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This may seem kind of stupid but I am kind of stupid, is there a list somewhere of phrases that are stupid or insensitive racially or gender biased? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I just got up from conversation with a couple of older black men, that I said "well I got to go back to work and start cracking the whip." And it occurred to me then that it was probably a really insensitive stupid thing to say.

Sadly, it hadn't occurred to me until it's already said.

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[–] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 34 points 11 months ago (5 children)

When I was younger, I thought the term "cracker" referred to white people being pale like a cracker that you'd eat. I did not realize until later that it was referring to whipping.

[–] pastabatman@lemmy.world 19 points 11 months ago

I'm 38 and I did not know this.

[–] BellaDonna@mujico.org 16 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Whip cracker is actually probably false etymology, like a retcon of the origin that is popular, but actually not true.

[–] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ok but "Cracker Barrel" still refers to the customers, right?

[–] hightrix@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

No. It refers to the answer a man gives when asked about their bathroom experience.

“Did you use your Cracker Barrel?”

[–] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

Yeah, after I posted that, I did some searches and found lots of possible origins. I just remember being told the whip crack thing by a black friend of mine.

[–] ULS@lemmy.ml 14 points 11 months ago

So you're telling me Saltines aren't part of my American heritage?

[–] chaos@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Oh, fuck. This would have been nice to know sooner.

[–] vagrantprodigy@lemmy.whynotdrs.org 7 points 11 months ago

To be fair, in Florida at least it referred primarily to the whips used to drive cattle, not anything slavery related.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_cracker

[–] Thisfox@sopuli.xyz 5 points 11 months ago

Huh. Never heard of that before. But then, am Aussie and don't know much yank idiom.