Police shooting of unarmed teen leads to protests and Riot

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Thug is the new n word.

Cool so when will athletes, rap artists and the general black guy start saying Thug every two seconds?

[jayswin]

One of my favourite sarcastic lines from Jon Stewart's 10 minute skewering of the American media over coverage was when the guy said

"Why aren't we covering more black on black crime?" Amongst some other soundbytes of media questioning why we don't cover the black poverty issues more and instead focus so much on the ferguson case.

Then Stewart said "Yes, why all the interest in holding police officers to a higher standard than.......gangs."

[Flash Walken]

I guess I thought it was worth discussing more that a news organization was distorting a news story they were supposed to be reporting on to shift public opinion and foment more distrust and violence between the two groups, and how that might be influencing the current discussion, contributing to the polarization.

It was almost like it was a propaganda piece.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I guess I thought it was worth discussing more that a news organization was distorting a news story they were supposed to be reporting on to shift public opinion and foment more distrust and violence between the two groups, and how that might be influencing the current discussion, contributing to the polarization.

It was almost like it was a propaganda piece.

I think the media "coverage" is a fantastic side discussion to have. It'd be funny how much they influence perception in America if it wasn't scary.

[Magnum PEI]

Just wanted to weigh in on the word 'thug'- I thought Richard Sherman was crazy when he brought this up, but since then I've only heard the word in reference to black athletes and celebrities. I would say it has evolved a subtle racial connotation, though the people who use it may not be conscious of it. Maybe not as bad as saying '######', but I think it is way to disparage someone based on race.

[jayswin]

It most certainly has racial connotations these days. I'd agree there's probably a certain segment of the population that doesn't know it does, but yeah over the last few years it's really started to be used to describe black people that look a certain way.

[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by underGRADFlame

Well they're just cops, who cares if they go home, as long as the criminal isn't harmed.

Is anyone saying a suspect/criminal/perpetrator shouldn't be harmed?

He shouldn't be killed unless it's a last resort. There are a whole lot of steps between "dead cop, completely unharmed criminal" and "cop guns down a criminal on sight."

There are a lot of steps that should be taken before deadly force is used. All too many US police forces use deadly force as the first line of defense rather than the last, and that is a huge, huge problem.

Also I probably shouldn't have posted about this event late last night, I was just heading off to bed at a far too late hour and just couldn't believe the same story was playing out in the same city. It was all in the middle of happening and a lot of information hadn't appeared just yet, so that's my fault for jumping at it that fast.

[AcGold]

Completely disagree about thug being racist. White guys can easily be a thug just as much as a black guy. Gangster, thug, criminal, hoodlum. Absolutely nothing to do with skin color. The eagerness to pin the racist label so quickly is political correctness taken too far.

[nik-]

I've never really heard white people referred to as thugs. They can be thugs yes ... I just never hear the term applied to them.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I guess I thought it was worth discussing more that a news organization was distorting a news story they were supposed to be reporting on to shift public opinion and foment more distrust and violence between the two groups, and how that might be influencing the current discussion, contributing to the polarization.

It was almost like it was a propaganda piece.

This more or less reflects all news sources for the last 15 years or so. Reporters and academics have become part of the political infrastructure on both sides.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by nik-

I've never really heard white people referred to as thugs. They can be thugs yes ... I just never hear the term applied to them.

well the 1930's mob guys are gone.... they were also called gangsters too

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by AcGold

Completely disagree about thug being racist. White guys can easily be a thug just as much as a black guy. Gangster, thug, criminal, hoodlum. Absolutely nothing to do with skin color. The eagerness to pin the racist label so quickly is political correctness taken too far.

One of the two following photos depicts an actual thug. Which photograph do you think is most likely to be identified as a "thug" though (presuming no one recognized who these two people actually were)?

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Magnum PEI

Just wanted to weigh in on the word 'thug'- I thought Richard Sherman was crazy when he brought this up, but since then I've only heard the word in reference to black athletes and celebrities. I would say it has evolved a subtle racial connotation, though the people who use it may not be conscious of it. Maybe not as bad as saying '######', but I think it is way to disparage someone based on race.

Does thug have racial connotations? I wouldn't say no, but it depends entirely on the user. I lose a lot of respect for anyone who argues that the word itself has some sort of subconscious, at least, racist connotation. It's not like it's a new word, thug has meant... well, thug, a lot longer than any sort of argument that it has been used as a euphemism for black male. Honestly, "youth" probably has a much stronger racial connotation than the word "thug" does.

Originally Posted by nik-

I've never really heard white people referred to as thugs. They can be thugs yes ... I just never hear the term applied to them.

Maybe it's a generational thing but, I would say my first thought when hearing thug would be a fat, leather-wearing white biker. My second thought? Unknown-race Foot clan thugs from TMNT. In fact, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) has three people credited as 'thug', all three of them are white (including head thug Sam Rockwell).

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Makarov

One of the two following photos depicts an actual thug. Which photograph do you think is most likely to be identified as a "thug" though (presuming no one recognized who these two people actually were)?

Terrible argument.

Take a picture of Urkel and Eminem, who do you think would be referred to as a thug more frequently? (Hint: it's not Urkel). If anything you're arguing that clothes make the man, not anything to do with race.

I do think that if there were two "equal" pictures of males in hoodies, one being black and the other white, that the black male would likely be described as thug more frequently. But if you're posting a picture of a well dressed man in a suit smiling nicely and comparing it to a man with a done-up hoodie and ballcap, it doesn't matter the races.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Terrible argument.

Take a picture of Urkel and Eminem, who do you think would be referred to as a thug more frequently? (Hint: it's not Urkel). If anything you're arguing that clothes make the man, not race.

Firstly, clothes are a cultural artifact.

Secondly, your post reinforces my point. People frequently apply the term "thug" based solely on appearance, without any knowledge of whether or not someone is or is not violent. Eminem's appearance signifies his participation in/adoption of hip hop culture (which of course plays a central role in American black culture.) Many people associate the term "thug" with hip hop culture (and therefore black culture). That is why Eminem is more likely to be labelled "thug" than Urkel.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Makarov

People frequently apply the term "thug" based solely on appearance, without any knowledge of whether or not someone is or is not violent.

You're right. But that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with race which is what I thought you were getting at given the comment you replied to. (And read my edit that I posted at the same time).

And again, for me (and therefore I'm pretty sure others), you could show a picture of some of those burly bikers against child abuse and they would be labelled "thug" much more frequently than some random criminal in a suit.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

You're right. But that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with race which is what I thought you were getting at given the comment you replied to. (And read my edit that I posted at the same time).

And again, for me (and therefore I'm pretty sure others), you could show a picture of some of those burly bikers against child abuse and they would be labelled "thug" much more frequently than some random criminal in a suit.

To me, "thug" is synonymous with "minion". When I hear the term, I generally expect there to be 5+ of them, and an evil mastermind cackling in the background.

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by Makarov

One of the two following photos depicts an actual thug. Which photograph do you think is most likely to be identified as a "thug" though (presuming no one recognized who these two people actually were)?

Neither. A hoodie doesn't make you a thug nor does skin color. Neither guy is visibly acting intimidating or like a criminal.

Such a silly argument to push.

[sa226]

Ahhh nevermind

[taco.vidal]

I think the use of the word thug has evolved over the past 20 years. The racial connotation associated with the word has definitely increased. I think that hip hop culture has a lot more to do with it than any other factor. And that has ended up with the word being used racially rather than how it would have been used 20 years ago.