also this is the reason why i hate the whole discussion about "oh can we still say hermaphrodite in science discussions" because like. you all do not fucking understand the weight of the word. what it feels like when someone calls you a hermaphrodite when you are fearing for your fucking life. the amount of times i had to call myself a hermaphrodite because no one fucking knew what intersex meant but i needed to find a way to disclose that to clients so i didn't end up assaulted again when they were surprised. you don't know how much i fucking hated myself for that and what that was fucking like to experience at 16. like. that is what that word means to me! that's what i think of when i hear it! lots of other intersex people have their own stories, their own ways this slur was weaponized against us and written down in our medical records and a million fucking things. so i really don't want to hear from dyadic people who have never had this slur used against them about how hard it is to find an alternative word and how they just really really need to be able to still say it because of all the scientific discussions that are happening all the time or whatever. literally fuck off i don't care

[Images ID: An 18 part Twitter thread by Michael W. Twitty (@KosherSoul) that reads the following:

1) How does someone like me experience #Antisemitism? Anti-Jewish sentiments and behavior can reflect the different variants of people expressing their displeasure with Jews as a people, sub-ethnicities and as a sect of religious practices of cultural or social stances.

2) Wearing a kippa, having a beard or wearing tzitzit...or fringes intended to remind me to observe the commandments often signify my Jewishness but that's not the only way people might identify me as a Jew and treat me differently in a negative way.

3) I was slapped in a grocery store by a man who grinned as he said "oh sorry didn't see you there..." and my kippa fell off. I was so shocked I didn't know what to do.

4) A white woman called me a "kike" in a parking lot dispute and when I called her out on it, the cops threatened me with arrest for "escalating," for calling her anti-Semitic. They were Black and no help to a fellow brotha.

5) A former landlord demanded I let workers in and around on Saturday and demanded that I be there to let them in even though I reminded her it was Shabbat. The city gvt of Rockville. Md didn't care.

6) I was attacked on the metro by a large group of fundamentalist Christians and their children mocked me and attempted to spit on me and my prayerbook. They preached about how awful Jews were...over they figured out I wasn't Muslim. Nobody intervened.

7) People might think I am Muslim if I wear an African or Asian style kippa which might resemble the kuffi. I desperately needed to charge my phone at Union Station & a very rude older white man who worked there demanded to know what I was doing & he told me to get me "fuckn terrorist ass" out

8) Getting my ID for research at the library of congress...the woman taking care of me demanded to know why I was Jewish. She then said, "I bet you're a damn Republicans too..." and shook her head with pursed lips.

9) The first and last time I prayed at a station with my tefillin I had more than one person with a walkie talkie come up to me and ask what I "thought" I was doing and why I had strange things on me and if they were dangerous.

like you would you even bother to ask...

10) I mentioned during a presentation for the Folklike festival that the folks in my synagogue made the same dish but with different ingredients and context & the curator for food ripped the mic out of my hands & told the crowd they were misinformed & that it had nothing to do with the Jews

11) Antisemitic and Anti-Jewish in my world is having a cop pull us over on Tisha B'Av & hold a gun to my head, its being told not to "bring up that Jewish angle" or having an editor turn down The Cooking Gene because I mentioned I was Jewish & them telling me "America wasn't ready"

12) Its being harassed and questioned on the train about why I am not a Christian or people hoping that I'm really "Messianic." Or ppl thinking they are funny at work calling em "Little Amish boy."

13) Its having another landlord threaten you over building a Sukkah. Its having a kippa off and being perceived as just Black while some white dude talks about the "the fnn Jews..." are the problem behind everything...

14) Its being asked "Do you have to wear that here?" (Kippa)

Its people seeing this beard and a headcovering and experiencing intersectinal isht at an airport...

Its people questioning my Jewish identity because they only frame Jewish identity as one identifiable type.

15) Its saying "I'm Jewish," and having people burst out laughing.

That one...

They can't hide the fact that bc I'm not a caricature that they think I am ridiculous in my current incarnation as a complex and nuanced American.

It hurts really bad.

16) Its people coming into my social media saying "I heard you were a Zionist. Are you a Zionist? Explain yourself." I never said a word about the matsav but I say Jewish and they say that.

17) Its people assuming that Jewishness takes me out of my consciousness as a person of color. Its people assuming real Black ppl can be Christian or Muslim but not Jews. Its people trying to tell me what Jewishness is about to justify de-centering me as a Jew.

18) I 'm going to close it here. Shver tzu tzayn a Yid.

/end ID]

the "women don't have to shave/dress hyper feminine/wear makeup etc" leaving people's bodies when a trans woman doesn't do those things

literally nothing scarier to insecure people that a tranny with hairy legs

getting dodgy looks from other queer and trans people because "the expectation to shave is part of patriarchy" only applies to them and not me apparently.

A NON-EXHAUSTIVE BUT NEVERTHELESS EXHAUSTING LIST OF NEO-NAZI AND WHITE SUPREMACIST DOGWHISTLES

since some of y'all apparently need a refresher course. as always, use your judement when deciding if it's a dogwhistle or just innocent usage of a number or symbol

Fed - An accusation by neo-Nazis that open displays of racism (e.g. chanting sieg heil, carrying a swastika flag) are false flags carried out by federal agents. Used to sow doubt about who is a "real" Nazi to make it easier for them to operate in public

Fedposting - A term used within white supremacist circles to describe posting things that are too blatant and lack plausible deniability. Often used as damage control when neo-Nazis lose control and start spreading open racism

Schizoposting - Posting while under the influence of paranoid delusions. Neo-Nazis will often jokingly claim to suffer from schizophrenia as a cover for their conspiratorial beliefs

Soap Material - A derogatory phrase targeting Jews. A reference to the rumor that Nazis processed the fat of those killed in concentration camps to make soap. According to Yad Vashem, there is little evidence that this was the case, and it was most likely a rumor told by camp guards to frighten prisoners

I don’t think you can fully understand transmisogyny without understanding how it’s weaponized against cis Black women.

When you find a transmisogynist you’ve found a racist who will use their ideals of the “normative female body” to demean and denigrate Black women. For years it was a popular right wing rumor/conspiracy/dick move to refer to Michelle Obama as a “tranny” and more recently sports organizations have repeatedly excluded cis Black women for not having “normative” hormone levels. Transmisogyny and antiblackness go hand in hand.

the current discourse that makes me want to leave earth is white queers and coons alike turning themselves inside out because someone (rightly) said that hashtag sayhername was used specifically to refer to black women who were victims of police violence

As is almost always the case, any time a movement starts with a focus on protecting black people, it is expanded and watered down to the point of impotency by other groups who wish to co-opt the momentum it generated. Anything that cannot be co-opted is instead framed as radical / "going too far", because these niggers need to know their place they should make their grievences known through the proper channels instead of demanding societal change.

The fact that the legacies of MLK Jr. and Frederick Douglass have been warped and twisted by liberal media and conservative think tanks into them being the "agreeable" black activists who didn't call for violent self-defense and reparations (both objective falsehoods, MLK Jr. was a socialist and Douglass had nothing but immense admiration for John Brown) is one of the greatest tragedies of our time.

Hey y'all can reblog this even if frustrated black people are using the scary no-no words. It's ok, I promise

sorry to sound like a 56 year old but online internet culture has completely eroded the concept of personal boundaries and it's evil evil evil

i recently got called a faggot to my face unprompted by someone who was, i'm sure, attempting to be fun and cute and thought that they could do that because we were "friends" and because i had referred to myself as a fag in passing at one point. but at no point did i ever say it was okay for them to call me that, and even if i had, i'm sorry to sound lame but i don't think you should unprompted call your friends slurs without at least warning for it. lmao.

if this had happened in real life, i would have fucking slapped them, and if it had happened in a public space, so many people would have been like 'hey what the fuck'.

online culture has completely and i mean completely destroyed peoples ideas of boundaries and crossing them. people are soooo on board with doing the most fucking insane and invasive shit because the internet gives a false sense of security and closeness. people are so convinced that the things they say and do on The Web aren't real or impactful and will never have consequences. it's literally ruining people's abilities to both set/enforce boundaries and to respect them. i hate it i hate it so much i want to go live in the woods forever

the Need to play a new visually stunning star wars game after practically 2 years of Good Star Wars Game drought vs the knowledge and absolute hatred for the creators' disgusting behaviour including but not limited to homophobia, sexism and last but not least downright disrespectful handling of topics like racism and antisemitism FIGHT

sources/additional reading:

David Cage’s alleged homophobic slurs make French news

Report: “In My Games, All Women Are Whores,” Says David Cage

Game developer Quantic Dream accused of ‘toxic’ and ‘sexist’ working environment

Elliot Page explored legal action against Sony after nude video-game images leaked online

Quantic Dream doesn’t “make games for fags,” Cage allegedly says

Just keep reminding yourself that Quantic Dream is an absolutely horrible company and also that their games are trash. Like seriously if the moral angle is too hard for you to hold just remember that Detroit become human exists.

Dan Levy is giving elementary school art project but I love it

It’s directly inspired by a David Wojnarowicz piece called “F*ck You F*ggot F*cker”. Wojnarowicz was an ACT UP member and died of AIDS in July 1992. (x)

“Don’t say the quiet bit out loud…oh shit oh fuck”

Link to article

The discrimination is fair because it's applied to everyone! It just so happens some of it will only actually affect people we've been targeting forever! By coincidence!!

Shower of fucking bastards.

They went from “racism doesn’t exist in the uk”

To

“Racism is justified in the uk”

So fucking quickly

That’s it, the Professor is truly the King of Sass

The letter didn’t come from the Nazi party, but from the publishing house which had expressed an interest in the German translation of The Hobbit. Tolkien’s response really is a thing of beauty, though, so it deserves to be quoted in its entirety:

25 July 1938                                              20 Northmoor Road, Oxford

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your letter. … I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject - which should be sufficient. I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride.

Your enquiry is doubtless made in order to comply with the laws of your own country, but that this should be held to apply to the subjects of another state would be improper, even if it had (as it has not) any bearings whatsoever on the merits of my work or its suitability for publication, of which you appear to have satisfied yourselves without reference to my Abstammung.

I trust you will find this reply satisfactory, and remain yours faithfully

J.R.R. Tolkien.

(Letter 30)

The Hobbit wasn’t published in German until 1957.

This might just be the politest “fuck you” ever written.

W.h.a.t.

Not just “I wish I had Jewish ancestors, but I don’t,” but also “you do realize that’s not what ‘Aryan’ actually means, right,” and “you guys are making it pretty hard to be proud of my German heritage.”

Nazis: Are you Aryan?

Noted linguistics freak Tolkien: Are you?

[Image ID: a screenshot reading:

12. When The Hobbit was beginning its translation into German, Tolkien received a letter from the Nazi party that asked him to prove he was Aryan. Tolkien responded that he wished he had Jewish ancestors.

End ID]

Since my post yesterday about Nile Freeman’s erasure from The Old Guard fandom, I’ve noticed several non-American folks respond that they want to explore Nile more but feel like they’re missing an understanding of a key piece of Nile’s backstory that it seems like American folks understand without talking about it: that Nile is not just from Chicago, but she’s from The South Side of Chicago.

I’m not an expert, and, once again, I’m a white person. But my best friend is a middle school English teacher who’s taught A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreaking 1956 play about the Youngers, a Black family attempting to achieve the American dream by moving from their apartment on the South Side of Chicago into a house in a white neighborhood. On the first day of the unit, before they even touch the play, she shows her students these two maps.

The first is from 1934. Though the language used to refer to Black people is antiquated (please never use the word this map uses), the data is interesting. It shows each census tract in the Chicago area, shaded based upon what percentage of the population in the tract is Black. The darker the shading, the higher the concentration of Black people living there. Note that there are a series of tracts in the southern part of the map that are shaded to indicate that Black people consist of 80% to 99% of the population in those areas. Also note that most of the rest of the tracts on the map have almost no shading.

So what does this map tell us?

It tells us the Black people in Chicago were concentrated in certain neighborhoods, to such an extreme extent that there are almost no other groups of people in those neighborhoods and almost no Black people anywhere else.

This was intentional.

The US Federal Government engaged in a practice called red-lining, wherein the Federal Housing Authority designated some neighborhoods as “dangerous” and “undesirable” and made it almost impossible to get a home loan in those areas because the agency would not insure mortgages. Richard Rothstein, whose book The Color of Law, interrogates the ongoing harm and effect of red-lining calls this a “state-sponsored system of segregation.” Yes, state-sponsored segregation happened in the North, too.

There were other contributing factors that created this intense housing segregation in Chicago and other northern cities, including restrictive covenants that legally prevented homeowners in certain neighborhoods from selling their homes to non-white, non-protestant people, but the result of all these policies is that during periods of so called “American prosperity,” wherein white Americans were owning homes at higher rates than ever, Black Americans were excluded. The result was neighborhoods like the South Side of Chicago, intensely Black and intentionally impoverished.

But that was almost 100 years ago. Red-lining and restrictive covenants and other housing discrimination practices have now been ruled unconstitutional.

So let’s look at another map, this one from the New York Times’ 2015 project Mapping Segregation. Using the 2010 Census Data, each dot in the map below represents 500 people. The different colored dots represent the different racial categories used by the Census. Notice how in the southern part of the map, there is a wedge that consists almost entirely of the blue dots representing Black people. Notice also, how the green dots, representing white people, are intensely concentrated on the northern shoreline of the city, as well as on the outskirts, in the suburbs.

What I hope you notice about these two maps is that they are essentially the same. They tell the same story.

The end of state-sanctioned discrimination and ghettoization does not reverse the harm and inequality caused by these practices.

All this is interesting, but what does this mean for Nile specifically?

It means she grew up in a segregated neighborhood, in an intensely segregated city.

It means that the glittery downtown and famous lake-shore probably felt almost like a different world, even if it was technically her own hometown.

It means she probably grew up in a community with Black churches and Black hair salons and barbershops and kids playing streetball and cookouts in the summer. It means she grew up in a community with a long tradition of celebrating Black culture and Black arts and Black identity.

It means she probably also went to a school that was chronically underfunded, with teachers who were overworked and underpaid. The odds are good that Nile had at least one full school year where her class didn’t have a permanent teacher at all.

It means she probably grew up knowing the sights and sounds of gun violence in her neighborhood, and knowing people who were the victims of gun violence, both gang related and caused by police.

Perhaps, most important of all, she grew up in a neighborhood which is heavily targeted by US military recruiters. The most common pitch these recruiters make is that the US military will pay for their college education if a person enlists straight out of high school. For many of the people Nile grew up with, and maybe even Nile herself, this seems like the only path to higher education that won’t saddle them with an inescapable amount of debt.

In the film, Nile tells Andy that growing up on the South Side of Chicago with a single mother meant there was a “million different ways it could have gone left.” That might just be the understatement of the century.

And yet one of the reasons I love Nile and think she's so so so important is that her story is not about any of this. Her story is not about how she triumphed over adversity, or how she "made it out." Nile's story is about a woman whose upbringing and identities inform her future actions. She understands loyalty. She understands suffering. She understands fighting for herself and those closest to her and what she believes in. And maybe the South Side had something to do with all that, but it also comes from who she is.

Casual reminder going into Pride that these rainbow-washed corporations are 🏳️‍🌈💩✨shit✨💩🏳️‍🌈 :

[graphic from HSLU Blog, and data from Forbes]

indigenous terminology in north america

it’s indigenous peoples’ day in the usa! to celebrate i am here to help non-indigenous folks in north america to think about the terminology they use because i know not all of y'all know how the nuances of the many things we’re called. in general, when talking about an indigenous person or character and referring to their indigeneity, referring to their specific culture is the best option. i am indigenous, but more specifically i am cree. that said, let’s talk about terminology while recognizing that the following list is super simplified to give you a brief overview.

indigenous is an umbrella term that refers to the original inhabitants of a land. it is used to talk about indigenous people worldwide. we use it as a collective term because we share many interests, but we are all different peoples and nations. people who are māori or sámi or ainu are all indigenous, but they’re all from very different places and cultures. indigenous as a term unites us, but shouldn’t be used to erase our differences.

aboriginal is, like indigenous, an umbrella term that refers to the original inhabitants of a land. aboriginal was a favoured term in canada for many years and is still used by some multi-nation organizations. canada’s indigenous peoples’ day (‪june 21‬) is also sometimes called aboriginal peoples’ day.

native american is a term that refers specifically to indigenous people living in what is currently the contiguous united states of america. people living in alaska or hawaii may prefer the term native hawaiian or native alaskan. if you call someone in canada native american they’ll know what you mean, but it’s not the preferred term. like indigenous, it is an umbrella term and covers many different tribes/nations. it is a term assigned to indigenous people and adopted by us, but not one we came up with ourselves.

alaska native is an umbrella term that refers to indigenous people living in what is currently alaska. they are culturally distinct peoples from native american cultures. you may be used to calling native alaskans “esk*mos” and if you are you should stop that right fucking now because esk*mo is a derrogatory term that comes from cree slang. some native alaskan people are inuit (see below), but not all are.

native hawaiian is a term for indigenous hawaiians. this is another umbrella term. native hawaiians were not included in federal programs for native americans until the 70s and some programs still exclude them, as do many discussions about native american issues even though they are also an indigenous group colonized by the usa.

native is an umbrella term used by indigenous people to refer to themselves. in north america, it may be socially acceptable to refer to indigenous people as being native, but ymmv and elsewhere in the world, it carries more racist, colonial baggage than it does here, where it is generally understood as a shortened form of native american.

american indian is a dated term that is still used in some official spaces in the united states. older indigenous people may use this (or the term indian) because they’re used to saying it. if you’re not indigenous, you should probably say native american or indigenous. amerindian is a portmanteau of this term and similarly isn’t really favoured anymore.

indian is a dated term for indigenous people in canada and the united states. it stems from the time of christopher columbus when columbus decided to call us “indian”. if you are non-indigenous, do not refer to indigenous people as indian. in canada, it is also a legal designation tied to the indian act that means some indigenous people hold “indian status,” which grants them certain rights. some indigenous people in north america have reclaimed the term indian to refer to themselves.

ndn is a slang term we use to refer to ourselves online. if you’re non-indigenous then bro. do not. it just stands for indian, you can’t!

first nations is a term analogous to native american. it is used in canada to refer to the many indigenous nations south of the arctic circle. as someone who is cree, i’m first nations. it is an umbrella term, but not every indigenous person in canada is first nations. unlike “indian”, it is not a legal term.

inuit is the term for indigenous peoples that live in what is currently canada’s north. some indigenous people in alaska (and elsewhere) may also identify as inuit because the american/canadian border is a new addition in the grand scope of their histories. inuit are culturally distinct from first nations/native americans. also inuit means “the people” and y'all my inuk friend is so fucking amused every time someone says “the inuit people” because y'all are out here saying “the the people people.” not all indigenous people in the north are inuit.

métis is a term for people who are descended from specific communities where indigenous people and non-indigenous settlers intermarried and created their own culture. they are specific, cultural communities within canada with their own culture and language. not everyone with mixed indigenous and settler ancestry is métis. for example, my dad is white and my mom is cree. i am not métis because i don’t have any connection to a historic métis community. again, this is not a legal term the way indian is.

redsk*n is a derogatory term for native american/first nations people. the term originates from the genocide of our peoples, tied with the practice of collecting bounties for the scalps (the “red skins” in question) or other body parts of indigenous people in the west. do not use the term. even if you’re talking about the football team that recently changed its name, say “the washington team” or something similar. it’s a slur. (source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-brief-history-of-the-word-redskin-and-how-it-became-a-source-of-controversy/2016/05/19/062cd618-187f-11e6-9e16-2e5a123aac62_story.html)

esk*mo is another slur. it’s an anglicized version of askipiw, a cree word which is more or less saying that inuit eat raw meat (i.e. that is implying they’re more akin to animals than people). again, even when you’re referring to sports teams that use the term in their name, don’t say it. it doesn’t matter what some white dude on QI told you, it’s not a “more acceptable” umbrella term for northern indigenous peoples. some people might use it to refer to themselves still, but, as with other terminology on this list, if you’re not indigenous, don’t say it!

[image description: an orange, gray and white dilute calico cat sits on a white blanket. she is wearing a yellow collar with faded black spots and a silver bell. she is being pet on her head by a brown-skinned person wearing a black sweater, and her eyes are closed. end image description.]

remaking since my last post hit 1k notes, which is around when donations completely stagnate no matter how many times i reblog it. i start work this week, but as mentioned before, i am going to have to miss days due to needing x-rays and an eventual tooth extraction. we are running low on (hint: basically all out of) snacks in the house, and my family and i rely on those snacks to feed ourselves given that money is extremely tight for all of us. i am planning on applying for food stamps tomorrow so i dont have to rely as much on ebegging to feed my family and i, but even if i am approved and manage to start receiving benefits, that isnt going to solve the problem of not having any food right now. donations can be sent to my cashapp ($paladinbutch), venmo (@paladinbutch) or my paypal, thanks so much!

a nigga cant catch a break.....

just found out that due to construction (the reason why my start date for work was initially slated for the 24th) there have been more delays, and now i dont start till october 6th, just under 2 weeks from now. literally any donations people can spare to help us try and figure things out until then would help us so so much. please. we are desperate.

hey all, we just did the math and we are $300 short on rent, which is due next week. reblogs and donations would help us so so so much

Romani Terminology Masterpost

Roma |proper plural noun|  The term for the entire Romani diaspora. Also, can refer specifically to Romani populations of Eastern and Central Europe. ex: the Roma are a diaspora from South Asia who settled throughout Eurasia and Europe

Romani |proper adjective| An adjective describing cultures, traditions, and various things belonging to the Roma. Sometimes also used as a proper noun to refer to the entire diaspora. ex: the Romani culture is diverse

Romany |proper singular noun| The term for Romani communities who historically settled in the British Isles, some of whom also migrated to the Americas. ex: a few Romany families live in our town

Sinti |proper singular noun| The term for parts of the Romani diaspora that migrated to and settled in Western Europe, particularly in Germany, Austria, and Northern Italy. ex: my cousin married a Sinti woman

Rom |proper singular noun| The term for any ethnic Romani man; means “man” or “husband” in the Romani language. ex: my uncle is a hard working Rom

Romni |proper singular noun| The term for any ethnic Romani woman; often specifically refers to a married Romani woman and means “wife” in the Romani language ex: my Romni makes the best sarma

Romanes |proper noun or adverb| The term often used for the Romani language. It translates to mean “in a Romani way” and also used as an adverb in that manner. ex: my aunt always makes sure she cooks Romanes

Romani Chib |proper singular noun| Another term for the Romani language. It translates to mean “Romani tongue”. ex: my Romani chib is poor

Romanipe | Romanipen | Romanimos | Romansago |noun| Terms that refer to Romani culture and traditions. They are often translated to mean “Romani lifestyle” or “Romani-ness”, but tend to specifically refer to following Romani cultural traditions. ex: my mother thinks wearing shorts goes against our Romanipe

Mahrime | Marime | Bizuzo | Maxado |adjective| Terms that mean ritually impure or unclean. Respectively, they refer to going against strict purity traditions kept in many Romani communities, but in such a way that renders a person, object, or action ritually impure. ex: eating horse meat is considered mahrime by most Roma

Gadzhe | Gadje | Gazhe | Gauzhe | Gorgers |noun| Terms that literally translate to mean “non-Romani people”. They do not refer to any specific race or ethnicity, but rather any individual who is not ethnically Romani. None of these terms are inherently pejorative. ex: my sister is dating a gadjo

Exonyms for the Roma:

Gypsy | A term that is considered a pejorative and offensive by most Roma. It stems from the false notion that Romani people came from Egypt and has many negative stereotypes associated with it. Although some Romani communities, particularly in the British Isles, have reclaimed the word, most Roma maintain that it is a slur.

Gitan | Gitano | Cigano | Exonyms used in France, Spain, and Portugal to refer to their respective Romani populations. While many Romani populations living in these regions have embraced these monikers as their own, they continue to fight the negative stereotypes often associated with them.

Cigan | Cigany | Chigan | Cygan | Cikan | Tsigan | Zigeuner | or any variant of “tsigan” | Terms that are largely considered very offensive by Romani populations living in Eastern and Central Europe. The term “tsigan” stems from the period of Romani slavery, which lasted over 500 years. Variations of the word were used specifically to refer to slaves of Romani ethnicity. These terms, in their respective languages, are often used to describe things or people that are considered, lower-class, or contemptible.

Ethnic Groups Related to the Roma:

Lom | A population of the Romani diaspora who settled in the Caucasus mountain region, particularly in Armenia. Their language is called Lomavren

Dom | A “sister” population of the Romani diaspora. The Domari people are historically related to the Roma, but began their diaspora prior to the Romani diaspora. The Dom settled mostly in the Middle East and North Africa.

Lori | not to be confused with the Luri or Lurs | A South Asian disaporic population who live in Iran and Pakistan. They are related to the Dom.

Zargari | A Romani-descended population who speak a Balkan Romani dialect, but settled in Iran.

Tater | Tattere | Tavringer | A distinct Romani population who have remained nomadic in Sweden and Norway for about 500 years. They are believed to be descended from Romanichal and Sinti populations, and are closely related to the Romani Kale of Finland.

Ethnic Groups not Related to the Roma:

Pavee | Also known as Irish Travellers, the Pavee are a nomadic population of ethnic Irish who reside primarily in England, but also in North America. Although they are often lumped under the umbrella term “Gypsy”, they are not ethnically Romani and have their own unique culture and language.

Jenische | Yenish | A nomadic population who live mostly in Western Europe, particularly Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium. While they are not ethnically or culturally Romani, their jargon contains numerous Romani and Yiddish words, suggesting a past close relationship to or intermarriage with Roma and Jews of the region.

Norwegian Travellers | Reisinde | not to be confused with Tater or Tavringer populations | A nomadic population of Indigenous Norwegians.

Scottish Travellers | Similar to Irish Travellers, but indigenous to Scotland. Scottish Travellers are a distinct nomadic population unrelated to the Roma or Pavee.

Quinqui | A nomadic population in Spain who claim to be ethnically distinct from Spanish Roma. Although it is speculated that the Quinqui community resulted from the intermarriage between Spanish Cale Roma, Spanish Muslims, and indigenous Spaniards, they consider themselves unique and ethnically unrelated to Spain’s Romani Cale community. However, their language does contain some Cale words.

With some of this stuff it’s hard to tell if it’s ironic detachment or genuine racism, but at some point, what’s the f***king difference?

Wtf is this? Anyone else never heard or seen any of these “racist code words”? this made no sense… is this satire?

Sadly, no; I got called a “Skype promoting lies” last week for posting about how my congregation made support for Black Lives Matter an important component of our Rosh Hashanah services. And make no mistake—these white supremacists specifically chose “Skype” to be their word for Jews because of its linguistic similarity to “Kike.” The code words are a new but very real thing.

The fact that these scum sucking fuckers chose, of all the runes, Algiz…which stands for protection from harm…as one of the ones they specifically use…fills me with seething rage.

Get your white supremacy out of my futhark you fucking shitstains. 

am reblogging because i am legitimately clueless and want to help other clueless individuals who might spot these symbols and now be able to recognize and report/flag them and block individuals who knowingly use them

FIRST THEY TOOK THE BUDDHIST SYMBOL OF PEACE AND NOW THEY’RE TAKING THE FUCKING TRIFORCE

I’m beyond angry right now ugh

My great grandparents didn’t sit through fucking internment camps in WWII for this

Male your kids aware that bad people are using these things! Google, Yahoo, Skype. There is no room for “They’re too young” or “I don’t want to scare them” because I can guarantee the other side doesn’t have those reservations about their kids

This is fucking terrifying

They’re words used on Twitter and 4chan and some popped up on Tumblr. He’s making people aware of the symbols and words. Recognize them.

I’m especially pissed about the Elder Futhark runes that were used, like what the fuck?? Why would they take symbols of peace and perfectly innocuous things and turns their meanings into something terrible and ugly??

Because they don’t care about the real meanings. They just care that they don’t get to be openly racist anymore, so they think they clever for coming up with symbols and codes

“Why would they take symbols of peace and perfectly innocuous things and turns their meanings into something terrible and ugly?? “

Because that’s what Nazis have always done.

@msmkcreates is right: “First, they took the Buddhist symbol of peace…” The swastika was originally sacred throughout Asia, and was an icon meant to represent the Heart of the Buddha. And Hitler chose it deliberately for his Nazi flag to represent his beliefs about so-called “superior races” being of Aryan (a region in Asia) descent.

Just like a virus gets inside a healthy cell and hijacks it in order to spread disease, Fascism steals the language and symbols of healthy belief systems and (mis)uses them in its own rhetoric, so its racist and corrupt ideology will be accepted and spread.

They even took the word “Socialism” and claimed it for their political party.  They are not Socialist.

Reasons to bomb the hell out of these symbols. Make them EVEN MORE UBIQUITOUS. Wear your Triforce tee shirts with your pride bracelets, because from the 3D N64 days, at least, Link was designed to be gender-ambiguous. The valknut/ hrungnishjarta belongs next to the words Black Lives Matter and Say Her Name. Odal/ othala is a symbol of heritage, so make it clear that humanity means everyone: stick it on everything, in rainbows. And I’m more than a little tempted to point out that in China, “ba ba” - double-eight, a double lucky-number - literally just means “bye bye”, since it’s short and sweet in texting; we might consider adopting that too, because fuck those fascist cowards and their deniability. Force them out in the open. Force them to speak up and to face the consequences of their hate speech.

They got the swastika and it’ll be a while before we can wash the shit back off. They aren’t allowed more than that. They don’t get ambiguous visibility if you tie the symbols directly into the values they oppose. 

Do not let them hide in plain sight. Be ready and willing to ask what symbols mean of those who wear them, if you’ve got the privilege and/or the safety. This also means being ready and immediately willing to SPEAK UP, clearly and unambiguously, for your positions if you wear these symbols, and shut down any sense of acceptance bigots they might be trying for: especially if you look like a person of privilege, you WILL be approached by bigots - who quite conveniently out themselves for your excoriation. Make sure you give it to them and ensure others know about the missing stair. 

Maintain Zelda fandom as a safe and welcoming space for players of color. 

Ensure LGBTQ folks KNOW they belong in the innangard, no exceptions.

They cannot take any more of our past and they will not take our future. We all belong here.