Re: race, the n word, cracker historical context and hate crimes
I agree, Liv. But it does demonstrate that one of the purposes of racism is to get the disadvantaged to attack and hate each other rather than the rich people who are exploiting them.
I think context matters quite a bit here. The term "cracker" is not particularly insulting to me. But to a white kid in a school where 70% of the student body is black it would have far more threatening connotations.
Similarly, if the year were 1942 or 1917 and someone called me a Kraut or a Hun I'd be pretty worried. But if someone did it now I'd laugh at them (on the off chance anyone even noticed my German ancestry).
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