Hey, we should all really stop using racist slang to refer to customozation

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.

You're viewing a single thread.

449 comments

I honestly don't know what's the problem here and I'm speaking from a person coming from ASEAN which is the one of the most discriminated group of people in the Asian. You have to place the term into the context to determine whether it is racist or not. If you're describing an Asian product a ricer with the point that it is load, this is racist. Otherwise, ricing shouldn't be a problem here. But then again, if you find it offended despite not being an Asian, just use other terms that suit your taste. The "master" shouldn't and must not be used with "slave" in the same text to refer to anything that implies subjugation. But then again, how about the master who is highly skilled in their own field? What do we have to refer such people? And interestingly, not a lot of people have any feeling over the words "monkey". This term is generally used in a pejorative way to describe people from ASEAN, implying that we haven't evolved. Should we stop using the term "monkey"? A lot of these are depended on the context, if you have any little sense and basic on linguistic. In the end, I'll be still using ricing to describe my extensive customisation and you will be using other terms. If your proposed term becomes the dominant term, then for the sake of making people easier to understand what I'm saying, I will use that term too.
- The origin of the word "monkey" is for the animal and "master" for skilled person or hierarchical boss while the origin of the word "ricer/ricing/riced" is explicitly and only a racist insult
  If your proposed term becomes the dominant term, then for the sake of making people easier to understand what I'm saying, I will use that term too
  You would've went wild in the USA during slavery times
  
  "ricing" means customisation, that's it. That's the context. It's not about the origin of the word, otherwise the "f"-word that ends with "t" should be used in your own logic. "gay" was used pejoratively during medieval time, does it mean when we're calling homosexual people that proudly label themselves as that is being homophobic here? It's about the meaning of the word in the context where it's being used. If "ricing" is being used in the context of de, then I don't see a problem here. If you use "ricing" to describe anything that appears loud to you, then for sure you're being racist.
  
  Rationalize all you want - a racist term is a racist term.
  
  "f*ggot doesn't mean gay people"
  "tr*p doesn't mean trans people"
  "why can't I nword if it's in a hip-hop song, they use it"
  "g*psy doesn't refer to Romani, it's just what you say"
  "r*dskins is a traditional name for my football team it's not racist!"
  You get to join this long line of people talking absolute crap, desperately trying to avoid change because you're incapable of self-reflection and admitting you've been blind to this mistake for so long. You will piss and whine and piss and whine about it until eventually accepting it, like all the others historically.

449 comments