Can't believe I had to have this conversation again today, with someone who should know better. You can't just un-racist a word because it makes you feel bad man.
Edit to add more context:
Rice burner is a pejorative term originally applied to Japanese motorcycles and which later expanded to include Japanese cars or any East Asian-made vehicles. Variations include rice rocket, referring most often to Japanese superbikes, rice machine, rice grinder or simply ricer.
Riced out is an adjective denigrating a badly customized sports car, "usually with oversized or ill-matched exterior appointments". Rice boy is a US derogatory term for the driver or builder of an import-car hot rod. The terms may disparage cars or car enthusiasts as imposters or wanna-bes, using cheap modifications to imitate the appearance of high performance.
The term is often defined as offensive or racist stereotyping. In some cases, users of the term assert that it is not offensive or racist, or else treat the term as a humorous, mild insult rather than a racial slur.
I'd like you to read this from a guy who's father is from the Philippines. His mother is American. Then have a good think about it. Actually think about it for a day or so.
Palting: (reenlist forums)
*When you call a car a "ricer", you are saying that it is not a nice car, possibly even an atrocious car. I don't believe you will ever hear a statement like "Look at that gorgeous ricer!!" So, in response to the question, is it derogatory, the answer is that the term ricer is most definitely derogatory.
The question then becomes, is it racist? The term "ricer" was coined to denote the cars that were made in Japan or Korea that were subsequently modded and are obnoxious to the observer. You can ask 100 people what car brand comes to mind when you say "ricer" and 100 of them will come up with an Asian brand. Ask those same 100 people what country or race comes to mind, and 100 will say some Asian country. We can safely say that "ricer" would indicate the Asian culture where rice is the staple food. We can define a term racist if the term pertaining to a race or a race's cultural character is considered derogatory. Therefore, the term ricer is most definitely racist.
If, lets say, one of the African nations built a car, would you call it a "******"? The term "ricer" most definitely belongs in the same category as ******, slant-eyes, gook and what have you. Shame on anyone who uses the term and who does not realise it is very definitely racist.
My mother is from the USA, my father is from the Philippines. I was born and raised in the Philippines. I am a Filipino. I am not a "halfer", nor "mestizo", nor anything other than a Filipino national who chose to reside in the US as an American citizen.*
Sorry, let me clarify. You can't just un-racist a word, unless you're the targeted group, because it makes you feel bad man. I figured that I didn't need to add that caveat? I've talked about the word Queer in other places in the thread.
It was a derogatory insult toward poor gear heads, who else can reclaim it? Only the Asian born subset? Asian people who never touched a motorcycle? It was never about any Asian traits of the riders or the vehicles but strictly that they were imported and the low cost.
Would you be ardently crusading in a hypothetical alternate history where these people had access to cheap Soviet Ladas? Surely cabbage burner would be just as offensive?
While we're on the subject, here is a non-exhaustive list of European heritage word associations you are no longer allowed to say in any context outside of a recipe:
Much like your anecdotal blog post source, I personally find these highly offensive.
*Taps the sign.*
When it was a common pejorative it was aracial, only determined by a person's association with an object. As commented above, the people who own those objects are embracing the word in a positive framing. Seems fair to me.
Rice is, in reality, a very general word. It's a staple food for half the world, independently domesticated on 3 separate continents. If anything, it should be associated with being cheap and versatile. Reinforcing the idea that it's uniquely Asian is probably doing more harm than good when not all parts of Asia rely on it as a staple (eg: wheat and barley are far more common in northern China).
If you were someone of Asian heritage posting your personal experience on a forum for car mods I would understand. That would be a useful discussion within the community about what is/is not OK and how they could be more inclusive.
This post is the complete opposite. You are decreeing (as an 'ally') a phrase as racist in an unrelated community that rarely, if ever, sees any usage of it. Judging by the comments, it's far more common for this community to know it in the context of the RICE backronym or a cheap "rice and beans" framing. Who have we helped here? Why don't we spend our digital ink on a more important topic?
Did you know that, as an ally, one of the most important things you can do is speak up for minorities on issues that concern them?
Your job as an ally does not include dictating what issues are concerning or when/where they need to be discussed. I've heard the term rice burner/ricer maybe... Five times this century? I've never heard it as an insult, I've never heard it directed toward any minority, and I've never heard of it being especially problematic.
I'm sure there are people who use it in disparaging manner but you can do that with literally anything if you're racist enough. If that really is an issue for the niche automotive demographic then go talk to them about it. If they concede to stop using it then good, but I wouldn't notice anyway because I don't use the phrase.
Being an ally should first and foremost be about focusing on tangible issues affecting real people. My minority friends and loved ones care far more about inequality and prejudice in opportunity/resources than minor labels. There's far too many real, systemic, and dangerous issues to spend time on pedantic lectures to the general public.
It's used in the Linux community as well.
*Taps the sign.*
ah that kinda makes sense. Can you explain why who's reclaiming a slur makes a difference? I don't really understand why you wouldn't like a positive meaning to a once negative word. It doesn't really make a lot of sense to me.
I'd reference how "cunty" (used as a compliment) isn't exactly only said by women, but people who are generally seen as 'in the loop'. How come the word referenced in the post isn't treated the same way? I genuinely am asking and find this really interesting.
Also idk if it did but sorry if my message came off as rude before, I was kinda stressed about an advising meeting when I wrote it
I don't really have the spoons to explain it to you. If you aren't the aggrieved party, it's just not reclamation.
please come back when you have the energy to continue this conversation 👍