Is "cracker" a racist word when used to describe white people?

[seriousstan]

[Demit]

1. I don't think it's generally considered racist. n/t

[w4rma]

96. It is often racist. (nt)

[MrModerate]

2. Racist? Only sort of . . .

It describes a subset of white people that may or may not exist. In that sense, I'd call it an insult, but not explicitly racist.

[Bucky]

37. Agree with "sorta". It's explicitly racist except it doesn't carry weight

I think the intention is certainly racist, but it doesn't really pack much of a punch. No one ever got lynched for being a cracker.

[bigluckyfeet]

69. Yes it Is

racist.

[Tulum_Moon]

92. Yes

And so is Honky.

[Vincardog]

3. Only when used to describe Red NEck tobacki chewing Mouth breathing

inter breeding loudmouths

[H2O Man]

10. Related terms include:

backsettler; hinterlander; woodlander; forester; woodhicker; ridge runner; brush ape; briar-hopper; clam digger; and piny.

[hedgehog]

20. The most dangerous racists are the suave and smooth types like

George Allen.

[MrCoffee]

4. yes it is.

[YDogg]

5. Cracker definitions ...

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~fcc/main/what's_a_cracker.htm

[Vincardog]

19. Check your link The page cannot be found

[YDogg]

84. Sorry. Link won't post correctly, but here it is in two steps ...

Go to:
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~fcc/main/

... then click on last item (what's_a_cracker.htm)

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cali]

59. "Nigga"?

WTF?

[Name removed]

66. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cali]

74. first of all, you mischaracterize the thread

or at least the OP- which poses the question of whether 'cracker' is a racist term. Secondly, I'd argue that the word nigga carries a hell of a lot more historical freight and is far more offensive than the cracker.

Lastly, I fail to see the irony or the humor. And if that makes me a humorless prig, fine.

[Retired AF Dem]

87. I agree

[Ezlivin]

7. My dad's a Florida Cracker

Ask him,he'll tell you himself.

We wanted to build a Cracker Style house in Florida.

I never viewed it as a racist term.

[hedgehog]

17. Well, there you go

Some people use it as an ethnic term while otheres use it as a slur. I suppose it all depends on the context and who's doing the talking. For most of us, it's probably not a safe term to use.

[MarinCoUSA]

8. Racial but not racist.

- don't think "tarbaby" is racist for same reason.

[hedgehog]

9. It's both racist and classist.

The above reference to in-bred mouth breathers shows the level of hostility to poor whites among many in this country. Too many assume all poor whites are ignorant bigots.

[Vincardog]

23. The reference to in-bred mouth breathers shows some poor whites are

ignorant bigots. If you read my post it said "Only when used to describe" etc.
No where did I say ALL of anybody. If you have a problem deal with it. The question was is "Cracker" racist? My answer was "Only when used to describe". If you believe all poor white people are in-bred mouth breathers that is on you.

[confludemocrat]

41. in my experience a higher %tage of crackers are openly bigots

and no, not all poor whites are racist, having grown up poor and among ex-Okies (us), Arkies, Kansans, Nebraskans, Texans and Louisianans

[hedgehog]

70. I should have read your post more closely.

I'm getting over sensitive to these terms because a lot of my neighbors are hard working white people living in trailers and doing their best for their families. I really resent it when I hear well off people who wouldn't know a hard day's work if it came up and bit them on the ass mocking out these people. As for poor whites being bigots, well there are bigots in every group. Most of the poor whites I know would give the shirt off their back to help someone out no matter what color or ethnicity.

[mdmc]

11. sure

it is. Just like honky

[LiberalEsto]

12. At my college it was intended as an insult

by black students. That was in the late 60s - early 70s

[DeBunk]

13. I think the work comes from

Poor whites who worked for wealthy slave owners cracked the whip.

I believe that's where the word comes from.

So, it's not really racist.

[C_U_L8R]

14. what kinda crackers we talking about here?

saltines or wheat thins?

[johnnie]

15. No

You can't be racist against whitey.

[Kahuna]

16. I think it is. I'm black. If I called a white person a "cracker"..

as in whip cracker, I wouldn't mean it as a compliment.

[DeBunk]

21. What do you think about the swimming thing?

I would have thought that was racist too, but then I just gave money to a program that teaches young black kids to swim because black children die in drownings at a higher rate then whites and hispanics.

[MrCoffee]

27. Thank you for not using it.

I find it just as offensive as the Word Which Shall Not Be Named.

[Subdivisions]

18. Nope

To be offended, the offending phrase has to have a built-in history to it that makes it offensive.

"Cracker" was popularized by the Hip Hop Gen Xers and really doesn't have a history attached to it for caucasian people. 'Nuff said.

[CottonBear]

25. Cracker is an old term. You must be a young one. n/t

[Subdivisions]

32. I did not say that the Gen Xers invented the word, I said...

they popularized it.

As a matter of fact, I am 42 and I have always observed racial harmony in my own life, choosing to accept that people are different and embracing that philosophy.

The issue is not how old or how young I am, this question was:

"Is "cracker" a racist word when used to describe white people?".

I grew up with black friends when it still was not cool to have black friends. I NEVER heard the word "cracker", nor if I had, would I have understood it to be the equivalent of the vicious moniker attached to individuals of their culture.

Now, you chose to correct me, but you haven't even bothered to answer the question in the OP. So, I suggest you stop worrying about my age and offer us your opinion on whether the word "cracker" is offensive to white people or not.

[johnnie]

34. You don't remember the classic Richard Pryor sketch on SNL?

When he was interviewing for a job with Chevey chase? He called Chevey Chase a cracker back then. Late 70s I believe.

[Subdivisions]

36. Of course I do...

but, in the largely black community that I live in in Newport News, Virginia during my early informative years, I never heard the word "cracker" used in an insulting and derogatory way.

So, my response to the OP remains: No, "cracker" is not insulting to me because there is no history attached to it like there is to the word N*****.

On edit: grammar

[Bucky]

44. What I remember about that skit is the lack of anti-white slurs

Chase had a full arsenal of epithets to toss at Pryor. But by the time Pryor hit "honkey" halfway thru the skit, he'd shot his load. Chase then dropped the N-bomb and Pryor could only follow up with the lame-on-paper slur of "honkey-honkey"--which was funny only coz Pryor had excellent screen presense and could show a zillion emotions in one syllable.

Why are there so many many more anti-black slurs while the few anti-white slurs don't really pack any punch? I'd say it mostly has to do with power. The only really effective anti-white epithet is to say the word "white" thru gritted teeth.

[johnnie]

47. Actually, his "heavy hitter" was "dead honkey"

But my point was that the term was around a long time.

[CottonBear]

42. I think that it can be racist when used by certain people in certain ways.

In other situations, it is most certainly not racist. It depends on who is using the term and in what context.

I am a little older than you and I have been familiar with the term since I was a teenager from my studies of southern history and literature. I do not hang out with people who use racist terms so I don't know if young people in my area use this term and in what context.

I don't care how old you are. BTW, the ages of DU members range from young teenagers to those in their 70s and 80s.

BTW, I'm a white person living in Georgia so I suppose I'm Cracker.

edit: You need to lighten up. I was joshing you.

[Subdivisions]

53. Ok...

"edit: You need to lighten up. I was joshing you."

Ok, I can do that ;)

[etherealtruth]

39. It's been used as a derogatory term long before Gen X

[CottonBear]

43. I tried to explain that. n/t

[etherealtruth]

45. Just backin' you up, Cotton :)

[Subdivisions]

55. So be it...

I've never had it used "against" me. So, my answer to the OP remains "no".

[BooScout]

62. You have no idea what you are talking about...

I would wager its history is a lot older than you must be since you have no idea of the history behind it.

BTW, it is a racist term.

[Subdivisions]

72. Apparently you haven't read any of this subthread...

And I don't completely disagree with you. But if you had read the complete subthread, you would know that I have not had the word used "against" me and that it has never been a factor in my life.

Perhaps I don't have any idea what I'm talking about with regard to YOUR experience. But I do know that the word itself has enjoyed a resurgence, if not an evolution, in it's current popularity.

You see, I have five step-children between the ages of 21 and 15. They love hip hop music and they espouse the Gen X culture. They are also half Mexican. I've been their step-father for 7 years and they are from a predominantly black and hispanic area of a rather large Texas city. They call me "cracker" all the time. But I am not insulted by it because I have never had the word used towards me in a racist way. And I have lived in the south all of my life from Virginia all the way to Texas and I have never had anyone use that word against me.

That is my experience AS I KNOW IT. If it doesn't match up with yours it's because you've had a different take on the word than I have. Doesn't mean you have to insult me.

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia's article on the word "Cracker" (pejorative):

Popular Culture
When used in pop culture, the term "white cracker" or "cracker" is sometimes intended to be humorous, though the distinction is not always clear.

A puppet named "Colonel Crackie" played the stereotypical Southern gentleman in the children's television show Kukla, Fran and Ollie which aired on NBC from the late 1940s to the late 1950s.

Curtis Mayfield uses the word "crackers" twice in his cautionary anti-racist anthem "If There's A Hell Below (We're All Going To Go)" - once in the opening spoken introduction ("Niggers, whiteys, jews, crackers/If there's a hell below...") and once in the first verse ("Blacks and the crackers, police and their backers.")

In John Boorman's 1972 film Deliverance, Lewis, played by Burt Reynolds, derisively refers to the rural people they encounter as being "crackers," implying that they were slow-witted hillbillies who lived in a world much different from that of him and his friends from a southern city. (However, a northerner would be just as likely to call Lewis/Reynolds a cracker.)

In the 1984 movie "Tank" starring James Garner, the white, southern sheriff was derisively referred to as a "cracker" multiple times.

An example is found in the popular American satirical cartoon television series South Park. One episode features the character "Chef" (who is black) planning to get married. The white children from the grade school where he works as a cook are at his home, waiting to see him to warn him off the marriage. While they wait on the sofa, Chef's elderly black father, as he is telling them a long-winded story about the Loch Ness Monster, refers to them as "little crackers" - something that Chef affectionately addresses the show's main young characters as in the show's first episode. Chef also refers to many people in South Park as "crackers" in several other episodes.

In the 2000 film O Brother Where Art Thou?, the upper class white character "Pappy" O'Daniel, candidate for the Governor of Mississippi and host of the radio show "Flour Hour", meets a lower class and uneducated white character as he arrives at the radio station for his program. Pappy is told that he can make $10 for singing into a can inside, whereupon he snaps, "I'm not here to make a record, you dumb cracker."

Musician Matthew Shafer uses the stage name Uncle Kracker (the second word being an obvious, and clearly intentional, misspelling of "cracker"). Stand-up comedian Chris Rock frequently uses this term in his performances; on his 2005 album Never Scared, he declares, "I'm not afraid of Al-Qaeda, I'm afraid of Al Cracker!"

Hip hop group Dead Prez are known for using the term "cracker" in their lyrics when referring to a white person. For instance, "I'm down for runnin' up on them crackers in their city hall" in the song 'Hip hop'.

Raising the Roofs, a Spike TV reality program, which premiered in the summer of 2006, features the misadventures of self described "Florida Crackers" living in Hollywood, California.

So, yes, I might not have any idea what I'm talking about. And, if it is truly meant to be a racist term, I have been lucky enough not to have had used against me in that way.

[Dorian Gray]

68. Cracker's been around for years.

It isn't a new term, nor is it not offensive because it hasn't "rubbed in enough."

It is used as an insult. It may technically mean a specific type of white person, but it has been used indiscriminately, just as many other derogatory words used to diminish a person of other cultures has. I would never use "Nigger," "kike," "spic," or any other horrible racial epithet, and I consider "cracker" to be one of those words.

[Subdivisions]

76. This is the fourth time...

someone has said that the term is old.

I KNOW! I never said the Gen Xers invented the word. I also said that the word does not have a history of being racist FOR ME.

Why can't I answer the question based on MY EXPERIENCE?

on edit: deleted unnecessary word

[Dorian Gray]

89. Hey,

you answered it with how it felt for you, and I responded with my thoughts. Isn't that what this message board is for? An exchange of thoughts? What you said elicited a reaction from me. I wasn't negating your opinion; I was just offering my own in response to yours.

I think that the word is charged with derogatory meaning and can be racially hateful in certain instances. I've heard it used in a comedic sense, and I've heard it used hatefully. Tone and intent has a lot to do with it, but there are some people out there whose only interest in using such a word is in order to make one feel like a lesser being. There are assholes in every shape and color.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

85. The term's been around years.

Black people oppressing white people hasn't.

[Dorian Gray]

88. Of course not.

Doesn't mean the word can't be used to intimidate a white person, though. Or to diminish them as a person. Using words for that reason, by anybody of any color, is wrong.

[Igel]

22. Not this again.

I have few quibbles with many of your posts, but this crops up every time some obscure term that's taken to be a slur crops up.

The argument always causes DUers to break into several camps.

(1) Yes. Derogatory and hateful speech is bad, and when it's based on race it's racist. The poorest Mexican immigrant who insults an AA woman or white congressman on the basis of race and sex is racist.

(2) Maybe. It depends on the power that the person has. A person with no power can't be racist because racism has nothing to do with intent, but with how power's used. A black congressman could be racist if he insulted the Mexican woman cleaning his office, but could be similarly racist if he insulted the white woman lawyer that came in to lobby him.

(3) No. Because African-Americans are, as a group, disenfranchised. Therefore no member of the group, even if s/he's in Congress, the governor's mansion, or a CEO--much less a boss or coworker--has enough power to actually be racist. It's an open question if afore-mentioned congressman is racist when he insults the Mexican janitor, but he's certainly not racist when he insults the white lawyer.

I reject (3) as communal in nature, and communal politics are evil in a democracy. (2) is fine, but it presumes that if I'm working for a black man I can call him anything I want, because he has the power; I think that would be unpalatable to many. I'm in camp (1); dispose of the intent, and (2) and (3) cease to be an issue.

I'm in camp (1), moreover, because I've seen blacks and Asians with authority that used it to discriminate. Those discriminated against weren't consoled by not haven been wronged by white men.

[Ghost in the Machine]

24. I don't think it is, personally, but others may feel it is. As a native

Floridian, I often refer to myself as a "Florida Cracker" because of my roots there, and because of my mothers roots in Georgia.

To be fair, I also refer to myself a "just a poor dirty white boy trying to make it in this mean ole world" too... words and names don't bother me, nor does it bother me what anyone else thinks of me. I'm not in this life to be in a popularity contest, nor would I ever win "Mr. Congeniality", so it only matters what I think of myself and how I choose to live my life.

[theoldman]

26. I can remember when a Redneck was a hard working farmer.

[Vincardog]

33. Did any one say that Redneck was a term of derision?

I was a hard working redneck on the river boats for 5 years in my younger life.
I was a proud hard working blue collar union member. I would never take offense to the term Redneck. Now if you were to call me a mouth breathing inbred loudmouth on the other hand ...

[El Supremo]

28. Webster.com defines it this way:

5 a usually disparaging : a poor usually Southern white b capitalized : a native or resident of Florida or Georgia -- used as a nickname

I never knew it referred to an overseer cracking a whip. I thought it came from southerners (Georgians in particular) sitting around a cracker barrel doing nothing. A lot of people sure used to call President Carter and Billy one.

Whatever, I had a post deleted here at DU where I called a Senator a cracker.

[Xithras]

40. Cracker generally means "ignorant white", not simply "white"

Slave overseers generally weren't intelligent people...they were cruel and uneducated men who often derived pleasure from hurting others. Books and journals from the period show that they usually weren't even liked by other whites, but they were seen as a neccesary evil.

Calling someone a cracker isn't just a way to call them white, it's a way to call them an ignorant brute. Whites were whites, but crackers were stupid whites who liked to hurt people. The KKK were all crackers. After the civil war, blacks generally used it to refer to the racist idiots who harassed them and tried to drive them out.

It's definitely an insult when used to refer to a white person, but I don't think it's racist.

[hedgehog]

71. It's an insult but not racist?

Now that's spitting hairs!

[Gormy Cuss]

90. I think the overseer cracking the whip is a false etymology.

It's an old derogatory term for poor whites from certain parts of the South. The OED has a citation for that use from the late 1700s; there are earlier cites from English writings where it's derogatory but not linked to the colonists.

[Cleita]

29. The first time I ever heard the word was from a woman I

worked for in Texas. She had spent years in Florida before then. She said that the local Floridians, those who have been there for a few generations, were called crackers. Then she proceeded to tell me what nice people they were, salt of the earth, etc., ect.. I was sure surprised to hear it slung as an insulting epithet about white southerners.

[Kerrytravelers]

30. It's calling someone out of their name. I don't allow it in my classroom.

It's inappropriate, at the very least.

[seabeyond]

31. yes it is. "can we all just get along"

wink

[Annces]

35. You mean when offering saltines? n/t

[confludemocrat]

38. It refers to a type of person with a racist attitude

and does not carry the connotation of slavery excpet being pro-slavery and later white supremacist

[Sparkly]

46. To me, it is. nt

[Marr]

48. Of course it is.

[Cobalt-60]

49. I'm a Saltine, Baby

Not really. Cracker is usually meant to refer to a Southern White.
And I'm a Yankee, or so my dentist tells me.
I am sufficiently pale that I sunburned through my shirt last time I was in El Cahon, so maybe I qualify.

[Throd]

50. That word doesn't appear much here in California

The most pejorative here would be "white trash".

I might be a redneck, but I sure as hell ain't white trash.

[slackmaster]

51. I'm white and I don't give a flying fuck whether the term is racist or not

So there, you dildoes.

[porphyrian]

52. In a sense, perhaps, but it certainly doesn't have the same...

...impact or connotations as other racial epithets. In fact, there are a number of Whites who embrace the term as others embrace redneck, although I'm not sure they understand it's origins (having to do with being the whip-holding slave master, if I'm not mistaken). In general, words like "cracker" and "honky" aren't taken as insults by Whites, despite their intended meaning. I have to say, I think "honky" is funny as shit and should be used more often, but that's me. The only way to insult caucasians in a matter similar to other racial slurs is to pick on our nationality of origin or ethnocultural background rather than our color. My only guess as to why is that being White on its own has never been a drawback in this country, while being Black or any other minority has.

[The Straight Story]

54. Only if spoken by a non-white

Kind of like ni**er is ok if a black person uses it. Or so I have heard from time to time...

I guess the question, to me, is - why would someone want to use it?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

56. Of course it is.

I don't see how anyone could think it wasn't.

[mcscajun]

57. Chris Rock's use definitely illuminates the racist nature of the term.

From a fairly recent stand-up routine:

There's nothing more racist than an old black man. You know why? 'Cause an old black man went through some real racism.

(snip)

You know what's wild about the old black men? An old black man, he ain't gonna let you f**k up his money. Whenever an old black man sees an old white man...the old black man always kisses the old white man's ass.

"How you doing, sir? Pleased to meet you. Whatever I can get you, you let me know."
As soon as the white man get out of sight, he's like:
"Cracker-ass cracker! I'll put my foot in the crack of your ass, cracker-ass cracker! I wish that cracker would've said some sh*t to me, saltine-assed, m***erf**king cracker! Cracker, kiss my ass, you f**king cracker!"
The white man come back. "Howdy, sir?"

I got an uncle real crazy. My uncle B., hates the white people, married to a white lady. And he sits around going, "These crackers ain't sh*t, except for Susie." He tried to explain the whole thing to me one day. He said, "Yeah, I got a white wife. I love her, she love me. That's all that matters. But I'll tell you this: if the revolution ever come, I'll kill her first...just to show these crackers I mean business! M***erf**ker, cracker-ass, m***erf**ker cracker! Sh*t, cracker, m***erf**ker!"

"Hi, honey. M***erf**ker cracker. I'll kill my cracker kids, too!"

But as others have said, it doesn't carry the powerful emotional charge that the Word That Shall Not Be Used carries, no way.

[smoogatz]

58. When used by non-whites, it generally refers to a specific type

of white person: southern, ignorant and racist. It's not really a generic pejorative for ALL white people, so if it's racist it's only marginally so.

[hedgehog]

73. But if the word is addressed to any white that happens along,

and it is used to identify an ignorant racist; isn't that in and of itself racist?

[smoogatz]

79. I've never seen that happen, but my experience is fairly limited.

Any race-specific, generic pejorative is racist when used by members of other races, I suppose.

[Solo_in_MD]

60. Yes, but so what

there is no right not to be offended. I've been called much worse

[redherring]

61. I think it just depends on how you say it

This is a very complicated question. It may be racist when a non-white says it.

[El Supremo]

63. More etymology:

Moonshiner?

http://athena.english.vt.edu/~appalach/essaysA/cracker.htm

[LittleClarkie]

64. If the person using it doesn't mean it kindly, then I'd say so.

I also found it odd when someone said "That cracker is racist." Now wait a cotton pickin' minute...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

65. When there hasn't been a white president in 230 years...

when local Sheriffs say they're going to arrest white people walking around in crew cuts...

when schools are segregated and it's the white people schools that get the short end of the financial stick...

when it's white people who don't get the jobs despite equal qualifications...

then white people can go ahead and complain about how racist the word "cracker" is.

[Dorian Gray]

67. Yes.

[Shakespeare]

75. post-and-run flamebait

This should be locked/deleted. :eyes:

[Bluebear]

86. hear that!

[Bullwinkle925]

77. I would say yes -

any term describing a particular segment of the human race other than being identified by either country of origin or scientific classification I see as racist.

[Akim]

78. Then "Cracker-Jacks" Must Also Be Defamatory Like "Aunt Jemima's" n/t

[guinivere]

80. I don't know. I suppose technically it is.

I wasn't taught any ethnic slurs, or hung out with people that used them. So what do I know.

A couple of my close friends and myself have called one another 'dumbass crackers' when one of us has done something particularly dumbass.

[bigwillq]

81. I could give a rat's ass what people want to call me.

I am not offended by the word cracker.

Sticks and stones....

[madmunchie]

82. Call me a cracker if you want, just don't call me late for dinner!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

83. Of Course It Is. I'm Amazed There's Even A Thread On This.

[Blue-Jay]

91. Here's why "cracker" doesn't bother me:

I've never had my ass kicked because I was white.

I've never been followed around a store because I was white.

I've never been denied a job because I was white.

I've never been pulled over by the cops because I was driving in a black neighborhood.

Nobody has every told me that I "speak well", thinking that they just given me some goddamn compliment.

"Some of my best friends are Blue-Jay" followed by an idiotic statement.

I've never been told "Go back to Europe!"

I've never had a problem hailing a cab.

I've never been asked to pay in advance for a meal. (fast food aside)
________________________________________________________

So, no. "Cracker" doesn't bother me.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

93. Those Are Great Reasons To Not Be Bothered.... But It's Still Racist.

[Blue-Jay]

95. I Can Capitalize Every Word In This Sentence.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

94. Who gives a shit?

Most of the people I work with are of "brown skinned" ethnicity. The difference is that we actually don't care. Mexicans and Black people call me everything from "honky" to "white trash". I, and frankly, they call themselves everything from "beaner to Nigger". We, as a group, understand that the rcial devide is bullshit, How you think about working people is much more importnt than what color you are. The Repukes would like us to be devided on racial lines. Devide and conkour. We, the actuall citizens of this country are not buying it. I don't happen to care what colot you are and none of my co-workers do either. The only thing we really care about is are we being treated firly . We aer not and we need to bring this to an end.

[mark414]

97. hell no. and any white person who's offended by it needs to get a grip.

i'm white. so let's say a black guy calls me cracker. okay, no skin off my back, he doesn't like me, or just doesn't like white people - i can't really blame him for that. let's say i call that same black guy nigger, or fill in any non-white ethnicity with the corresponding slur and it'd be the same thing - something that is absolutely not on par with me being called a cracker. me being called a cracker doesn't mean shit.

get over yourself, whitey.

[Moderator]

98. Locking

DU is a board for progressives, and we do not condone the use of any slurs.