Re: race, the n word, cracker historical context and hate crimes
Of course I am not so naiive to think that only white people* can be racist. I've met racist black people; I've delivered pizza to them.
What I'm saying is that on aggregate, non-whites are still at a social disadvantage in the US because of past and present racism, and for this reason "nigger" is a more threatening slur then "cracker". Is "cracker" (in most contexts) still a demeaning and threatening slur? Absolutely. I'm talking about a difference of degree, not of kind.
Some people do assert that the difference between white racists and non-white racists is a difference in kind. IMO they are wrong.
Yes, there are African-Americans and other non-white Americans who hate white people. But there has never been a time in this country when that hate was codified into law. But white-on-nonwhite racism was codified into law until the mid 1960s. That's less than forty years ago.
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* In the US. If you think white people are the only racists in the world, or that we invented racism, spend some time in southeast Asia.
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