this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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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.

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[–] nasi_goreng@lemmy.zip 62 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Asian here and rice eater here.

Language doesn't work in absolute way, it could change its meaning all the time.

It's better to regain is neutral meaning instead of letting the racist weaponize neutral word.

Also, this mindset is also Western centric, go to Asia and people in Linux and car community simply use the word without any negative connotation.

Edit: By doing this, you're no different from imperial government who tries to make one standard of morality, which in fact further hurts Asian living in Asia. And as Indonesian, I'm hurt with your statement. Let me regain the neutral meaning. Don't speak for us.

[–] panopticon@hexbear.net 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ok, Asian here and rice eater here also and I think the right way to respond to racist cliches is with hostility, same way we ought to respond to Nazism and other forms of fascism. if you want to reclaim the word, fine whatever. But you're drawing a false equivalence between westerners trying to self-criticize their use of chauvinistic language, and the imperial governments that enforce that chauvinism in the first place (wtf?)

[–] nasi_goreng@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

westerners trying to self-criticize their use of chauvinistic language

That's the problem.

Westerner often force this rules towards everyone.

Like that one time someone got banned for using "nasi goreng" as their username with reasoning "it has similarity with Nazism" despite it's on international group.

Or when Asian English group that usually co-exist within recognition of different culture suddenly has Westerner that policing everything about language. "Oh this is so offensive towards Asian", while no one in group never know or even used the word in negative connotation.

While in reality because SEAsian are multi-language speaker, we just self moderate in case of potential language conflict, like budak in Malay is children, but in Indonesian means slave.

[–] vashti@feddit.uk 3 points 1 year ago

The thing is you aren't the audience. Discussion about anti-Asian racism in English tends to be focused on the experiences of e.g. Asian-American people and on the racist abuse they get from white people.

It's actually that exact kind of self-moderation, surely? "hang on, doesn't this word suck, let's not use it"?

[–] NormalC@hexbear.net 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Asian here and rice eater here.

Ah yes, you need all your ethos cred for this one. No pick-me behavior for the crackers here. Not like there are billions of others with the same description as you (including a bangladeshi immigrant like me). I didn't bring my own race into this until the "Im asian and this is okay" posts happened.

It's better to regain is neutral meaning instead of letting the racist weaponize neutral word.

Racists love "neutral words." It's called dog whistling. Racists get their plausible deniability while they get to signal and exchange with other racists on public forums like this one. It doesn't matter if you didn't intend for this to happen, it's still facilitated here. There's always the possibility of new words, or are you too personally attached to "rice" for that to happen?

Also, this mindset is also Western centric, go to Asia and people in Linux and car community simply use the word without any negative connotation.

We are in a international, primarily english speaking lemmy instance by the developers of the project. Stop moving the goalposts here. We are not in your rhetorical places in "Asia" where there's no negative connotation. Of course it will seem "western centric."

For your last edit, fuck right off. People can see through your crocodile tears and self tokenization. This type of shit only works with white people who will accept your opinions more than others because it means they get to keep their status quo. Nice bringing up imperialism, you'd be great as a lapdog.

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Unfortunately not surprised to see some unironic /r/asablackman going on here.

[–] CaptainBasculin@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

Absolutely. Do not claim it's racist when language made its meaning neutral.

[–] El_Rocha@lm.put.tf 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Sorry friend, but reasoning with these people is always changing.

If you think it's ok and you're not from the affected demography, you can't have a voice and "you're probably white".

If you think it's ok and you're actually from the affected demography, you're just too dumb to understand your condition and have to let the white saviors and the "right" people from your demography explain to you why you should be angry and offended at everything.