Teacher punished for using the T word

[Benton]

(10-18-2017, 03:13 PM)bfine32 Wrote: So has gangster, perhaps that it where the connection to color comes from.

(10-18-2017, 03:24 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: It may be, because that term is also another one where it was once thought of as a reference primarily to a different group of people than it does currently. Though this is also a shift to the more overt organized crime that occurs in the country. Which goes into another conversation, because when I was just thinking about the term organized crime, I thought about how modern street gangs are organized crime, but we (or at least I) don't think of them in that way, and there is a racial component to how I perceive that term.

I could see gangster, because there was a lot of usage of the word to self-describe. To me, it fits more the attitudes and lifestyles more than race. A white kid blasting Biggie and taking part in the culture is as dumb as a black kid doing the same. And just as benefiting from the term gangster. 

It's not the same as a lot of the terms used to define people based on skin color, geolocation, etc.

(10-18-2017, 03:28 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: A lot of this is actually derivative of Richard Sherman's rant in 2014 about the sorry ass receiver Michael Crabtree. I called him a douche when he did that.

Others called him a thug. 

https://deadspin.com/the-word-thug-was-uttered-625-times-on-tv-yesterday-1506098319

On TV, "thug" was mentioned 625 times, a HUUUUUUGGGGEEEEEEEEEE jump. 

An example is from the Boston area sports show, Dennis & Callahan:

>>he's a thug. some of these are hilarious. i got one in front of me that says "he can't be a thug, he got good grades."

>> sherm "sherman is a stanford educated player who started himself masters degree." stop me when i get to the part that refutes that he's a thug.
>> why is he a thug?
>> isn't it subjective?
>> why is he a thug?
>> because of his behavior.
>> define thug. he's never been arrested.
>> i'm not defining thug.
>> well, look it up.
>> they're not mutually exclusive. you can say he's a thug because of his behavior on the field and the way he acts, that's fine.


http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-sherman-thug-2014-1

Sherman commented on it, calling it a coded word that replaces the N-word. 

Understandable, but that's still just a misuse of the word, for the most part. A lot of folks call politicians thieves or crooks or liars; none of those terms become synonymous with "middle age white men" just because another politician or someone with a soap box uses the term.

But I'll admit, as bfine mentioned, it may just be more of a regional usage (or in our case, lack thereof).