• boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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    8 hours ago

    I mean it’s been a slur for a few centuries, even though the exact meaning changed to mean what it does… also a few centuries ago at this point. 19th century IIRC (cracker = someone who cracks a whip = white person).

    But also it’s pretty easy to tell from context that cracker here doesn’t mean “white people”. Similarly to how when you calculate a slope in math you don’t usually associate it with the slur.

    • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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      6 hours ago

      Thought it referred to southerners so poor they had to eat cracked corn like livestock

      • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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        2 hours ago

        IIRC the original meaning was about poverty and then it became about whip cracking, which meant white people in general

    • 1984@lemmy.today
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      6 hours ago

      Yeah, context is very important, and also ability to see through propaganda and brainwashing.