Quote:
Originally Posted by jayswin
Haha, yep that about sums it up. Over hundreds of interactions over years I can't remember someone using the word thug to describe anyone.
But I know clearly from just following US news at even a glance that the word "thug" has been used pretty commonly south of the border to describe black people disparagingly. I guess transplant may not have heard it used that way as someone who's (assuming) lived in Canada his whole life.
|
I lived in the South for 11 years. (North Carolina) I moved back to Calgary in 2011. I have a persective on racism and whatnot most of those white people posting in this thread do not.
In that entire time I never ever heard the term thug used as something deragotory towards any particular race...seriously.
It was always used to describe violent criminals (as it has through out its history in english) who meant and inflicted harm on others and/or their property.
During my time there, one of my best friends opened up a nightclub that catered to anyone but because of the location and music he chose to go with, it was very much a black club as anything else was. He asked me to be part of it from day 1 for a few different reasons of which i did. Everyone who worked there did whatever was necessary to be done..just one of those places when it opened.
Because of the small staff it took I was often on the door. If we got a well known DJ or act in for a Saturday night or whenever, it would be a gong show getting in. First off because of local laws, and because this was eclesively a bar (no food) one had to be a member or have a member sign them in. We also only had a 120 person capacity. So because of that i had to turn away all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons. Certainly things got way out of control a few times. I had a gun pulled on me and pointed square at my face while the guy called me a "cracker". Im not making this up. I actually started to laugh because I knew who he was...about 50 people in line knew who he was and there was video cameras everywhere and he was a signed up member! and I flat out said to him, "you wanna go to jail for life because you cant get in a bar? Every one here knows who you are". He looked around and left immediately.
Now the reason i tell this story is because many of those in line (mostly black but white and some latinos as well)who witnessed this all, and came in after he left without getting in (and never ever to be again), called him nothing but a "poser" or a "wanna be gangster" or a "thug".
Thug has been part of the english lexicon for centuries and it never...ever....referred to anyones race, gender, whatever. There were a couple dealers in there as well whom we had an understanding that they keep the crap out of the club, they were welcome to be part of it which they certainly agreed to as the place was uber popular for a few years. They too considered the word as part of their world though that may be because of the Tupac factor...i have no idea. I mean, President Obama used it in the exact same way i did while he was in office and in regards to the exact same thing.
So those who claim its an "old mans term" or whatever makes you feel better....fill yer boots on that stuff.
The fact is that term has been used to describe gangsters, rioters, bullies, armed robbers, whatever....since long before i was alive.
And I should add...it could be, and likely is since 2016, entirely different because of his orangeness. Though I would add that George W was thought of as the anti-christ too. And I was there for his whole 8 years.