Mumbles
Philosopher
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2008
- Messages
- 8,726
I think we can all agree that any of those terms are offensive automatically if they are said in anger, and not in a spirit of camaraderie, even if they are spoken by a fellow group member.
I don't necessarily - like I said, I consider the threats and intimidation to be worse. And I'd never eat anywhere where the staff acted that way, since they may try to "contaminate" the food in some disgusting (and illegal!) way. It's best to leave before that happens, and be relieved that they expressed themselves so openly rather than to potentially poison you. And that's just looking at self preservation - it's not right that they went either route, but this is as good as you can expect from anyone that willing to be openly hostile.
As for terms like "race traitor", "Uncle Tom", etc ...I don't use them, but many other communities have terms for people who are seen as openly and intentionally working against the common interests of other people who live there, regardless of how or why that community was created, so I'm unbothered when other black Americans use them in cases like this. I consider these along the same lines as "Benedict Arnold" for people who US citizens who betray the US, or "Gamergater" for gamers that harass women online. And a black guy who considers himself part of a US black community, but votes for Dolt 45 (as opposed to most other republicans) is about as close as you get to that. I don't really recognize a singular "the black community" however, so I'm very reluctant to consider anyone to have betrayed all black people. And "House slave/negro/etc" will get a word from me on how badly actual slaves were treated who worked in the house.