I'm not telling anyone NOT to use the word "thug." Use it all you want. It's a free country. And it doesn't offend ME. I'm just telling you and other readers that it's pretty widely considered a racist term and you should brace yourself for some unwanted and unintened blowback. There are other words like that. "Retarded," say. Anyone is …
I'm not telling anyone NOT to use the word "thug." Use it all you want. It's a free country. And it doesn't offend ME. I'm just telling you and other readers that it's pretty widely considered a racist term and you should brace yourself for some unwanted and unintened blowback. There are other words like that. "Retarded," say. Anyone is free to say that word. THis is America! But it's going to convey more than you want or need to, in all liklihood.
Richard Sherman apparently, and BLM protesters. It has evolved into a code word for some. McWhorter is merely pointing out that the connotation has changed in recent years, depending on use:
"It was the 2.0 problem, as always. Of course, “thug” can still be used as a race-neutral word referring to a miscreant. We can call federal law enforcement “jackbooted thugs” or use the term to refer to Islamic State terrorists. But American discussion has also developed a sense of a “thug” persona, propagated partly by hip-hop iconography, which is specifically Black and even embraced by many Black people as a kind of proud self-expression. The phrase “thug life,” credited to Tupac Shakur, gets at this final meaning, which is racial but not pejorative. In any case, the days when “thug” meant only a ruffian or rascal are long past us; there is a newer meaning, more specific than the older one: thug 2.0."
I'm not telling anyone NOT to use the word "thug." Use it all you want. It's a free country. And it doesn't offend ME. I'm just telling you and other readers that it's pretty widely considered a racist term and you should brace yourself for some unwanted and unintened blowback. There are other words like that. "Retarded," say. Anyone is free to say that word. THis is America! But it's going to convey more than you want or need to, in all liklihood.
Eric, so you are not offended about the use of thug and indicate I am free to use it.(Thanks for your permission).
Don’t you find it a bit patronizing? If black folks find the word offensive, can’t they say so? Why do you feel the need to defend them?
I think they can defend themselves and if they find the word offensive, let them make the case themselves.
I’m pretty sure John McWhorter, who made the case, is black.
Has he been called a thug? I am looking for a black person who is offended by being called a thug and giving reasons why he/she finds it racist.
Richard Sherman apparently, and BLM protesters. It has evolved into a code word for some. McWhorter is merely pointing out that the connotation has changed in recent years, depending on use:
https://bento.cdn.pbs.org/hostedbento-prod/filer_public/whatihear/3-Code_Word-Viewing_Guide.pdf
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/not-accident-false-thug-narratives-have-long-been-used-discredit-n1240509
Yes. And fairly anti-woke, if I may use another term that has migrated quite a bit in recent years and that I now avoid.
McWhorter clarified this several times since, that the word still has acceptable meanings, but has evolved. Thug 2.0:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/opinion/it-is-what-it-is.html
"It was the 2.0 problem, as always. Of course, “thug” can still be used as a race-neutral word referring to a miscreant. We can call federal law enforcement “jackbooted thugs” or use the term to refer to Islamic State terrorists. But American discussion has also developed a sense of a “thug” persona, propagated partly by hip-hop iconography, which is specifically Black and even embraced by many Black people as a kind of proud self-expression. The phrase “thug life,” credited to Tupac Shakur, gets at this final meaning, which is racial but not pejorative. In any case, the days when “thug” meant only a ruffian or rascal are long past us; there is a newer meaning, more specific than the older one: thug 2.0."