General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHas the word "thug" become racist?
29 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited | |
No. "Thug" simply means "violent criminal" and is not a racist term. | |
21 (72%) |
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Yes. The word "thug" has become racist and its use should be avoided. | |
8 (28%) |
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1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided. | |
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panader0
(25,816 posts)Thuggee or tuggee (Hindi: ठग्गी ṭhagī; Urdu: ٹھگ?; Sanskrit: sthaga; Sindhi: ٺوڳي، ٺڳ; Kannada: "thakka" refers to the acts of thugs, an organized gang of professional assassins.
The Thugs travelled in groups across India for several hundred years.[1] Although the thugs traced their origin to seven Muslim tribes, Hindus appear to have been associated with them at an early period; at any rate, their religious creed and practices as worshipers of Kālī, the Hindu goddess of destruction, showed no influence of Islām. The fraternity possessed a jargon of its own, Ramasi, and signs by which its members recognized each other.[2]
onehandle
(51,122 posts)Ohio Joe
(21,756 posts)And in typical fashion, the racists that use it are to cowardly to admit their racism so they blink their eyes and claim ignorance.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Thugs come in all colors. Seeing racism where none exists only inhibits the battle against actual racism.
Iris
(15,657 posts)This happened on a neighborhood Facebook page where neighbors voiced their "concern" about neighborhood kids who were trying to make money mowing lawns.
Warpy
(111,267 posts)Just because a few morons are misapplying a word shouldn't be reason enough to walk on eggshells when it is the most appropriate word to use for a criminal.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)likely to call a black male a thug for certain behaviors or characteristics than they are to call a white male displaying those same behaviors or characteristics a thug. But that doesn't mean people can't still use it in a non-racist way.
Warpy
(111,267 posts)because some people are offended by proxy.
pothos
(154 posts)La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)the connotation of it usually means a young black man or someone acting like a young black man stereotype.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)Name calling, instead of seeking real solutions to problems is never useful.
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)Welfare Queen, urban, inner city, thug ... code words. They work as code words because they have alternative meanings, which allows the racist to act surprised when they use them and some one points out the racial connotation.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)redqueen
(115,103 posts)Alone, its use is almost always reserved for men of color. Therefore, I consider it racist in those cases, which (at least to me) seem to be the majority of cases where the word is used.
dawg
(10,624 posts)Some people might use the term with racial intent, but the term itself is race-neutral.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)I call republicans thugs all the time.
Cerridwen
(13,258 posts)as with almost everything, is a factor to distinguish how it's being used. I've also heard it used to refer to Mafia thugs (I'm from Las Vegas, NV) as well as run-of-the-mill street criminals.
I see another poster has said it does now have racist implications which doesn't surprise me at all.
Context.
LuvNewcastle
(16,846 posts)I've heard people use it interchangeably to describe white and black men, generally young men but not always. I live on the gulf coast; I don't know if it makes a difference. We've had a good deal of mafia (mostly "Dixie Mafia" influence down here for a long time. I guess it all depends on who is using it and how they're using it. But unless I know the person using it to be a racist who habitually degrades other races, I don't take it as a racist term.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)and we'll get to "this bloke comes right up to me says and says hello."
"Hello!"
Search Derek and Clive if you don't know what I mean.
Boudica the Lyoness
(2,899 posts)Good one
Orsino
(37,428 posts)Very few words are automatically racist.
The OP, for instance, isn't necessarily so.
penultimate
(1,110 posts)If I ever use the word thug, it's not based on race, but rather on behavior. However, there are definitely situations in which it seems fairly obvious that the person is using the word in a racial way.
Context and intent have always been the determining factor for me on if something is racist or not.
LumosMaxima
(585 posts)to hear young people online saying that it was used to refer to race. That's not at all how I think of the word. If anything, I think of white gangsters during the Prohibition era. I suppose I'm getting old.
Earth_First
(14,910 posts)I say no, the word is not inherently racist.
petronius
(26,602 posts)but "thug" standing on its own does not have any racial or ethnic connotations (at least, not in the standard USAmerican English usages that I'm familiar with)...
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,838 posts)demosincebirth
(12,537 posts)TexasProgresive
(12,157 posts)UTUSN
(70,700 posts)1.Tom Pyle, policy analyst, office of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex). 2.Garry Malphrus, majority chief counsel and staff director, House Judiciary subcommittee on criminal justice. 3.Rory Cooper, political division staff member at the National Republican Congressional Committee. 4.Kevin Smith, former House Republican conference analyst and more recently of Voter.com. 5.Steven Brophy, former aide to Sen. Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.), now working at the consulting firm KPMG. 6.Matt Schlapp, former chief of staff for Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), now on the Bush campaign staff in Austin. 7.Roger Morse, aide to Rep. Van Hilleary (R-Tenn.). 8.Duane Gibson, aide to Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) of the House Resources Committee. 9.Chuck Royal, legislative assistant to Rep. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). 10.Layna McConkey, former legislative assistant to former Rep. Jim Ross Lightfoot (R-Iowa) now at Steelman Health Strategies.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)when I was younger there was no racial meaning of "thug" but it does seem to be a more recent thing. I think people our age and older might not always think of it that way but it's definitely changing into that.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)or some real thugs will put a stop to it themselves making those who misuse the expression truly wish they had never been born.
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)That was his gimmick a decade or so ago.
Deep13
(39,154 posts)To me, thug means a violent criminal, often an enforcer for organized crime management.
firsttimer
(324 posts)You it hear being used by people against unions.
I have heard Union Thug used. The term is a violent person.
I suppose if everyone looks hard enough they can imagine racism in anything.
MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)If the Wingers uses the word to it describe how they feel about young Black males
Sissyk
(12,665 posts)Young, black, hip son what he thought and he said he had never heard it used in a racial tone. To him, thug means lowlife dirtbag. Lol.
840high
(17,196 posts)same thing.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)I called all of mine and they all agree with me.
doc03
(35,340 posts)Behind the Aegis
(53,959 posts)Context is important, as is who is using the term. Is 'gay' homophobic? Not usually, but it sure is when someone talks about such and such is "gay", meaning "bad". What about "Jew?" Is it anti-Semitic? Nope, except when used in such a way, like: "He jewed me on the price." or "Of course, they are upset, it is the Jew pathology to be victims." Both are examples on a word that isn't anti-Semitic being used in such a way. We could go old-school...is "articulate" a racist term? Almost never, except when it is used to express dismay at a non-white (usually black person) speaking in "proper" English (as defined by the person expressing the dismay).
Intent and context will determine if a word is being used in an offensive manner.
flvegan
(64,408 posts)Broad brush being what it is, to suggest that a commonly used word that one might utter might brand that person a racist by the enduser seems pretty...yeah, that.
Thank the gods that "moron" and "idiot" have yet to raise the hackles of those seeking to be pissed about anything.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)firsttimer
(324 posts)cynatnite
(31,011 posts)Packerowner740
(676 posts)I know we don't have a group of racists posting here.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)athlete, neighborhood task doer, etc... it hasn't for me.
It appears it has for some, but not in my house.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)How does thug apply to a good student, athlete, (or student-athlete), neighborhood task-doer?
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)In a way that has little, if anything, to do with the actual meaning of the word. Making that an isolated, insignificant event, almost entirely irrelevant to the question of whether the term thug has become a racial slur in the larger culture.
Perhaps you weren't suggesting otherwise.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)I didn't read the body of your post...because it's been a few days since I posted this. I trust you'll move along now. Have a nice night.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)Stay close to your fainting couch.
aptal
(304 posts)Although I do think they way most of the reTHUGlicans us it is.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)ONLY to describe blacks. Others may use it differently, but it is now a tainted word.