The definition of racism;

[gawdzilla]

I'd throw on a definition of racism where it's hatred of a culture associated with a particular ethnic group (e.g. black culture, hispanic culture, etc.). With this definition, a person may truly believe that all people have rights and that no ethnic group is inherently superior to any other ethnic group but still find people of other ethnic groups repulsive because of their ethnicity.

I'll keep in mind this racism thing you're talking about, Liz. The level of homophobia in arma players is something I've already explored a bit. Racism and homophobia tend to go hand in hand, in my experience.

(Is now a good time to casually mention my two most recent ex-girlfriends are hispanic? , and I don't think one of them is going to stay an ex-girlfriend?)

Mmm I notice less homophobia in tron players, moreso sexism and racism. Glad someone else noticed though really I'm not complaining that much because I can be a total biatch, but I didn't think so many people in tron were racist. Unexpected to me, oh well.

To Phytotron, trust me I've learned a lot this past year about the subject of racism. *Reason why in the PM.

[Word]

http://princefrederic.com/joomla-us/

the site is complete crap but it shows some of the things Lucifer said. the german blog is different from its german version. somehow he seems to reveal his true thoughts in his german posts (which are full of spelling mistakes).
translation of one excerpt:
Germany's cancellor won an election by promising all homosexuals that he would support equal rights for them. I do the same, and I have all homosexuals on my side!

or

It's nearly impossible to beat a disciplined, hard-working german with a pension of 143 € per month. Of course i won't say that in the american version of this blog. i love my homeland so much that i don't like to disgrace germany. 140 € per month - no matter how hard i worked - would violate the american basic law.

bah

[Phytotron]

So Phytotron, would you say people who use the N word a lot in an angry way are racist or simply trying to piss people off or all of the above?

as an insult

That's the important part here. There are some people (in my school for instance) who just use it randomly to describe a black person because they think its cool.

You go to school with some major league idiots, then. Let's see them approach a brother and say, "yo, wassup ma nigga!" See how cool they feel after that.

Mmm I notice less homophobia in tron players, moreso sexism and racism.

I witness all three in abundance every time I play, almost without exception. (Yes, referring to something or someone in the pejorative as "gay" qualifies as homophobia.)

[INW]

That's the important part here. There are some people (in my school for instance) who just use it randomly to describe a black person because they think its cool.

You go to school with some major league idiots, then. Let's see them approach a brother and say, "yo, wassup ma nigga!" See how cool they feel after that.

Same here at my school. Some people call each other 'niggas' (usually black people call their black friends this) and think it is cool. I don't get it.

[Phytotron]

Some people call each other 'niggas' (usually black people call their black friends this) and think it is cool. I don't get it.

It's a different thing when black folks use it amongst themselves as a part of AAVE or contemporary "hip hop slang." As the justification goes, it's an attempt to co-opt and repurpose the word in an attempt to rob and eviscerate it of its power and historical sting.* Understandable enough. It's not a reasoning or justification with which I or many African Americans agree, but it exists all the same.

* At least in the case of AAVE. With respect to hip-hop, in most instances it's more just straight, mindless minstrelsy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigga
Richard Pryor

[Lucifer]

Indeed, I was once told by a black friend that if I said it right, I could use the word "nigga" too, even though I'm white. So I tossed it out there at one point, and he threw a big fit. Luckily, we were surrounded by people who agreed I'd said it "right".

Still he didn't like hearing it from a white man's mouth, even though we were friends.

[MrsKsr]

That particular word and words like it are not acceptable..

Just because a black person says it's okay doesn't make it so; Not to mention that using it as some kind of term of endearment then reacting in such a way only confuses things further. As previously said, words like this derive from an oppressive background, anybody with any respect for history and the original use of it, wouldn't use it in any situation.

It's not cool or acceptable, whether you are white or black, and changing a couple of letters at the end doesn't change the meaning or its origin.

That applies to any word previously used to degrade and segregate any "group" of people.. In my opinion anyway.

[INW]

It's not a reasoning or justification with which I or many African Americans agree, but it exists all the same.

Are you referring to these blacks as African Americans? If so, not all blacks are African American. I get frustrated when people assume a black person in America is an African American simply because they may not be. :/

[Lucifer]

That applies to any word previously used to degrade and segregate any "group" of people.. In my opinion anyway.

Indeed, that's why I so strongly object to using the word "gay" to describe things as girly or bad. It's not just degrading to homosexuals, it's also degrading to women.

[Mkay1]

It's not a reasoning or justification with which I or many African Americans agree, but it exists all the same.

Are you referring to these blacks as African Americans? If so, not all blacks are African American. I get frustrated when people assume a black person in America is an African American simply because they may not be.

I know many White African Americans, 5 or so are professional golfers.

I agree completely

[Phytotron]

The only way in which I was wrong was in that this is a multinational community and conversation, and I shouldn't have put an implied limitation to Americans. I just did so as a matter of habit. Plus, I had mentioned AAVE earlier in the paragraph.

The term African-American refers broadly to the ethnic descent and heritage of a people, those of the African Diaspora, not an individual's birthplace. It's similar in construct and meaning to the terms whites have long used: Irish-American, German-American, Italian-American, and so forth.

This leads me to Mkay's statement, which is both stupid and offensive. On the matter of being stupid, by his logic a white person, one of Anglo/European descent who happened to be born in Asia then immigrated to the US would be called "White Asian-American." How about one born in India or Lebanon? Obviously, White Indian-American or White Arab-American. I suppose a white person born in South America then moved to the US would be a White Latino! Do you see how stupid that is? It's not about someone's birthplace.

Now, on the matter of it being offensive, damn man, do you have any idea the history of South Africa? White Europeans brutally colonised Africa. They enslaved the native people. More recently was the institution of Apartheid (do you even know what that is?) which didn't even end until 1994. Now you're going to say that because a descendent of one of these Europeans happened to be born in South Africa, then moved to the US, that he's a "White African American?" That a person with no African lineage, whose ancestors brutalised the African people, would be called an African-American?

You may as well call yourself a White Native-American. Hey, I was born in an area once populated by Shawnee and Cherokee before the Europeans came and drove them out. And while I don't have any Shawnee or Cherokee ancestry, I suppose I'm a White Shawnee-Cherokee American, huh!

The question is, did you come up with that silly reasoning yourself, or are you just parroting your daddy, Beck, or Limbaugh again?

[syllabear]

Liz, you may be 'experiencing it' more because it has always been there, and now there has been a taster directed at you, you are now more aware of it in your natural surroundings.

And lets not forget, there are idiots in tron, but there are idiots everywhere. You, me, we aren't going to be able to stop this, but also be aware: One sting is remembered more than a thousand caresses. For every loose tongued immature git out on the grid, there are 10, 50, 100 mature players who do not use, nor tolerate abuse in any form.

Personally on the subject, I feel that at the end of the day, a word is just a word. The feeling/reason behind its use makes it wrong or right. I know many people won't agree with me, but being politically correct all the time isn't going to save the world. Going around correcting what everyone says is not going to change how they think and feel, and thats what matters

[LucK]

For once I completely agree with you. When I saw mkay's post I did a /facepalm irl.

[Mkay1]

I was wrong: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_American
Those are technically considered south African Americans. After doing much research I found an Article about, Dave Matthews, who would lie that he was not black, (he is 50% black, on his fathers side) so he could have more privileges than his black friends. Then I read a wiki article about him, then clicked a link to South African American.

Yes, I do know (somewhat) about how the Europeans settled Africa. I read this book for school called King Leopold's Ghost, where it talked about Belgium's settling of the Congo. Some of the descriptions were wretched, like the Europeans cutting off their hands so they couldn't do X things. The images were haunting. The Belgians mainly gained the land to exploit it. King Leopold, for instance, I believe wanted mainly ivory from that region.
I know that the dutch first settled in South Africa, and through the VOC (Dutch East India Company) many slaves were taken, as well as their land.

Yes I know what the Apartheid is...
I did a powerpoint for school on Nelson Mandela, one of South Africa's presidents, who spent numerous years in jail around 30 I believe (27?). We also listened to other students present on other important aspects of it.

So don't assume people are not informed, or enlightened, because of a messup .


I shouldn't post here because I have no affiliation with this topic..

[owned]

Now you're going to say that because a descendent of one of these Europeans happened to be born in South Africa, then moved to the US, that he's a "White African American?" That a person with no African lineage, whose ancestors brutalised the African people, would be called an African-American?

Well you could argue that some Afrikaners, some of whom have had ancestors living in the land going back 300+ years, could be called African.

I agree with the rest of your post though.