Someone could turn “pale” instead, and it might work better.
Thanks everyone for your input. I’ll take it into consideration.
Members of minority groups can very well be racist (against members of other minority groups, white people, or even their own racial/ethnic group), just like white people. Those who make the argument that “minorities cannot be racist” are usually trying to justify or excuse their own bigotry, or that of their political allies. Do you really want to put yourself in that company?
Racism by definition is not being prejudice against a minority group; it is being prejudiced against someone who is of another race, no matter if they are a minority or majority group.
I don’t think it matters if you can or cannot be racist. You definitely can be intentionally offensive. A college would probably hit reject immediately bc you are offensive in a situation that requires your best etiquette, so what must you be like in an everyday setting?
I get that you want to poke or push the envelope, but I recommend you find another way. This one will totally backfire on you.
Keep in mind the idea behind this essay: You want to give them a reason to say yes to your application. That should be in the back of your mind with every single word you write.
You’re giving them a reason to say no.
I’ve spent some time trying to think of a way in which this phrase could even be relevant, much less appropriate. The best I came up with was a scenario in which the tables are turned on a [maybe violent] racist. Even then (as at least one person noted above), it’s not an idiomatic phrase (at least not one I’m familiar with). It’s not a good descriptive phrase, either. Most crackers I’m familiar with are golden brown or whole wheat or yellow. (I love Cheez-Its.) Maybe a water cracker is white, but it’s weak as a bit of writing on top of everything else. And, @bjkmom nailed it: Never give someone a reason to say no. This is true for college admissions and resumes and job applications. Heck, I’d say it’s true for marriage proposals as well. You’ll get a lot of “nos” in your life regardless: don’t make it easy for them (whoever the heck “they” are).
[Edit] “white as a sheet” has over twice as many Google hits as “white as a ghost” [fun factoid].
Institutional racism can only be perpetrated by the majority against the minority. Racial prejudice can go in any direction though.
Many argue that “racism” or “being racist” only applies to institutionalized racism and not racial prejudice. Hence “only white people (in the USA) can be racist.”
The differences between institutionalized racism and racial prejudice are real, but I acknowledge the semantics are confusing and often distract from the real issue.
In this particular case of using “white as a cracker” in a college essay, the distinctions between institutional racism and racial prejudice are irrelevant since it’s simply a bad idea regardless.
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_%28pejorative%29 , the origin of the word as an insult against white people is not based on the snacks people today may be familiar with. Anyway, it is not a good idea to use that to refer to white people. Same with references to sheets or ghosts, which may imply something like [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan#/media/File:Ku_Klux_Klan_Virgina_1922_Parade.jpg]this[/url].
![https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan#/media/File:Ku_Klux_Klan_Virgina_1922_Parade.jpg]this[/url](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan#/media/File:Ku_Klux_Klan_Virgina_1922_Parade.jpg%5Dthis%5B/url){kind=link}
Another kind of yellowish cracker carries a name that may be an ethnic insult: http://www.snackworks.com/products/product-detail.aspx?product=4400003453
The first thing I think of when you say that is the term cracker . I wouldn’t use that term.
It gets me annoyed when white people talk about racism. They seem to fret when someone says the least racist thing to them, like they want to be discriminated. If a black person in the USA is racist, I’d allow it. Because our hate is justified!. Why would I hate white people(Not that I do)?Hmm, maybe because most of your forefathers spent their time harassing and kicking AAs down.
So noone here should talk about racism until they’ve experienced it. @intparent have you ever been in a classroom, where everyone was black and you felt awkward or inferior. Have you ever dressed casually one day and have people treat you differently. @iwannabe_Brown You cannot compare the two ‘insults’ a racoon and a cracker??..a person is being compared to an animal for God’s sake…
I think about racism everyday. You probably thought about it for two seconds.So @Malcomx99 if your white don’t use it. Otherwise…
Once again, think about the point behind this essay.
This is NOT an OpEd piece for the NY Times. It’s a college admission essay.
The point behind this essay is to get the Admissions Counselor at the colleges of your choice to check “yes” on your application. That’s it. It’s not about educating anyone, or changing the world-- even of those changes are sorely needed. It’s about getting into the colleges you want to get into.
THAT should be the driving force behind every word you write.
@Adrianlane, I didn’t say racism doesn’t exist, nor did I assume the OP had not experienced it. I am merely pointing out the actual definition of the word. There are more times and places in the world than the US today, although I understand (and sympathize with) your current frame of reference. Stand down.
@Adrianlane so If an Iranian or a Russian decides to hate Asians because of the mongol invasion which was commited over eight centuries ago by a part of the said race, he would be justified?
that said, I do agree that I cannot speak about the horror of racism, having never experienced it. but what I am saying is that it is racist to expect a race to be treated differently because of their race, even if the treatment is positive.
@Malcomx99 I am not an american, and I am a student like you. perhaps that is why I can’t find a reason to use a word like that. you never know who is reading your essay, and you should make sure that there are no grounds for them to take offence.
There is no need to use that particular phrase. It is not common enough to argue that it is okay.
White as a piece of paper, white as a sheet, but white as a cracker? Really?
@Adrianlane, #1, do you think everyone but you on CC is white? #2, so it’s okay for black people to be racist? How about racist against black people? #3, my forefathers were serfs, they oppressed no black person.
Read up on Ta-Nehisi Coates, and see how he says HE as well as YOU are JUST as responsible for racism in the US as any white person, let alone a multiracial person like myself with no roots in the US in the 19th century.
I was at Penn when the “water buffalo” comment brouhaha happened. If you act like an animal, can you only be called an animal if you are white or otherwise non-black? I’ve been called a monkey before, but I’m not part African so it’s okay?
And read the Autobiography of Malcolm X while you are at it…
@Adrianlane, I’m genuinely stunned that the reason you think “black as a coon” is more offensive than “white as a cracker” is simply because raccoons are animals. So you’re saying wet back, camel jockey, gook, and kike are less offensive than coon and sand coon simply because of the fact that they’re not animals (not that a sand coon is a real animal anyway)? I would think the history and usage of the term is far more important than the pure etymology of the slang (and for the record, coon was originally a pejorative term for certain groups of white people before it was popularized as a pejorative for blacks), but I guess having only been harassed by non-animal based pejoratives, I’ll never truly understand the pain of an animal based one…
If the “special treatment” is specifically meant to correct systematic oppression, then it’s not racist, much like hate crime legislation is not racist (even if it’s not necessarily effective). Again though, that’s neither here nor there with the topic of whether “white as a cracker” is an appropriate phrase for a college essay (which it is definitely not).
Why do you assume that everyone else is white?
If u want unconditional respect, then u need to conduct yourself unconditionally.
It’s a college app, kids. Don’t mess with adcoms. Think. Don’t go off using phrases you don’t know the meaning of. Google them, if you must.
Of course, I have no idea what level of colleges are on the table here.
And, great posts, Hunt.