SC 'Coon Hunter' License Plate Not Offensive, Says Raccoon Hunter

[SoCalDem]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/sc_coon_hunter_license_plate_not_offensive_says_ra.php?ref=mblt



To some, the word "coon" is most recognizable as a racial slur. Yet as South Carolina considers issuing specialty plates with "Coon Hunters" written on them, the president of a raccoon hunting organization there says the term is hardly offensive.

"Coon is a word that's in the dictionary," David McKee, president of the South Carolina Coon Hunters Association told TPM. "There are national publications about coon hunting."

True, the dictionary does define coon primarily as an abbreviation for nature's mischievous bandits. Yet the online version of Merriam-Webster notes the common derogatory connotation as well. The site defines coon like this:

1: raccoon 2: usually offensive : black


..............................................................................................



And this article
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/sc_representatives_propose_gadsden_other_speciailt.php

SC Reps Propose 'Coon Hunters' And 'Don't Tread On Me' License Plates
Jon Terbush | January 4, 2011, 8:39AM


Forget bumper stickers. South Carolina drivers may soon have a new way to make a political statement while tooling around town in their cars. As Corey Hutchins reported in the Columbia Free-Times, several lawmakers in the South Carolina State House recently introduced bills that would allow the DMV to issue over a dozen new specialty plates, including one with the Gadsden Flag slogan turned Tea Party rallying cry, "Don't Tread On Me." Among the other proposed plates are ones bearing the words "Coon Hunters" and "Second Amendment" for firearm fans, or, if fishing is more your thing, one with an image of a largemouth bass.

snip


While the "Coon Hunters" plate may raise some eyebrows for its apparent use of a racial slur, it's apparently meant to celebrate raccoon hunting. Revenue from sales of the plate would go toward the South Carolina State Coon Hunters Association Youth Fund.

That group's website states:

The SC State CHA was established in 1982 to promote the sport of coonhunting in our state...We work constantly with members of our General Assembly to insure that our hunting privileges are not infringed upon. <sure it is :eyes:..>

snip

None of the state reps sponsoring these proposals responded to TPM's request for comment. Neither did the raccoon hunting organization.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. can we secede from South Carolina? Please?

[marmar]

2. Good f**king Grief.....

How long before they declare an official Grand Wizard Day holiday?

[rfranklin]

3. Simple solution...make the plates say "Raccoon Hunter"

If they can't accept that then we might draw the conclusion that they actually are racists.

[valerief]

5. +1000

[-..__...]

24. Or, also include a picture of a racoon...

and keep the wording of the plate as proposed.

[Iggo]

4. You ever SEE a dictionary, McKee?

There's a whole LOT of words in there!

[DCKit]

6. Oh, those crafty racists! nt

[Botany]

7. South Carolina is a beautiful state and has some really nice people but ....

.... Good God in Butter it is loaded w/ dumb asses and mouth breathers.

[Brickbat]

8. .

[Angry Dragon]

28. Is that in bachmann's district??

[Brickbat]

30. Nope, it's in the third district.

[leveymg]

9. We strongly object:

[PBS Poll-435]

21. Thanks

My "pets" for a year were a momma racoon and her kids that lived in our storm sewers.

(Yeah, I fed em)

[leveymg]

52. They won't leave you alone from now on - but, that's okay.

Don't understand why anyone would want to shoot and/or eat them in this day and age. Hardly seems sporting, although a raccoon could be taught to squeeze a trigger, I'm sure. Is there some sort of armed critter militia out there that threatens South Carolina?

As for eating . . . suppose, if I were starving . . . but, don't want to go there.

[PBS Poll-435]

55. I think they were just traveling.

They left as soon as it got warm and her kids got big enough.

[leveymg]

56. That's really nice of you.

That makes you a conductor on the Underground Railroad now. Literally. An honorable title.

I can't believe that anyone isn't aware of the vile association that license plate suggests, or would want to be associated with it.

[Obamanaut]

10. Will we now, in order to be PC, change all the stories about Dan'l Boone,

Davey Crockett, and their "coonskin caps"?

I predict that in the future all words will be printed with a first letter, a last letter, and a bunch of asterisks in between.

G**d g***f.

[blondeatlast]

11. Won't "Raccoon Hunters" fit? REALLY? Pardon me, SC, but your true (lack of color) is showing... nt

[Stevenmarc]

17. Or RACN HNTR

[JBoy]

12. Good luck parking that car anywhere.

[crim son]

13. Wow.

It would never have occurred to me that "coon hunter" could be construed as a racial slur but I'm from the far north. If in South Carolina, racial slur is the first thing that comes to mind then how can the CHA possibly excuse themselves? No doubt they're balking at the enforced political correctness which does get old at times but serves a very real purpose.

[Poll_Blind]

14. Probably not a good idea. But where I grow up the word "coon" was used both as a slur to...

...describe African Americans and used (endearingly, if you can imagine that) as a term to describe native Cajuns or very long-time Louisiana residents. To call someone a "coon ass" was a way of saying they were "one with nature", usually an experienced hunter, fisherman or other walker of the land.

This is just my experience. Words are...weird.

PB

[deutsey]

18. Yeah, I remember when Wang computers were first advertised on TV

back in the '80s and my uncle would laugh at the word when he saw it. He said where he grew up in the '50s "wang" was slang for penis.

Words are weird and fluid that way. It's kind of relevant.

Like George Carlin observed, it's ok to say "prick your finger," but see what happens when you say "finger your prick." :evilgrin:

Still, "coon", in my mind, is a racial slur because that's how I heard it used when I was growing up in rural Maryland.

[ieoeja]

60. I used to play with my Wang. Then they made me play with UNIX.

I was a very confused young man.

[Dogtown]

15. Unmistakable

and unforgivable.

[LiberalFighter]

16. Enough with the specialty license plates!! There are too many of them.

[-..__...]

26. Personally... I can't stand them...

but, I guess they do bring in a lot of extra revenue.

For overkill, no State beats New York for the number of approved specialty plates...

http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/cplates.htm

They issue 21 different plates for NASCAR fans alone...

http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/sponasc.htm

[LiberalFighter]

41. The revenue doesn't go to the state though.

At least not here in Indiana. They usually go to non-profit or education groups associated with the license plate.

[Dogmudgeon]

19. Only if they add CRAKR H8R

(Cracker Hater)

Crackers can really kill a person's diet.

--d!

[nc4bo]

23. +1. I'm all for equality. nt

[Erose999]

20. Never heard "coon" used as a slur when I was growing up in GA. I am sure it was, but

not by anyone in my family. "Coon" was always used to describe raccoons. And my grandpa was a coon hunter and trained hunting dogs. I never heard him utter a racist word in my life. My dad's next door neighbor is a coon hunter.

Its much different from deer hunting in that coon hunting happens at night since the raccoons are nocturnal. And its not stationary like deer hunting, the hunters chase the raccoons into trees. So there are different issues concerning safety and such as you have men and dogs running around in the woods at night and firing guns at times when people usually sleep. I can see why a group like the CHA would want to work with legislators to protect their sport.

The plates do not strike me as having a racist undertone.

[Dappleganger]

31. It's still used all over NE FL.

Which is South Georgia.

[hlthe2b]

32. You are kidding? You live in Georgia and can say that ?

Growing up, I lived in parts of Missouri, Louisiana, Georgia, Virginia. In each of those states, that term was a racial slur. It still is.

[Erose999]

44. I heard all manners of other slurs, but the first time I encountered "coon" was, ironically enough

when I heard it on "All in the Family".

Most of the time, when I heard a racist remark it was just the N-word. Racism was so commonplace that there really wasn't a need for metaphor or subtlety among racists.

[hlthe2b]

45. re: "Racism was so commonplace...no need for subtlety..."

I'd certainly agree on that point. ;)

[SoCalDem]

50. and it's getting that way again

:(

[SoCalDem]

47. Kansas 1966

Most of my friends worked at Dillons' grocery store & once when we were all chomping at the bit to go out, our friend Dave had done a cursory swoop thru the store to make sure the customers were all out & he got on the intercom to spur on Phil to get a move on...he was in the stockroom putting some stuff out for the night crew... Phil Kuhn, that is.. so Dave gets on the intercom & says.. "C'mon Kuhn..shake a leg we want to get out of here tonight"..

Just as he said that, an elderly black man came from behind a display with his shopping cart... He looked at Dave & said, "I'm an old man, son.. I'm moving as fast as I can"...

I thought Dave was going to faint... He was so embarrassed & before the man left the store, he made sure to get back on the intercom & page Phil Kuhn to the front desk ".

Our party mood was surely broken that night:(

[aikoaiko]

35. oops wrong spot

[GSLevel9]

43. reasonable post. nt

[Lucian]

54. I heard "coon" being used as a racial slur in St. Paul when I was a kid.

In Minnesota.

I don't really believe you when you say you never heard it in Georgia.

[Maru Kitteh]

71. +1. Heard it here too in Nebraska. Lilly white Nebraska.

So no, I don't really believe it either.

[hootinholler]

22. Ah to hear a bluetick hound baying

The heat rising and then changing to this tree! He's here! This tree!

Sweet music to a country boy.

-Hoot

[hlthe2b]

51. I always smile when I encounter hound dogs....

Whether it be those southern blueticks, beagles or basset hounds. Bloodhounds are somewhat popular in Colorado right now. I rarely saw them in the past. Gotta love those baying dogs (as long as it isn't 2:00 in the morning!)

[leveymg]

57. Hounds make the best pets. They are incredibly loyal and smart, up for just about anything.

We have a Curr Tree Hound now from Georgia. Really a loving, gentle dog (except to squirrels), but pulls like a freight train on the lead. Had a mixed Bluetick hound, and there was a wonderful, wise lady inside that mottled fur.

[slackmaster]

25. Jeez, I just used that word this morning when addressing my cats

"Have those 'coons been tearing up our yard again? Do your job and stop them!"

IMO the apostrophe is the key. With that, there is no ambiguity about what the word is referring to.

[Withywindle]

67. Are they Maine Coon cats?

sorry, couldn't resist. Agree with you on the apostrophe, but I guess you can't put that on a license plate.

I would do a double take if I saw that plate, no doubt. Context is everything, and a license plate doesn't have enough of it for me.

[slackmaster]

80. LOL! I used to have a Norwegian Forest Cat.

My fur monsters are one big orange and one Calico.

[Withywindle]

85. Oooo, Norwegian Forest Cats are beautiful too.

(cue stereotypes about Scandinavians, Vikings, etc.)


I have a little tortoiseshell moggie. Natural-born killer.

[LibertyLover]

27. Growing up in northern New Jersey

we called raccoons "raccoons". The word "coon" was always understood to be a derogatory name for African-Americans, except if it preceded '-skin cap' or 'hound' and so I never used it. My mother, who was rarely bothered by anything, didn't like using the word "coon" at all and would actually say 'raccoon-skin cap'. Good friends of mine have a purebred Coonhound, and I confess that I had a bit of a hard time using the word when telling my little girl that Ms Debby and Ms Suzanne's dog, Beaudreaux, was a Coonhound when she asked what he was.

[aikoaiko]

34. I too grew up in Northern NJ (Bergen Cnty) and coon was usually racoon to us.

Although I did know that some people used the term as a slur.

Coon = racoon to me.

[LynneSin]

29. I'd get pissy but then again I spent 4 months campaigning for Coons

Chris Coons that is.

[AmandaMae]

33. Is it really necessary to have on your license plate that you hunt raccoons?

[Erose999]

46. No more necessary than that you're a cancer survivor or an educator or whatever

[LeftinOH]

36. Slightly off-topic, but -who hunts for raccoons, and why?

[Iggo]

37. Lames. And for hats. (n/t)

[-..__...]

38. For the pelts and they're pests.

[Erose999]

49. I've been told they are good eating. Lean meat, flavorful, and even though they are scavengers

their meat is probably still healthier than what passes for "beef" or "chicken" at the supermarket nowadays.

[AngryAmish]

61. I have eaten many animals including raccoon

You can have it. It tasted nasty.

But if they are a bother I can see why they need killing.

[SpartanDem]

64. It is

I've had it BBQ'd and I thought it tasty(then almost anything is tasty when you BBQ it).

[Raine]

81. Yeah really, they are so cute. Here in Los Angeles County

they have found their way into the burbs where I live. I put out food for them, so do my neighbors. I can't understand why some want to not only kill them but brag on it. :argh:

[CBGLuthier]

39. Little Black Sambo and the Tarbaby would like to add their two cents

Funny how words acquire meaning. I remember when the Sambo's restaurant chain was ran out of business.

BTW, for those who don't know, Sambo was a Tamil child. Nothing whatsoever to do with africans of any sort. But some racists called african americans Sambo.

And Br'er Rabbit's use of the tarbaby in the Uncle Remus stories also has nothing whatsoever to do with anything racial. Other than the stories having an african origin (Anansi).

My relatives in Kentucky never ever went racoon hunting in their lives. They hunt coons.

But if a word offends white liberal sensibilities it must be banished. Because we care and want to protect the world from itself.

Ain't that right "slave" Jim?

[galileoreloaded]

40. I cant believe we get bogged down in this shit either. n/t

[ieoeja]

62. Really? You seriously believe that racists won't be buying these plates in droves?

What happens when a hundred thousand of these plates are sold? Will you suddenly believe that there are 100,000 raccoon hunters in South Carolina? Or is that what it will take for you to finally realize that the vast majority of people sporting this plate are doing so out of racism?

My dad was a coon hunter. I know what a fucking coon hunter is. But I am not so naive as to believe these plates will be purchased primarily to support hunting. It will be used to support racism, plain and simple. So change it to "Raccoon Hunter", and the problem is solved.

[badtoworse]

78. The only reason racists would flock to buy that plate...

...would be to piss off the PC crowd that is all geeked out about it. Ignore the problem and it will go away. I can't believe the time that is being wasted on this.

I can remember a number of years ago when the City of Woonsocket, RI changed their specifications for "manhole" covers to "personhole" covers to be politically correct. They were a laughingstock in the engineering community for a while

[ieoeja]

84. Just the opposite.

When you ignore it, they get worse. Ask any bigot, and they will tell you that they are talking for those who remain silent. They firmly believe that 100% of "their people" who do not speak against them secretely agree with them, but are too afraid to not be politically correct.

And people with their constant (and heavily selective) attacks on "PC" are a huge help to them.

Without a doubt, the top anti-PC person in the United States today is Reverend Phelps. There is *nothing* more PC than respecting our soldiers. Do you denigrate those who speak out against disrespecting out soldiers? Of course not. So obviously you do favor some forms of being politically correct.

Yes, the "personhole" cover was stupid. But this issue is real. This is far, far more akin to "God hates soldiers" than it is to "personhole".

You admit this will become a racist "flag". Provided by the government. If we know in advance how this will be used, then why in the world are you advocating we do it anyway? That doesn't make any sense.

[fishwax]

63. Sambo as a racial term predates The Story of Little Black Sambo

Yes, it's true that in the story Sambo is a Tamil child. However, the term Sambo for those of mixed African American and Native American heritage (or for African Americans generally) had been used for decades before Helen Bannerman's book. And Bannerman's illustrations draw heavily from the tradition of blackface. (More specifically, the illustrations were inspired by the blackface "gollywog" doll.)

[Atticus]

79. Thank you! "Up here" in southern Illinois, we hunted coons, too. We also shot the occasional

"possum" if the opportunity presented itself, though no self respecting hound---Daddy ran blueticks and black and tans---would spend much time chasing possums.

We knew that coons were really "raccoons" and that possums were actually "opossums", but NO ONE called them that. We also knew that coon was one of the disparaging terms that some of the local knuckle draggers used to refer to black folk, but the "N-word" was the real epithet of choice for those idiots.

No decent person used the term to refer to a human being. For every time I heard "coon" used as a racial perjorative, I heard it used 100 times to refer to a raccoon, which we hunted for its fur because were poor people and a prime pelt would bring up to $4.50.

The posts in this thread which take the position that this license plate is "obviously" a racial slur are displaying their own cultural ignorance. I hope they will consider reading "Deer Hunting With Jesus" by Joe Bageant.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

42. Classic urban - rural divide with a fair portion of political correctness thrown in

I tend to agree with the overabundance of specialty plates in general principal.

[aikoaiko]

48. As an interesting aside -- I met a father who officially named his son Sambo.

They loved the story and never knew that it was once a common slur. They've started to call him Sam. But the child signs his name Sambo.

[Lucian]

53. Wait...McKee's argument is that the word "coon" is in the dictionary, so it's ok?

What an idiot.

The words "shit" and "fuck" are also in the dictionary but I'm pretty sure the state wouldn't allow me to get those on my plates.

[Stevenmarc]

58. First of all, owning a vanity plate puts you really high on the Douchbag list

Right up there with wearing Ed Hardy

[Pancho Sanza]

74. Gosh, thanks a lot...I have one with my amateur radio callsign on it.

Next year I'll just get "IMADOUCH"...

[jmowreader]

77. Does your state give you those free?

I know SOME places do...Idaho, however, does not.

[ecstatic]

59. Yeah, and their big gala celebrating the Confederacy/secession/slavery wasn't offensive either!

:eyes:

[cbdo2007]

65. How about "Coon Rapids High School"? should they change their name too???

Should they change the name of the city Coon Rapids?? Obviously this is derogatory so I'm sure everyone here can agree that they change their name to something more generic like Springfield or Columbia. ha ha

[Rex]

66. I can't believe people spend every waking hour thinking up new ways

to offend others. The license plate is way over the top and is a VERY VERY VERY...VERY bad idea! :eyes:

SC + 'coon' license plate = racism

[Pancho Sanza]

68. Would it be more acceptable north of the Mason-Dixon line?

There seem to be quite a few people who spend all their time searching for things to be offended -by- as well.
:shrug:

[Rex]

72. No not really, yeah I guess there are.

So you would drive around with 'coon hunter' on your license plate? Just asking...

[Pancho Sanza]

73. No, and neither would I drive around with "Choose Life" on it...

that's a popular slogan on car tags that *I* personally find borderline offensive but I'm not going to make an issue out of what somebody else does as long as it isn't harming me. There are way too many people nowadays who think the Bill of Rights includes that to never ever be offended. I'll stick with Freedom of as much speech as doesn't directly incite crime, social destruction or insurrection.

[Rex]

75. But pissing off a race of people is okay?

You draw the line there? See, I don't like seeing harm come to others. Seeing others being physically & mentally 'harmed' bothers me. And it is the STATE, not what other fellow citizens think that is driving this issue. Racism hurts, I've seen it many times firsthand. Freedom doesn't include mentally harming others last time I checked.

[Shandris]

76. I'm a midwest northerner and while I have occasionally heard...

...the term coon used as a racial slur, if someone were to mention it in casual conversation -- ie, 'coon hunter' -- I would have no difficulty figuring out that they meant they hunted raccoons, nor would the thought of it meaning something racial cross my mind until much later, probably musing over the days events before I go to sleep.

So yes, at least from my purely anecdotal perspective, I think a lot of it is where one is from. Up here, it wouldn't be a problem until someone looking for something to be offended by pointed it out.

[jpak]

69. SC is the most confederate state in the union and they know damned well this is racist

yup

[Pancho Sanza]

70. I can imagine the uproar if some state tries to put "Have your dog spayed"

on their car tags...

:silly:

[whistler162]

82. My next door neighbor might take offense him and all his Coon

relatives, families last name!

So I can say something that sounds totally racist but isn't.

[HEyHEY]

83. It's definately offensive, and troubling, if you're a racoon.

[AsahinaKimi]

86. Kawaiiiiiiii ne

They are as cute as Pandas!