Meta post I’ve decided to make. I enjoyed the unixporn subreddit a lot when I
used reddit more. I enjoy customizing my linux de as much as the next nerd. But
you definitely shouldn’t use racist slang to refer to the process. To be clear,
I didn’t know the origin of the term ‘ricing’ until fairly recently. I was
chattimg with my friend and used it to describe my de setup. They informed me
that apparently it’s from car customization, and is a pejorative against
generally asian men who customize their car to look like a racecar. After
learning this I was sad to realize just how engrained it is in linux de
customization culture. I personally have stopped using the term, and I would ask
everyone here stop as well.
My biggest issue with discussions like this is how people insist that words can’t change their meaning or leave their roots behind. How many people knew that “ricer” was racist though? Isn’t that a good example of how a (potentially) racist term can leave behind its racist origins? Now, to be clear, I always thought “ricing” referred to tacky cars inspired by the Japanese modding community that were all visuals, no muscle, which means it could be considered mildly racist in that context. However it was my interpretation that they were called ricers because they look interesting but are white, cheap and bland underneath (still racist, but going in the other direction).
How many people didn’t think it had any racist origins whatsoever though? How many people thought it was something else? Why are we so hellbent on enforcing the racist, sexist, whateverist history of these terms? It’s understandable when someone gets upset over a word that’s regularly used within the context of an -ism (like the n-word), but if a word has become so disconnected from its original meaning that no one is getting offended by it, why in gods name are you trying to reassociate it with something offensive!? Let it stay dead. What the fuck is wrong with you? At that point, you’re taking a term which lost its status as a slur, and turning it back into a slur. WHYYYY? The only reason I can imagine someone doing something like that is for they either A) want pity points, or B) you’re wanting to revive it as a slur under the guise of “social awareness” so you can use it yourself.
Edit: oh yeah, and obligatory “fuck hexbear”. Quite honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if they want more slurs to hurl because I get the feeling there are a lot of them that probably have exploding heads secondary accounts.
Edit 2: There’s also the fact that, from what I’ve seen, there’s some disagreement on where the term originated from. One speculated origin is from “riceburner”, which was a derogatory term for Asian cars before they became seen as being high-quality and highly dependable. Another, however, is that it’s a portmanteau of “rich” and “racer”, referring to someone who has a lot of money but little knowledge when it comes to what actually makes a modded car “good”. Either way, it’s been genericized to the point where it seems silly to get offended over it, as a “ricer” can be someone of any ethnicity.
My biggest issue with discussions like this is how people insist that words can’t change their meaning or leave their roots behind. How many people knew that “ricer” was racist though? Isn’t that a good example of how a (potentially) racist term can leave behind its racist origins? Now, to be clear, I always thought “ricing” referred to tacky cars inspired by the Japanese modding community that were all visuals, no muscle, which means it could be considered mildly racist in that context. However it was my interpretation that they were called ricers because they look interesting but are white, cheap and bland underneath (still racist, but going in the other direction).
How many people didn’t think it had any racist origins whatsoever though? How many people thought it was something else? Why are we so hellbent on enforcing the racist, sexist, whateverist history of these terms? It’s understandable when someone gets upset over a word that’s regularly used within the context of an -ism (like the n-word), but if a word has become so disconnected from its original meaning that no one is getting offended by it, why in gods name are you trying to reassociate it with something offensive!? Let it stay dead. What the fuck is wrong with you? At that point, you’re taking a term which lost its status as a slur, and turning it back into a slur. WHYYYY? The only reason I can imagine someone doing something like that is for they either A) want pity points, or B) you’re wanting to revive it as a slur under the guise of “social awareness” so you can use it yourself.
Edit: oh yeah, and obligatory “fuck hexbear”. Quite honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if they want more slurs to hurl because I get the feeling there are a lot of them that probably have exploding heads secondary accounts.
Edit 2: There’s also the fact that, from what I’ve seen, there’s some disagreement on where the term originated from. One speculated origin is from “riceburner”, which was a derogatory term for Asian cars before they became seen as being high-quality and highly dependable. Another, however, is that it’s a portmanteau of “rich” and “racer”, referring to someone who has a lot of money but little knowledge when it comes to what actually makes a modded car “good”. Either way, it’s been genericized to the point where it seems silly to get offended over it, as a “ricer” can be someone of any ethnicity.