US Army twitter faces racism backlash for using phrase "chink in the armor"

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It's no secret that chink is a racial slur so deciding to use the phrase, no matter how well established as not being racially charged it is, can be a slippery slope.

I'm sorry but the phrase has existed 600 years, is in regular use, and meaning hasn't changed in he way other words have like gay or faggot. It's not a damn slippery slope. If people want to be that ignorant it's up to them but we shouldn't cut usage of well known terms just cause a small vocal minority can't wrap their heads around an extremely common usage of a word.

Chink as a racist term has probably been 100 years or so since mass chinese immigration in the west.
 
I don't have the same regard for the word "chink," but some people (read, people being called chinks all their life) may also have reacted like that.
Do these people get offended when they read "chink" as a sound effect in a comic? Because that's as related to the slur as this instance. I mean c'mon.
 
Usually I'd be the first one to say it was wrong, but no, that phrase has held its meaning through the era where one of the words was a slur and it came out okay.

i suppose using the word "niggardly" is racist too now?
The thing about niggardly is that it's so archaic that most of the time someone who's using it is just trying to get away with saying something that sounds like the n word. I mean sure there have been cases where it seemed above board because you can look at the context, but if the word just disappears for ever I won't cry for it.
 
You are gonna have to explain this to me.

Racism against Asians, and people of Asian descent, historically, and today, rarely gets recognized as racism.

For the record: I don't think this action was racist in its intention.

The fact that they removed the tweet, instead of the usual "We're sorry that you are offended" bullshit and then doing nothing shows that we are a miniscule amount more progressive on this matter than 5 or 10 years ago.
 
oh my fucking god...some people seem to actively search for shit to get upset about, this had ZERO racial implications. Some people need to find a hobby.
 
Still waiting on the entire Spanish speaking world to apologize for continuing to use the outdated 'negro' when describing anything black. Disgusting.

I'm just waiting for the day these ARROGANT American liberals start trying to police language use in countries outside the Anglosphere. That's when I'm really going to lose my shit.
 
I'm not sure what you're so upset about.

Words change over time, and they become hurtful phases. It's life.



lol



Man, this thread is really full of people that want to hang onto their racist words, I guess.

Whatever. I'm not offended, but it is a little amusing that racial slurs against Asians isn't a big deal if it's used in the right context. I guess this is just model minority privilege-- having chink and cracker be the same kind of slur. ("It's only racist when used in the wrong context.")

No it's simple. The word chink is only racist when used in a specific context. The context it was used in this statement has been around 600 years and isn't racist. To say you can't use a word in the a context it has been used ongoingly for 600 years because 100 years ago it started being used a different context as racist is asinine.
 
oh my fucking god...some people seem to actively search for shit to get upset about, this had ZERO racial implications.

Cynicism and faux outrage with Streissand effect on the word usage for more exposure to remind everyone it's a racist term in another context for keikkaku.jpg

Amirite or am I right?
 
Cynicism and faux outrage with Streissand effect on the word usage for more exposure to remind everyone it's a racist term in another context for keikkaku.jpg

Amirite or am I right?

Or it's a reminder that people need to get a thick skin when something is used in a correct context.
 
Since when is that phrase racist?

ESPN_Chink_in_the_Armor.png
 

This is using the phrase in a racist manner, not a racist phrase.
There is a perceptible difference!

For example: Say I have just come back from swimming, and my back has not dried. I would say that "I have a wet back."

Now in another situation, say that I am describing my employees to a friend, and when I reach the one of Mexican nationality, I say "I have a wetback."

Do you see the difference?

Who thought that headline was a well thought out idea though...
 
This is using the phrase in a racist manner, not a racist phrase.
There is a perceptible difference!

For example: Say I have just come back from swimming, and my back has not dried. I would say that "I have a wet back."

Now in another situation, say that I am describing my employees to a friend, and when I reach the one of Mexican nationality, I say "I have a wetback."

Do you see the difference?

Who thought that headline was a well thought out idea though...
Bingo.
 
Still waiting on the entire Spanish speaking world to apologize for continuing to use the outdated 'negro' when describing anything black. Disgusting.

Srsly. People will do anything to hang onto their racist words, I guess. What do you expect from a country where there are people who desperately grasp at any straws to hold on to the Confederate Flag?
 
This is using the phrase in a racist manner, not a racist phrase.
There is a perceptible difference!

For example: Say I have just come back from swimming, and my back has not dried. I would say that "I have a wet back."

Now in another situation, say that I am describing my employees to a friend, and when I reach the one of Mexican nationality, I say "I have a wetback."

Do you see the difference?

Who thought that headline was a well thought out idea though...

Pretty much and anyone who wants to ban the words are just letting themselves be cowed by the vocal minority that are too ignorant or just don't care enough see the difference.
 
Man, this thread is really full of people that want to hang onto their racist words, I guess.

Whatever. I'm not offended, but it is a little amusing that racial slurs against Asians isn't a big deal if it's used in the right context.
But... Context really does matter. Describing a person as retard is offensive. Describing certain medicine as retard however is not.
 
Okay.



You're just not looking at the flag in the right context, duhhhhh.

Yeah fuck context, and crown false equivalence.

Edit-People bringing up the confederate flag, why don't you just go all the way and start comparing the word 'chink' as used in 'chink in the armor' to the n-word while you're at it. You're already a few steps from there. Go all the way.
 
The use of the word "bitch" to describe a female dog isn't even remotely rare. Turn on animal planet and you'll hear it dozens and dozens of times in any given dog show.
Not surprising coming from a well known sexist media outlet.
 
Sounds like a monty python joke.

"What do you think?"

"....Looks like you've got a chink in your armor."

"HELLO!"
 
That Reading Rainbow kickstarter was successful, right? Need it back immediately.

I'd never seen that Jeremy Lin headline before; that shit is blatant as hell but it doesn't even make sense in the context of the tweet to take it as racist...

at least not coming from the official Army twitter. If it was just some right-wing nut's twitter then well...
 
Do you honestly use the word 'bitch' or 'faggot' to describe a female dog, or a bundle of wood?

Do you really say someone is acting "niggardly" when they are acting stingy?

I really rarely ever hear it.

Also, language/meaning constantly evolves. I should know, I was an English major.

Just so you know, faggot is also a ball of fried liver and is actually quite a common word in the UK. Oh, fag is also probably the most commonly used word for a cigarette here too. Also, niggardly doesn't even contain the offensive word, the only letters shared are nig. Does this mean we should stop saying niggle?
 
Wow. This is the sort of thing people make up when they're making strawman arguments about SJWs, but it's real. Did I wake up on the other side of the looking glass this morning?
 
I hope there's a big pushback from people on shit like this. I can't be the only one sick of it. Everything offends someone. Every. Fucking. Thing.
 
I'm not sure what you're so upset about.

Words change over time, and they become hurtful phases. It's life.



lol



Man, this thread is really full of people that want to hang onto their racist words, I guess.

Whatever. I'm not offended, but it is a little amusing that racial slurs against Asians isn't a big deal if it's used in the right context. I guess this is just model minority privilege-- having chink and cracker be the same kind of slur. ("It's only racist when used in the wrong context.")
This is unreal to me. The word itself has actual meaning beyond that of a racial slur. Why are you being so thick and assuming that chink is exclusively a racial thing? Its meaning is totally removed from anything racist in context. IN CONTEXT. Don't be dumb and ignore context.
 
The thing about niggardly is that it's so archaic that most of the time someone who's using it is just trying to get away with saying something that sounds like the n word. I mean sure there have been cases where it seemed above board because you can look at the context, but if the word just disappears for ever I won't cry for it.


Are you a 13 year old schoolboy? And most people only cough because they're trying to hide their intention to tell someone to fuck off (fu*cough*)
 
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