Councilman Carl Stokes is a moron. Calling someone a thug nowhere near the same as calling them the n-word.
If saying that is lecturing black people and policing the opinions of black people, I don’t give a damn.
One is a racial slur, the other is not.
“Thug” can have racial connotations and can be used as a slur, whether you give a damn or not.
how does thug have a racial connotation?
http://www.npr.org/2015/04/30/403362626/the-racially-charged-meaning-behind-the-word-thug
ok, I am totally confused.
This isn’t exactly what the article says, this is just my own interpretation of it. Hopefully it help, or maybe it won’t.
Around the late 80s and early 90s, with the rise of gangster rap, the word ‘thug’ was “co-opted” by the black community, much like the n-word was years before. It took on a more positive connotation in the black community, with rappers such as 2Pac espousing the glories of living the ‘thug life’. The word ‘thug’ became linked with blackness. It’s almost the opposite of what happened with the n-word. The n-word was originally a slur against black people, but it was taken and molded into a term of endearment within the black community. ‘Thug’ had nothing to do with black people, but it too was taken and turned into something positive, something ‘black’, so much so that now when it’s used negatively, with it’s original definition in mind, the connotation of having to do with the black community remains.