To (say) Thug or to not (say) Thug, that is my ?

PJ_Soul said:

Thugs are thugs. The word defines a certain type of BEHAVIOUR, not a certain ethnicity. Until I saw this issue raised 2 days ago, there has NEVER been any other usage of the word, and the definition or implication of a word cannot change in a matter of days. That's not how it works. The media fucking scored on this one. They invented this debate and got people to run with it. It's like they're evil geniuses.

Drowned Out said:

This is how 'thug' became synonymous with black gangstas:



Any word used derogatorily as a racial slur is offensive. If it's not used as a racial descriptor, no, it's not offensive. Pretty simple to me. But I'm not black, so it's not really up to me.

JimmyV said:

dignin said:

JimmyV said:

Anyone going to see Avengers this weekend will be treated to very white Captain America referring to a very white bad guy as a thug. I laughed out loud in the theater and people around me had no idea why.

They must play movies early in Boston.

If you can get the time off then 10am opening day is the way to go. No crazy crowds but the people who are there are eager. Highly recommend.

oftenreading said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

oftenreading said:

JimmyV said:

rgambs said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

I love how I presented irrefutable evidence to the contrary of the notion that 'thug' is reserved for black people and people not only chose to ignore it... they persist with their argument.

In the event some are talking more than they are listening: Mayor Gregor Robertson publically denounced the large, predominantly white contingency of rioters in Vancouver as thugs.

He did so because that is what these 'individuals-persisting-with-non-legal-activities' (would that satisfy some?) were- thugs.

I don't think Vancouver is a great example at all. Canada simply doesn't have the same racial tensions that we do. If you find an example from the US please post it, I am not sure it hasn't happened, but you can bet your bottom dollar Fox News doesn't call any white people thugs.

Even if they do occasionally, some of you are seriously blind if you don't see that there are people out there who are using thug as a new racist epithet. It happens, get over it. Thug is not a racist term, but it gets used as one, and that is plain truth, if you can't see that your eyes are closed.

If Vancouver isn't a good example then neither is Fox News. Fox speaks to a certain audience only and that audience does not include you or I. Much like Richard Sherman, Fox doesn't get to decide what words mean, or define how they are used across society.

I'm off to see the Avengers but I'm sure I'll check in later.

The other part to this being that the Vancouver Stanley Cup riots happened in 2011 and we're talking about word usage in 2015. If we are talking about evolving usage, that's plenty of time for it.

Plenty of time? Are you serious?

4 years... and a common word is plucked from everyday vernacular and converted to succinctly depicting a group based on their race when engaged in the behaviors typically eliciting the descriptive term?

What's the new term for 'white' thugs?

No. No way.

I"m not arguing for or against the validity of this usage, Thirty, I'm just saying that word meanings can change very quickly. How quickly did the word "tweet" come to commonly mean a post on twitter instead of the sound of a bird? Or go listen to any teenagers talk.

PJ_Soul said:

dignin said:

PJ_Soul said:

Thugs are thugs. The word defines a certain type of BEHAVIOUR, not a certain ethnicity. Until I saw this issue raised 2 days ago, there has NEVER been any other usage of the word, and the definition or implication of a word cannot change in a matter of days. That's not how it works. The media fucking scored on this one. They invented this debate and got people to run with it. It's like they're evil geniuses.

Better check your facts, this debate has been going on for a couple of years.

BUT MAYBE IF I PUT IT IN ALL CAPS IT WILL MAKE IT TRUE.

Okay, in Canada then? I have never heard of this debate before. It just suddenly popped up in the news this week. Either way, everything g I said still stands. It's an idiotic argument.

Dirtie_Frank said:

rgambs said:

JimmyV said:

rgambs said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

I love how I presented irrefutable evidence to the contrary of the notion that 'thug' is reserved for black people and people not only chose to ignore it... they persist with their argument.

In the event some are talking more than they are listening: Mayor Gregor Robertson publically denounced the large, predominantly white contingency of rioters in Vancouver as thugs.

He did so because that is what these 'individuals-persisting-with-non-legal-activities' (would that satisfy some?) were- thugs.

I don't think Vancouver is a great example at all. Canada simply doesn't have the same racial tensions that we do. If you find an example from the US please post it, I am not sure it hasn't happened, but you can bet your bottom dollar Fox News doesn't call any white people thugs.

Even if they do occasionally, some of you are seriously blind if you don't see that there are people out there who are using thug as a new racist epithet. It happens, get over it. Thug is not a racist term, but it gets used as one, and that is plain truth, if you can't see that your eyes are closed.

If Vancouver isn't a good example then neither is Fox News. Fox speaks to a certain audience only and that audience does not include you or I. Much like Richard Sherman, Fox doesn't get to decide what words mean, or define how they are used across society.

I'm off to see the Avengers but I'm sure I'll check in later.

I disagree entirely. Fox News is American, it is the most watched news network, and it the network of choice for white racists...seems like a good example of the fact that some words, like thug and terroris(m/t), are used selectively in a racist way.

Wow!! Everyone that watches Fox that does not agree with you I suppose are racist?

Last-12-Exit said:

callen said:

Some people use the word thug as a unique description for young black males that dress a certain way. They substitute the n word for it.

all that use this word don't use in this context.

Who are these people you are accusing here of being racist? If you did hear them say thug, did they tell you they were using thug as a replacement?