down south are trying to farm xyz’ as in those crazy people down south…

Is everything in the US used in racism.

[SixFootSexy]

Unfortunately, bot farms, social media and politicians have created a US that is indistinguishable from what it was even 10 years ago. People are more polarized than ever while caring about trivial things like race or college tuition when there are much, much bigger things at stake. Such as a globalist agenda, trying to get rid of property rights, incite violence and consolidate wealth into the hands of a few. People don't know how to fix it but if we could all agree to not use twitter and facebook, it would be a much, much better world overnight.

[SaoirseS]

@chrismaster69. While I’ve read the term cracker in a pejorative sense, I’ve never heard it used. Using it would be like walking around saying “23 skidoo.” It’s way outdated. Like the way you use it, in my parts it’s used mostly as a reference a la bonkers, crazy (in a good way), or a live wire. If someone says “she’s a ‘cracker” it’s short for firecracker.

[Staximus]

All that is bullshit except the part about the whip. The cracker was a slave driver. The guy who cracked the whip on the slaves. There were white and black slave drivers. Stop bringing your retarded commie rhetoric into everything. Communism only works when the government has total control of your life, which is another form of slavery. You want everybody to be slaves of the elites who control the government? Then support communism. I know gutter junkies who were living on the sidewalk who are now rich. It's still easier to do that in America than anywhere else.

[doopayo]

Source

[doopayo]

And no. In a communist society the government would be a matter ruled by the working class proletariat

“Communists must listen attentively to the views of people outside the Party and let them have their say. If what they say is right, we ought to welcome it, and we should learn from their strong points; if it is wrong, we should let them finish what they are saying and then patiently explain things to them.” - "Speech at the Assembly of Representatives of the Shensi-Kansu-Ningsia Border Region" (November 21, 1941), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 33.*

So no despite the propaganda you’ve been fed, communist society wouldn’t be authoritarian.

[Staximus]

Are you retarded? Look at communist China, North Korea, the former USSR. Those people are slaves. The government elites control everybody's lives, every aspect. Where you can travel, all the money, all the businesses, what music you listen to, what you watch on tv or look at on the internet, what you can buy, what you can say about the government, the news, everything. I think you should pull your head out of your ass and forget that idiotic left wing propaganda unless you want to be completely controlled. Talk to somebody who actually lived in China, North Korea, or the USSR. It's no picnic. Communism only works in books and in theory. In real life it only works when you have an all-controlling government pointing ak47's at everybody. Wake the fuck up.

[Staximus]

And every political dissident is executed or imprisoned for life

[Staximus]

I'm sorry to be so harsh but you need to wake the fuck up to how things work in real life, not in some dumb liberal fantasyland

[doopayo]

Lmao if China and North Korea were communist why do they still use currency? In a communist society there would be no need for money

The former USSR did not control “every aspect of peoples lives.”

Jesus the brainwashing is strong in you, the USSR wasn’t even communist. I bet $20 bucks you can’t even tell the difference between socialism and communism 🤦🏽‍♀️

Politically, the working class should rule through the dictatorship of the proletariat, with working people enjoying full socialist democracy. There should be the right of self-determination for all nation in a multinational state and full equality for national minorities. Clearly, there was no democracy in the Soviet Union so there can be no question of working class rule.

[Staximus]

All that idealistic left wing bullshit you read in books doesn't work in real life.

[Staximus]

You're intelligent, young, and beautiful. But you're misguided. The world never was a fair place. You can't force the world to cooperate or be fair, or subjugate, dominate, or kill them into cooperation.

[doopayo]

“All that idealistic left wing bullshit you read in textbooks doesn’t work in real life.”

And how would you know, all you’ve ever known is bro liberal global capitalism and that’s currently failing and it’s going to kill us and the planet we call home?

“The world was never a fair place. You can’t force the world to cooperate or be fair, or subjugate, dominate, or kill them into cooperation.”

Am I mistaken but I’d the world not forced to cooperate with the system of capitalism?

Even countries like Cuba who want to attempt socialism are unable to because of the harsh sanctions the us continued to place on Cuba.

And under capitalism imperialist nations will occupy and start pointless wars just to fight over resources that’ll only be used to benefit the elite few?

Our planet is dying, people are dying. So if more people are going to have to die in order for that to stop, that’s justified in my opinion since we would be fighting for climate justice, we’d be fighting for the liberation of the working class proletariat against bourgeois oppression.

That is a justified cause to fight for, and it’s way more effective than just sitting around and speaking about how the worlds never going to be fair.

I will not sit while people starve, while people are homeless, or while people are in need. We have enough resources to provide; we just don’t because capitalism cares more about profit than human lives.

I may be young but I assure you I’m not misguided; I plan to do anything in my power to help the people in need in my community, anything in my power to organize and unite people.

Because empathy, compassion, and kindness are three things that are deeply intertwined with my identity. So for you it might be comforting to just accept that the world isn’t equal, that it isn’t fair. And I don’t denounce you for doing so, since I used to think so too.

But now I realize the flaw in that thinking. If somethings wrong the right thing to do is find a way to

[doopayo]

Change it. That’s what the greatest figures in all of history have ever done.

They didn’t accept, they took charge to form the reality they conceived was possible

[Cuminginside]

Well then you're a communist and you're pretty authoritarian and angry black girl. Go back to the projects and stay there.

[Staximus]

@Cuminginside don't be a fucking racist

[Cuminginside]

Oh it's not racism stay in your fact and in your lane. Very few people who go into the projects ever come out normal They have a very little quality of life and a very diminished small minded way of thinking. And ever since George Floyd riots nobody cares about race anymore They don't want to hear it. But thanks for your concern about racism I'm sure the democrat party is paying you extra for someone who's no longer on this website.

[Staximus]

@Cuminginside the last thing I'll ever be is a Democrat you simpleton

[Cuminginside]

Oh you're Republican I'm supposed to get wet hard for you Do you know how many sellout bitxh ass Republicans I meet especially when it comes to second amendment issues how slow they sell us down the river? And your mama was a suppleton so there.

[Staximus]

@Cuminginside I'm not a republican either, jack off

[Cuminginside]

So you're a slacker. It's "jag off" not jack hoff. 😂

[Msputiton]

See someone else asked 2 questions about this term.
And i was like i heard it had no clue about it.
But when reading about the slave masters whipped i do remember now hearing this.

But i won't use the term because if it offends someone , i don't wanna be the reason i offend anyone.

But like i said on the other guys post i only heard it used IRL twice, and both of them were white people talking to other white people.

[Still-alive]

“See someone else asked 2 questions about this term.”

Me ;)

[Msputiton]

@Still-alive yeah, it was you.

[Cuminginside]

For the both of you r scum so No one is missing you at all.

[Still-alive]

@Cuminginside wanna stop blowing up my notifications?

[pervertedjester]

Honestly I'd be really disappointed if someone just called me "cracker" that's just boring and unimaginative. I was raised in a military family and went through the military myself, they pushed every button. There was nothing scared, unless Brass was around. In my Dad's day they didn't even have that rule. They just said what they said and did their time in the brig. But even beyond that I've had Ex Girlfriends and even an Ex Wife destroy me so utterly with parting words that I'd actually laugh if someone tried to insult by calling me a cracker. But if calling me cracker makes you feel better... just remember a cracker made you feel better.

[WhatThaPhucc]

I don't give a shit, I'm white. Call me a cracker all you like. I don't care. That word doesn't even sound serious or Insullting to me, it sounds silly and I can't take it serious hahahhaha

If you get offended by someone trying to wind you up, your stupid because you're giving them the exact reaction they want, they say this stuff purposely to wind you up and make them mad... And by getting offended, you are being their puppet... How can a simple word offend you anyway? Develope a thicker skin you big crybaby, you know what I'm saying?

[WhatThaPhucc]

It's jus a damn word. It isn't rape

[WhatThaPhucc]

I jus laugh at it

[disgustingweebtrash]

Interesting, you observed that the term was used by "white elites" against their own. But still believe the world is solely held by a conglomerate of evil white men today and somehow regular working class whites are beneficiaries. If that was so, then surely the media wouldn't be covering white supremacy so much?

You're the same as the far right claiming that its the JOOZ controlling the world. It's ludicrous. You're correct in a sense, there are evil rich White men, but they work with evil rich Asian men, evil rich Black men, evil rich Jewish men.

[doopayo]

This isn’t a claim. The majority of the rich are white because the rich who’re elite had way more opportunities to gain their wealth by the exploitation of child labor, slave labor, wage theft, etc.

Here is a link to the racial distribution of the wealth : usafacts.org/.../

[doopayo]

And of course I never said all the elites where black? I said majority are white not all, I’m aware there are black, Asian, Hispanic elites, I’m just saying they make up a smaller percentage in comparison

[doopayo]

And no I never said working class white people benefit? If you read my statement I say they are responsible for upholding a system that actually negatively effects them since it gives the false hope and makes them blind to their own labors exploitation.

It’s also not a far stretch for me to say multinational corporations control our world, I mean have you seen the state of everything? Most of our everyday brands can be tracked to be owned by just a few big corporations.



i.insider.com/597b773d4528e62c008b558f

[disgustingweebtrash]

They don't uphold a system that benefits them because it doesn't, it's your perception that it does.

If the system benefitted them, the rich white capitalists you talk of would not have slowly moved industry to China simply because it was cheaper, they would have kept everything inhouse.
It's blatant infighting between members of the working class. The 1% do not identify with race so it's useless entirely to group them with the rest, for example, people should not be blaming Jews just because there's a disproportionate number of Jews in powerful and wealthy positions since that does not reflect on the common Jew just trying to live their life, same with white people. The 1% use race against the 99% because a lot of the 99% do identify with race and it works very well obviously.

Also yes, multinational corps are a problem, but I don't think people know how to deal with them. The objective of capitalism is for companies to fail and companies to succeed, but companies that fail get bailed out. We are already in socialism, just not the kind most people thought and are afraid of.

[doopayo]

“the 1% do not identify with race” yes they absolutely do. there are black elites, Asian elites, Hispanic elites. They identify as exploitative capitalist before they’d ever identify with their race which is why many poc elites fail to recognize the common struggle of the average poc.

“If the system benefited them, the rich capitalists you talk of would not have slowly moved industry to China simply because it was cheaper. They would’ve kept it in-house.”

You must be confused, when I’m talking about the system I’m referring to capitalism which is currently a global issue? And of course they’d love their business to China for cheaper labor, cheaper labor + they don’t have to deal with the (what little) regulations we have to protect workers in the us. So they can mass produce a product and sell it for cheaper than the products value and the value of the labor put into making it.

“People should not be blaming Jews just because there’s a disproportionate amount of Jews in power.”

That’s an incoherent comparison, the top 1% in the US own 70% of the wealth. The bottom 50 percent of U. S. residents only hold 2 percent of all of U. S. wealth.

This is called economic inequality which is a win for capitalism because capitalism is and always has been built on exploitation of the working class.

“The objective of capitalism is for companies to fail and companies to succeed, but companies that fail get bailed out.”

At least you acknowledge that, but companies getting bailed out by the government isn’t “socialism”. In a socialist society money wouldn’t used for that purpose as companies and work places would be owned by the collective?

[doopayo]

And the top 1% divide the working class by a lot more than that: they divide us through systems of oppression like sexism, gender, racism, homophobia, ableism, etc.

[disgustingweebtrash]

How come you claimed they do identify with it but then agree with me by saying that they basically don't? They're not shy of gutting local economy for their own benefit, which does not benefit the masses. Internationalism is being sold to us but it has no benefits to us, westerners seems to forget that outside of their bubble labour is extremely cheap and these same people see this and hate you for not letting them keep their insane profit margins, they want to reduce you to cattle.

Wealth under capitalism will keep going up because they have measures that keep the economy from failing. You really should be praying for a great depression, the likes of you and I own nothing right now and if the markets crash, we still own nothing but everything becomes cheaper, companies fail en masse and new competition rises, not sure how that would pan out exactly in the digital era.

"systems of oppression like sexism, gender, racism, homophobia, ableism, etc." I really cba, how are you going to make the streets flow with the blood of Porky with this mentality? All Porky has to do is call you sexist/racist and you won't do shit, that is how they divide you with those "systems of oppression" they will get you to attack other working class members who in your view "uphold those systems of oppression" whilst he takes money out of your back pocket. Same happens to the far right though, Porky will for example offload his IT department to India to cost save and then will tell them that it's those damn Indians taking their jobs whilst he counts the bonus he made showing his boss how much he saved the company, the bod who lost his job will blame the Indian instead of Porky.

[doopayo]

“Westerners seem to forget that outside their bubble labor is extremely cheap.” I literally know, my home country is currently being extremely negatively effected by climate change that’s being exasperated due to human causes and it’s been hit with several “natural” disasters that have effected the residents negatively.

No one in the US will care if it’s not something that’s affecting them but now climate change is absolutely effecting them; us workers are also becoming slowly but surely class conscious and recognizing the bs in the system we call capitalism.

They only thing is these fights aren’t directed at the meaningful cause they should be.

Lastly I definitely don’t think you understand what I’m referring to when I’m referring to system of oppression that divide the working class because your examples just bad and lacking any sense.

When I’m referring to stuff that divides the middle class, I’m referring to issues that have been curated by the working class over the span of several years which make it harder for the working class to come together under a common goal to fight a common oppressor. Ignoring these issues will only make revolting against the system even harder because these are issues that have been engrained in our culture for years.

[Surely]

Did you ever hear of the Reader’s Digest Condensed version? Almost stopped reading and finally skimmed the rest.
Up until about a decade ago. I thought a Cracker was something you crumbled up in your soup or ate with peanut butter on it.
Then I heard it used as an insult to white people. So I finally asked a black coworker what Cracker referred to.
He told me about the cracking of the whip when a black slave wasn’t working fast enough. Now, correct me if I am wrong. Doesn’t that show white superiority over blacks. If a black person would call someone a Cracker?

[doopayo]

I hope this question is a joke. And your black coworkers wrong (I was wrong too) there’s actually no evidence that the word cracker was used to refer to the cracking of a whip. It originated as a word used amongst the white plantation owning rich to degrade and talk down to the poor southern landless whites

[doopayo]

Later on it became a symbol of southern pride with several southern whites from Georgia and Florida referring to themselves as being crackers as being a cracker was a way of life for them.

[Surely]

@doopayo. That came out of the mouth of one of the more racist black coworkers. So no joke!
Maybe there needs to be more honest and actual history taught in schools instead of rewriting history to suit someone’s agenda.

[SixFootSexy]

So most millennials are "poor landless whites" who will have undoubtedly less purchasing power over time because of wages not rising even marginally to account for inflation. We're all crackers here.

... And boomers wonder why the kids like cryptocurrency.

[Anonymous]

I knew before I even got to it that you'd deem it as "not a slur". Why? Because you softened the definition to fit your argument by blaming the offended rather than honestly assessing the intent of using the word. The Anti Defamation League defines a slur as "an insulting, offensive or degrading remark, often based on an identity group such as race, ethnicity, religion, ethnic, gender / gender identity or sexual orientation." I've never heard "cracker" refer to anyone other than white people, and never in a manner that isn't intended to insult or degrade. Therefore it's a slur by definition.

[doopayo]

I’m looking at the semantics of the word

[Opinion Owner]

You're twisting the semantics to fit your biases. That was obvious from the third paragraph. It's a racial epithet when referring to a person, period. Just like the n-word, which is just a redneck pronunciation of negro, which is simply the Spanish word for black. People have tried to twist the semantics of that one, too, but its still a slur.

[doopayo]

How am I “twisting the semantics to fit my biases”

[Opinion Owner]

You're taking a racial slur and trying to deny that that's what it is. The context in which its used is one of racial insult. The ideas associated with it are racially derogatory. The history behind it is racially charged. But here you are, twisting even the definition of a slur to fit YOUR idea of whether or not it SHOULD be considered as such.

So yes, you're twisting it to suit your biases

[doopayo]

Explain the me what the history behind the word cracker is? Cause apparently I got something wrong

[Opinion Owner]

You didn't dive deep enough. It dates back at least as far as Shakespeare. But that's still beside the point: its a racial slur in its current use, and I don't see the logic in you trying to say that it isn't. Can you explain that to me?

[doopayo]

I’m not about to explain something to you that I’ve already explained. Now can you explain to me how it’s a racial slur? Can you tell me what the difference between slurring someone and insulting them is.

[Opinion Owner]

A slur (pejorative) is a particular word or phrase that is not only meant to demean the individual, but the entire group associated with it. Sometimes that's accomplished by falsely associating someone with the group (like calling someone a retard for making a mistake). Sometimes it disparages the group by associating an individuals worst traits to the group as a whole. It doesn't need to be widely accepted as a slur to function as one. It doesn't need to have a particular history, either. He'll it doesn't even need to be true or carry any particular trait.

If I went on another post here and told someone to stop being a doopayo, it would function as a slur. I don't even have to define what they did or what characteristics a doopayo has. It would automatically be taken as negative, and then people who saw that comment would then see your username and think negatively of you. If I used it enough, people would draw inferences based on the context in which I used it and come up with a semantic definition all on their own, and all I had to do was use that particular word as an insult.

[doopayo]

An insult and a slur are not and never will be the same thing. You clearly know the difference between calling someone an asshole and calling someone a racial slur.

[Opinion Owner]

All slurs are insults. Not all insults are slurs. Just like all ice is water, but not all water is ice.

[anylolone]

"Because of this the term cracker was originally used by elite whites to reffer to how they viewed poor landless whites as being lazy and dumb for “not owning a home” as the word itself is actually from the 16 and 17th centure, it derives from the word “cracked brains” a term used by British aristocrats to refer to lowerclass people as being dumb and lazy. This idea of cracker being a term to put down the lower class continued on well after the “American revolution”. It was just adapted to refer to lower class landless whites which later became a word used among enslaved black people to describe the crack of a slave masters whip and is now currently used as a broad term to describe all white people."

I'm going to need a source for that and I'm going to call bullshit as well, sorry.
Just cite the XVI century text.

[FilmGuy93]

I love the research you did; good work, seriously. Cracker is most definitely a racialized slur. It has classist tones, but it's definitely racist too because even if we only use the original intended meaning; no one but a rich white person is a cracker. They are both rich and white.

[Anonymous]

The 'N' word is a racial slur whites use in a derogatory fashion against blacks.

"Cracker" word is a racial slur blacks use in a derogatory fashion against whites.

The origins of the words don't matter, only the intent of the person saying them. I am so sick of blacks trying to justify their racism.

[doopayo]

This my take is literally less than a ten minute read and you just commenting about nonsense I already addressed just shows me you just came here to argue and get mad

[Opinion Owner]

"Now what does this all mean for the word cracker, does this make it a racialized slur against white people? Absolutely not, since the word historically has been used as a classist one against the working class whites and the elites, it doesn’t make the word a racially charged one since given historical context white people as a whole were not oppressed by this word."

Nope, I'm calling you out on the fact that you are dismissing the racism of blacks like yourself.

[doopayo]

Lmao

[doopayo]

You don’t even understand what a slur is.. which is coincidentally something I go over in my take

[Opinion Owner]

The 'N' word is a racial slur whites use in a derogatory fashion against blacks.

"Cracker" word is a racial slur blacks use in a derogatory fashion against whites.

The origins of the words don't matter, only the intent of the person saying them.

[doopayo]

If you read my take I literally go over what makes a word a slur. There’s a difference between insulting and slurring someone, the term cracker is insulting but it’s not a racialized slur

[Opinion Owner]

The VAST majority of people who use the term Cracker have no clue about its origins. They say it with exactly the same sentiment and intent as someone who used the 'N' word. That's all that matters here. Have some honesty.

[doopayo]

Again.. you’re conflating insulting and slurring as being the same thing

[doopayo]

I go over the differences between the two

[Opinion Owner]

You go over your dishonest and inaccurate opinions about differences between the two, nothing more. The sentiment and intentions of the person using the term is all that matters. This is not rocket science.

[doopayo]

You can read over the peer reviewed scientific research paper I got my “opinions” from right here: www.sciencedirect.com/.../S0388000110000975

[Opinion Owner]

No need, I have common sense and honesty. You should get some.

[doopayo]

https://iep.utm.edu/pejorati/

And here. I’m done explaining to you something you refuse to understand.. if you can’t take my word at least take the scholars words

[doopayo]

You don’t have common sense, you just wanted to get angry

[Opinion Owner]

I find it sad how blacks like you perpetuate racism by justifying their own racist behavior yet complain about the racism of others. If you had more maturity and honesty you would realize how self defeating that is. But alas...

[doopayo]

“If I had more maturity and honesty”

I cited my evidence and sources? All you did was complain

[Opinion Owner]

You're an immature and dishonesty racist. End of

[doopayo]

It must feel real bad when the facts and evidence are against you so the only conslusion to your argument is essentially “shut up immature, dishonest, racist. Do I have proof of these claims.. lol no but I’m the actual immature one so who cares about taking the time to create valid arguments and criticisms”

[Opinion Owner]

All you've done here is try to justify the racism of blacks, which only serves to fan the flames of racism in the US. It's disgusting and self defeating but you're too childish and racism to acknowledge that. Grow the fuck up little girl.

[doopayo]

Of course you’d say that cause your entire argument hinges on you accusing me of being a racist

[Opinion Owner]

Because you are one. The kind who doesn't even realize it.

[dudeinohio]

Perception is in the eye of the victim... not the perpetrator. You're just trying to legitimize the word. If the victim considers it a slur, then it *is* a slur.. period.

But again... you are just trying to legitimize calling whites crackers.

Too bad. I think I defended you in the face of racism once... Never again. I see you as a racist now 😢

[Anonymous]

An insult and a slur are the same thing.

I read your arguments and it’s just not adequate, it has no substance, an insult remains a slur.


So that’s the first problem.


The second is that it wouldn’t matter if there was a difference. It doesn’t change any of the argument about the use of the word.

[doopayo]

What about my argument isn’t adequate? I’d like to know 👀 please educate me

[Opinion Owner]

All of your distinctions between slur and insult.
You attempted to draw a line between these concepts and your justifications for that line didn't have any substance.

But I'm also going to remind that it's the weaker point: Not only are slurs and insults the same thing, but for the purposes of the wider argument it wouldn't even matter if there was that difference.

[doopayo]

Yet you avoid answering my question? What about my argument “didn’t have any substance” ?

[Opinion Owner]

The whole thing?
The onus is on you to justify the affirmative claim.
It's like trying to explain to you how 2+2=5 doesn't have any substance because it definitionally doesn't make any sense. There's nothing to explain, it's just nonsensical scribble. That's the point. In the same way, you used English words and strung them together, but you didn't actually have a point in there which supported your assertion. Summarily, you are wrong.

[doopayo]

Where was I “summarily wrong” ? This isn’t a valid criticism you’re giving, you’re just attacking my writing skills. You aren’t coherently explaining the error in my work yet you say my works incoherent and nonsensical?

Your explanation as to why my work is incoherent and nonsensical is itself nonsensical. You give me no room to improve or constructive criticism which leads to believe you’re simply trying to waste my time by going on the defensive and attack me?

[Opinion Owner]

From merriam-webster.

"Slur"
An insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo.

Slur itself seems to reference insult. Let's look at adjective "insulting".

"Insulting"
Giving or intended to give offense : being or containing an insult.

Then let's check the thesaurus.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/insult
https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slur
Both words have the other listed as a synonym.

We can go to that Dictionary. com source for slur you mentioned and notice that if you click the synonym tab we see that insult is listed.

Everything shows us that these terms seem interchangeable. There is no relevant differences in these terms which would support your assertion at all. Just to really finish it, let's look at the literal words you used to differentiate the terms.
On the subject of dispelling "the belief that a slur and an insult are the same exact thing" you remarked that "slurring doesn’t require any actual intended offending target or even the elicitation of a reaction whatsoever". Well, neither does an insult, so that puts that to rest.

But again, it wouldn't have any bearing on the original social media hubub anyway. The "cracker" as a slur argument is silly as well. It's obviously a racial slur and if you're going to start digging into the history then you can go as far back as you'd like on other racial slurs as well to a time when they weren't racial slurs. You cherry picked some stuff to try to make an argument. But anyone paying attention knows the same thing applies to other racial slurs as well.

[doopayo]

You’re only looking at the definitions of the words “slur” and “insult”. I’m on the other hand looking into the semantics that formulate the fundamental differences between the two.

If you’re so insistent on cracker being a racialized slur you’re going to have to give me examples where white people are being oppressed because of the negative stereotypes associated with racialized white individuals being labeled as “cracker” ?

You’re also going to have to explain to me why poor southern whites proudly called themselves crackers during the period of the old south.

Because so far your answers simply aren’t straight, and factually lacking since you continue to critique my argument without even leaving any sufficient explanation for your lens outside of “cracker is obviously a racial slur”

That’s you’re feelings, your feelings aren’t sufficient proof or evidence for your claims?

I’d also love to see how you believe I cherry picked information to prove my argument? Aren’t you the one that’s cherry picking and being disingenuous by claiming crackers a racial slur because racial slurs and insults are the same thing?

When I’m reality I’ve already explained in great detail the difference between calling someone an asshole and calling someone the n word? I’m sure you wouldn’t consider calling someone an asshole a racial slur, so why now when it comes to the word cracker do you cherry pick and choose to call it a racialized slur despite the fact that it’s nothing more than an insult when looking at it from both a historical and semantic perspective.

[Opinion Owner]

“I’m on the other hand looking into the semantics that formulate the fundamental differences between the two.”
Still no substantive difference. You’ve provided nothing to say they’re different.

“you’re going to have to give me examples where white people are being oppressed because of the negative stereotypes associated with racialized white individuals being labeled as “cracker” ?”
No, I don’t. It’s completely irrelevant. All that matters is intent.

“You’re also going to have to explain to me why poor southern whites proudly called themselves crackers during the period of the old south.”
Also, no I don’t. Because that’s also irrelevant.

“explanation for your lens outside of “cracker is obviously a racial slur””
That’s not a lens, that’s the starting position which you are arguing against, and you haven’t given reason to say it’s not.

“That’s you’re feelings, your feelings aren’t sufficient proof or evidence for your claims?”
It’s not my feeling though, it’s part of the accepted meaning, and that’s the premise of your argument. So no, you *need* it not to be just my feeling in order to have any point here.

“Aren’t you the one that’s cherry picking and being disingenuous by claiming crackers a racial slur because racial slurs and insults are the same thing?”
Firstly, that’s not what cherry picking is, you just straight up used the term incorrectly there. Secondly, racial slurs and insults *are* the same thing, and nothing about my usage of those terms has been inconsistent with that.

“When I’m reality I’ve already explained in great detail the difference between calling someone an asshole and calling someone the n word?”
No, you haven’t. Culturally, they have different levels of offense, but they’re still both insults and both slurs.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t consider calling someone an asshole a racial slur”
No, that would be a generic slur.

[Opinion Owner]

“so why now when it comes to the word cracker do you cherry pick and choose to call it a racialized slur despite the fact that it’s nothing more than an insult when looking at it from both a historical and semantic perspective.”
Again, it’s still both and insult and a slur, there’s no difference.
That’s also still not what cherry picking is. Reflect the definition of that term some more.
Finally, as I pointed out before, the “historical and semantic perspective” dispels *any* word you plug into it, which includes the n-word. What you’ve done is selected a moment in time where the n-word is considered highly offensive and cracker was not and then emphasized that as if it holds relevance today. The only thing that matters is people’s intent when they say it.

[Anonymous]

I'm reclaiming the word "Cracker" it now means high-class White person.
I also reclaimed the word "Niggas" now it means flowers.

[doopayo]

How cold is it in your moms basement?

[Opinion Owner]

Wow, you got triggered.
I kinda thought that racist little girl would show up. LoL!

[doopayo]

Um.. sure

[Cuminginside]

Yeah you are easily triggered and you are racist You just don't know it yet

[adidas0169]

Dive little deeper it was the term for the sound of the whip that the slave owner would use and majority of the owners were white hence the term cracker. he was the one that crack the whip

[doopayo]

Where did you get that information from?

[adidas0169]

It was taught in schools when my brother was in school. schools won't mentioned that now a days

[doopayo]

Well you’re schools incorrect, no credible historical information I looked at points to anything about the cracking of a whip. (It was just a popular myth)

Schools are probably the least credible place to get information on history, just research that on your own. It’s way more effective

[Robber_Baron]

I read this kind of bullshit and it just reassures me of how liberalism is worthless, divisive and pathetic. Instead of being a tool to fix up our society's problems, it's in practice used as a self-absolving shield for spiteful and petty people like you.

"Oh, HurR dUrr, u cAn't opReSs wYPipO"

Uh, oh. Tell me when Karl Marx made such claim. I'll be waiting!

[doopayo]

I’m not a liberal, I’m a leftist. There’s a difference and if you’re going to call my stuff bullshit at least make a valid critique? Lol

[Robber_Baron]

I asked you a question, if your attention span is this low, I'm going to repeat it:

WHEN DID MARX CLAIM THAT WHITE PEOPLE CANNOT BE OPPRESSED?

Stop posturing that you're a leftist, kid. If anything, you're a very disturbed individual who tries to use politics to compensate for your miserable life.

[doopayo]

That’s a very stupid question when my my take explicitly comes to the conclusion that white working class individuals continue to be oppressed by the majority white elite 1% in terms of wealth along with the rest of the working class.

I never came to the conclusion white people can’t be oppressed, I came to the exact opposite conclusion. The only difference is that white working class individuals are oppressed on a classist basis but they uphold systems created by the elites such as patriarchy, white supremacy, etc in order to maintain the status quo rather than dismantle the system of capitalist exploitation.

I believe this is a sufficient Marxist analysis since I observed how dialectal materialism effects people currently?

And that last part was definitely unnecessary and unclassy. I mean dude, you’re 28 insulting a 15 year old on the internet? If anyone here was to have a miserable life I’m guessing that’d probably be you.

[Guanfei]

"blablabla I want to keep my privilege of being a racist without any limit or consequences blablabla"

That's all I see here. You want to be able to throw racial slur at white people while telling them they can't do the same. And don't even try to talk about a history you've never lived as a justification.
You're racist, if you can't be nice, at least be honest.

[doopayo]

This isn’t even criticism, you just came for my character.. half these comments are filled with people attacking my character when all I did was research on the origins of the word cracker and the semantics behind it?

Why are you so angry about that is the actual question you should be asking yourself?

[Guanfei]

Because your character is what you can see through that take. It's always the same crap with you, summed up in 3 words: "white people bad".

[doopayo]

Yet in my take I explain the white working classes oppression under the white plantation owning elites rule? You’re just reaching at this point, I’m guessing you already hated my guts and wanted to use this my take as an excuse to try and diss on me but it’s evident how your own claims are bs

[Guanfei]

Nope, it's not the first time I see your rant. Because in the end, no matter what you write in that take, it all goes down to one point, the one I mentioned in my first comment.
You're just trying to say that a racial slur isn't a racial slur if it's against white people. Granting you the right to use it whenever you feel like it.

[doopayo]

A racial slur isn’t the same as an insult. Also I’ve never referred to a white person as a cracker in real life or even on this forum so it doesn’t make sense why I’d try to justify myself using a word that I never even use

[Guanfei]

It's not just the word, it's the whole concept of being freely racist toward white people. The word is just a way to be, like the n word is a way to be racist toward black people, but not the only way.
That's the idea behind. That you can be racist toward white people and it's fine, and that you could, potentially, use that word whenever you feel like it, and that no one could blame you for it.
That word is today a racial slur, used that way, and you can't deny it.
That you used it or not is a detail, it's the thought that it's ok to be used that is wrong. In the end, it's always the same. If you consider something bad, or racist in this case, it has to be for everyone, or it's not, at all, for anyone. Trying to find excuses to do something in one way that you'd refuse the other way isn't acceptable.

[CaptainSmartass]

Are you deliberately trying to insult White people here? Man, that's well racist.

Simples...

[Cuminginside]

Yes she is That's why she's a piece of garbage and I'm glad she's gone