Why does the word ****** or ***** bring up so much controversy when white people say it but Cracker doesn't?

Question

I am hispanic my wife is African American and our kids are mix I told them if i hear them say those two words they will be punished it doesn't make sense to here people say nasty words about there own race then go and bring how controversial it is when other races say it, I know we all live in a world were nothing is perfect but I am starting to hear this word come out of African American people more and more and it seems okay but when other non African American people say this it is not okay? What do i tell my kids when they hear there peers say these nasty awful and disrespectful words?? How can I punish them when they think it is okay to say?? PLEASE HELP???

Answer 1

Compare it to the word "b"-a female dog. If a girl says I am such a b it does not carry the sane as if called a "b" by another person. So for a person of color to refer to themselves as xxxx it does not carry the same weight as a non person of color saying the same thing.

Answer 2

Cracker, h****y, Redneck, etc.. These just aren't insulting enough to white people to ruffle their feathers. If I heard someone call me a h****y, I think of George Jefferson and chuckle. And that is the problem. Find me a white person who is believably insulted by these words and I'll give them an Oscar. No, whenever white people claim to be offended by Cracker, it is only in reference to the "unfairness of it all" for not being able to use the N-word. As white people, we're not used to actually being told "no, you can't do that," so we pretend to get all bent out of shape by Cracker.

Actually, I remember that as kids, we would insult each other by using racist slurs...but never slurs for white people.  We knew we weren't supposed to, but we weren't supposed to use swear words either, and we did. I believe that white people do this still. If a white person wants to insult a minority, he uses one of the hundreds of words that have been invented as slurs for poor people and minorities and women. If a white person wants to insult a white person, he uses those same slurs, not "Cracker." No, if you really wanted to insult a white person, call them a "Wigger".

Because there are no slurs for white people that actually get us upset, white people aren't allowed to participate in the co-optive trend, where the N-word with an "er" and the N-word with the "a" and any number of slurs are thrown around as terms of endearment by the people who those words  used to insult. Had our chance with those words and put them to poor use. Now they've been fixed up (apparently) and because we used them poorly in the past, whites aren't allowed to use them any more. I can live with that. (And because many whites still use those words with their old meanings, our silence on the issue is for the best). I'm not going to whine about not being able to use those words. You can call me a Cracker if you want.

Now, I can't tell you how to raise your kids. Its hard to stop kids from using slang, and I don't know what punishment works on them. All joking aside, you are probably wise to be disturbed by the very liberal use of ethnic slurs. I just don't see how those words can become anything but disrespectful, especially now that it seem that kids of all ethnicities are allowed to freely use the slurs again. Its trendy. But you got to take a stand if you still find that language unacceptable The truth is, this is not limited to African Americans. It seems that quite a few words that are best left dead are being bandied about as if they are just so many different words for "dude."

What you might want to do is go to the Urban Dictionary online and look at some of the 2,000 or so entries that are n-word related. Pick out a few that you find beyond offensive, print them out, and have your kids read the definitions aloud to you and your wife. The definitions of these offensive words on the website tend to be even more offensive than the words themselves (because white people probably write most of them). Tell them that that is what those words really mean, ask them why they think those definitions are funny if that what they mean to you and your wife. Then ask them how a word that means that can actually be friendly. Also, look up the definition of cracker. (And think about parental blocking that d**n Urban Dictionary)

Answer 3

just tell them pay no mind to it and remeber how they are raised

Answer 4

I totally agree on that.If a white person says *******, then EVERYONE gets crazy. But on the other hand, I hear black people calling white people crackers all the time and nobody says anything. There is a huge double standard and im not saying either one of them is right. If blacks have a problem being called that then they should stop calling white people crackers or white b*****s or anyhting with white in front of it. Same for white ppl bc blacks get their panties in a wad whenever the word "black" is used pertaining to someone.