Thug
- Thread starter HailtoPitt
- Start date
No specifically one player said he told him to cut his hair so he doesn't look like a thug.
When you only use the reference to black players and those that wear hoodies, durags, etc. then it becomes a racial word. If he's calling the white players that wear their hat backwards thugs as well then it's an even playing field. Otherwise it is clearly racist and bias!
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I'm not sure how context should matter. Telling someone they "look like a thug" is an insult given the word's literal meaning. Using the word as slang is probably worse given that it is used to describe a violent/undesirable subculture.
I think this argument that it's not a big deal falls along the same lines as "inconvenience is tyranny." Some people equate changes or limits as a threat when it's really nothing more than accommodating your fellow human beings. In this case it's, "I don't want to have to think before I speak."
I think this argument that it's not a big deal falls along the same lines as "inconvenience is tyranny." Some people equate changes or limits as a threat when it's really nothing more than accommodating your fellow human beings. In this case it's, "I don't want to have to think before I speak."
The word thug has many meanings depending on who you are and the reference you’re using it in. To me it’s no different than the word rebel rouser.
Sorta like holding Al Sharpton up as a purveyor of truth and justice.
So when the players say they are offended then the word or activity should cease because the meaning taken by the audience is paramount. As in when players take a knee to protest police brutality and bias during the national anthem and the intended audience, the NFL audience perceives it as disrespect to the armed services and the flag that will become paramount.
I agree if you are communicating and the message your audience is receiving is different than you are intending, it is your duty to change your message or method of delivery.
Glad we agree
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Except rebel rouser isn't a word. You probably mean rabble-rouser and that still only has one meaning.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I guess I never wrote it down before so the spelling is A little iffy. I actually do think those two words have somewhat similar meaning. Again words have different meanings to different people and different in the context or using them in. I guess that’s my point.
QUOTE="pittdan77, post: 3117290, member: 3668"]Except rebel rouser isn't a word. You probably mean rabble-rouser and that still only has one meaning.[/QUOTE]
QUOTE="pittdan77, post: 3117290, member: 3668"]Except rebel rouser isn't a word. You probably mean rabble-rouser and that still only has one meaning.[/QUOTE]
pittdan77
Athletic Director
[/QUOTE]
People use words differently for a variety of reasons but the word's true meaning never changes.
Calling someone a snowflake, for instance. We all know what the meaning of the word is but it is used as a demeaning stereotype. Calling a black person a "jogger" is a racist code word. I think "thug" took on some of the traits of a code word but the word is also used for stereotyping. We've just accepted the usage of the word without thinking much about what it really means or how it's perceived.
I'm not sure that hip hop didn't make a mistake by embracing the word, considering it's basic connotation, but there is a tendency for whites to use the word thug to describe a young black who they see as misbehaving, while using the word punk for a white kid they view the same way. The word thug used to be used frequently when discussing organized crime figures, usually being applied to types that relied on brute force, and violence, as opposed to the smarter types.
I can’t imagine any generation storming Normandy. Certainly not the selfish boomers who liked to cosplay as revolutionaries whining that they couldn’t go to the salon for two months.
Our country rallied together as one after 9/11. I think a lot of people between the ages of 18-30 would have been willing to fight back then.
In many ways you have to give, a portion of this generation a lot of credit, considering the all volunteer force. That portion is heavily weighted towards minorities, poor, and rural individuals. However, the armed services is now an excellent way to build marketable skills and experience, I am unsure that was the case in 50's - 70's I would defer to people with more knowledge for that answer. In addition, I cant think of any institution or program, governmental or civilian that has done more for the integration of the races. Not that it is all rainbows and butterfly.
Sir-- I fear your response while intended to be witty and insightful is rather an indictment upon you and a clear indicator of your desire to turn a conversation about the condition of the Pitt Football team into a political pissing contest. The gesture NFL players choose to use to demonstrate silent protest has nothing to do with the head football coach of a division 1 program being informed that the verbal communication he uses with his players offended them and him making a decision as an adult and leader to adjust said verbal communication. Good day to you Sir--
Serious question for @HailtoPitt and others that I always think of whenever this “PC culture” conversation comes up.
Why is your desire to be right about the meaning of a term take precedent over showing empathy for your fellow humans who are telling you something is racist, offensive, whatever?
Why is your desire to be right about the meaning of a term take precedent over showing empathy for your fellow humans who are telling you something is racist, offensive, whatever?
That’s probably the first time Tupac and research were ever used in the same sentence.
I know, I know, guilty as charged. The old saying "Credibility, once lost , is hard to regain." comes to mind.
I am sure you have at least one public figure that has lost all credibility with you which makes it difficult to refrain from interjecting disdain for their words/deeds however appropriate at the moment.
His image may lead people to believe otherwise but Tupac was actually quite bright.
Despite what you see and read in the media, he was a very intelligent and thoughtful young man who spoke on his experiences and the things the surrounded him.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Thank you, was about to post the same. I have never heard that term used in a derogatory manner ever.
Ambivalent about the use of “thug”, I know I don’t automatically think of black people when I hear that word, but can see how some might. Banning the use of the “warriors” surname is really dumb though. No one thinks exclusively of Native Americans when they hear that word.
Appropriate username.
Anyway, Shakur was the child of a family of Black Panthers and went to art school in Baltimore. The guy studied ballet and Shakespeare before starting his music career, and was the national chairman of the Young Black Panthers as a 17 year old. You don’t have to like his music, but he was pretty intelligent. You can listen to or read interviews and it’s amazing that he didn’t live past 25 years old - like this one, from 1992, when he was 21. https://www.rapbasement.com/2-pac/tupac-the-lost-interview.html
Easy. I don't think the word thug is racist. People get offended over many things. Too many things.
Isn't it obvious?
Because the only thing that matters to them is them. They didn't want to quarantine because they wanted to get a haircut. They don't want to consider how a black athlete might take the word "thug" because then that means they don't get to say it, and they have to think about it for more than a nanosecond. Same dudes who were against gay marriage, against literally anything that isn't everything exactly the same, where they're comfortable.
The empathy gap is the most real and pure difference between humans there is.
All you need to know.
Me me me me me me.
You literally have MULTIPLE players on the team that you root for, the team that is the basis of your user name saying that they're offended by it, that they think it's racist, that they are put off by it's use and it's connotations.
And the best you can do is say "Nah, I don't feel that way, so therefore no one does."
Do you realize how ****ing stupid that is?
So you basically have no empathy for players in the Pitt team then? Or other people of color who have said it’s become a racist dog whistle? And where do you draw the line with offensive language that you deem legitimate enough?
Like I said, your true colors are showing.
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