Is this racist?

[swamp]

I often use the pharse "the natives are restless" when referring to someone who wants to hurry up and get something done now.    It was often used in my family, I never really thought about the origins, and now it's dawning on me that it may be an insenstive phrase. 

(The people aren't Native American, it's just people in general) 

Also, it took me almost 45 year to figure out the phrase "lazier that a pet 'coon" was racist.  I had never heard of a black person referred to that way.  I've always though a 'coon was a raccoon. 

[Tennesseer]

na·tive
/ˈnādiv/
noun
plural noun: natives
a person born in a specified place or associated with a place by birth, whether subsequently resident there or not.
"a native of Montreal"
a local inhabitant.
"New York in the summer was too hot even for the natives"

I don't think so.  I am a native of Tennessee.  Tennessee natives are restless.

[Tennesseer]

As for 'lazier that a pet 'coon', I don't see that as racist.  A nickname for raccoons is coon.  Having the word 'pet' in the phrase  does imply the phrase is referring to an animal.

Sadly, the word 'coon' is a derogatory word in referencing a black person.  I grew up in Massachusetts hearing the word inreferencing a black person.

And raccoons can be lazy. Several times I have seen raccoons eating the dry cat food I put out for the cats who live on my property. Several raccoons I have seen laying down on their side and reaching into the food bowls for a morsel. Like they were laying on a couch eating bon-bons.

[Lizard Queen]

My husband and I often refer to our kids as the natives that are growing restless. I never thought about that, either. Never heard any sayings about 'coons most of my life, though I recently learned of one.

[billisonboard]

Jul 17, 2020 11:52:57 GMT -5 swamp said:

I often use the pharse "the natives are restless" when referring to someone who wants to hurry up and get something done now.    It was often used in my family, I never really thought about the origins, and now it's dawning on me that it may be an insenstive phrase. 

(The people aren't Native American, it's just people in general) 

...

It is a white privilege based power statement.

[andi9899]

I don't think it's racist. I've heard people of all colors say that.

[stillmovingforward]

I have heard people of all colors use it also but..... both are racist. I think people are not used to looking at historical comments and language they use. A 'pet coon' was a term for a black person who was 'favored' so they didn't have to work as hard. Restless natives - oppressed rebellion. I have a communication major, minority studies minor in DD2. So I've been learning a lot.
And to be very transparent, I used to refer to my kids as 'little monkeys' due to how active all 4 were. Um, 2 are black. Unintended racism. Major fail. It happens. Change and don't feel bad. It's the people who don't/won't recognize it are the issue. Not people who make mistakes. It's great you thought to ask!

[swamp]

Jul 17, 2020 12:07:07 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jul 17, 2020 11:52:57 GMT -5 swamp said:

I often use the pharse "the natives are restless" when referring to someone who wants to hurry up and get something done now.    It was often used in my family, I never really thought about the origins, and now it's dawning on me that it may be an insenstive phrase. 

(The people aren't Native American, it's just people in general) 

...

It is a white privilege based power statement.

but everyone is a native to somewhere, no matter what color.  

Does it refer to natives as in native americans, or natives as someone who is local to a place? 

ETA:   Stillmoving's post clarified that for me.   

There is so much insitutionalized racism, sexism, and misogyny in language.   

[stillmovingforward]

It was used to imply anyone who is a native of an area. However, it also denotes the natives are going to rebel. Think East Indians and the British, native Americans and white settlers, etc. Any native group that is getting restless and might 'rise up'. This does include kids in the house 😁

[swamp]

Jul 17, 2020 12:23:56 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

It was used to imply anyone who is a native of an area. However, it also denotes the natives are going to rebel. Think East Indians and the British, native Americans and white settlers, etc. Any native group that is getting restless and might 'rise up'. This does include kids in the house 😁

And someone who wants there house to close RIGHT NOW!!!!!  

[stillmovingforward]

And I do love this phrase. And I didnt think of the racial motive behind it until you said something. And I asked DD2. Interesting thought for the day.

[Tiny]

Jul 17, 2020 11:52:57 GMT -5 swamp said:

I often use the pharse "the natives are restless" when referring to someone who wants to hurry up and get something done now.    It was often used in my family, I never really thought about the origins, and now it's dawning on me that it may be an insenstive phrase. 

(The people aren't Native American, it's just people in general) 

Also, it took me almost 45 year to figure out the phrase "lazier that a pet 'coon" was racist.  I had never heard of a black person referred to that way.  I've always though a 'coon was a raccoon. 

LOL... when I have contemplated who the actual "natives" might be in that phrase I have never thought Native American.    I always picture something from a B movie (adventure one or fantasy one)  from the 40s/50s - where the locals (be they local practitioners of Voodoo (I walked with a Zombie or the "spirits" in an Abbott Costello B horror movie) or the local villagers with pitch forks and torches (Frankenstein)) are making noise in warning to stay away OR are itching for a fight.    I guess I haven't watched many "westerns" -- well in most of the ones I've seen the conflict between settlers and Native Americans has seemed more like "war" than anything else. 

I'm not sure if the phrase "the natives are restless" is racist...  I've never used it that way - I would use it for my cats when I forget to feed them, or if the kids are getting anxious for the party to start or if there's a group of disgruntled coworkers who will be making trouble for the project we are all working on.   

It seems like it could be, though  - as it generally connotes a groups of "oppressed" people about to cause trouble/rebel/fight.    I stopped using it - and look for some other better idiom or phrase to use

I've started going with a theme of good ole Stokers  Dracula's famous line:  “Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!”.    to hint at the restrained wildness/portent of possibly unpleasant action kind of thing...  rather than the restless natives thing. 

[billisonboard]

Jul 17, 2020 12:38:46 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Jul 17, 2020 11:52:57 GMT -5 swamp said:

I often use the pharse "the natives are restless" when referring to someone who wants to hurry up and get something done now.    It was often used in my family, I never really thought about the origins, and now it's dawning on me that it may be an insenstive phrase. 

(The people aren't Native American, it's just people in general) 

Also, it took me almost 45 year to figure out the phrase "lazier that a pet 'coon" was racist.  I had never heard of a black person referred to that way.  I've always though a 'coon was a raccoon. 

LOL... when I have contemplated who the actual "natives" might be in that phrase I have never thought Native American.    I always picture something from a B movie (adventure one or fantasy one)  from the 40s/50s - where the locals (be they local practitioners of Voodoo (I walked with a Zombie or the "spirits" in an Abbott Costello B horror movie) or the local villagers with pitch forks and torches (Frankenstein)) are making noise in warning to stay away OR are itching for a fight.    I guess I haven't watched many "westerns" -- well in most of the ones I've seen the conflict between settlers and Native Americans has seemed more like "war" than anything else. 

I'm not sure if the phrase "the natives are restless" is racist...  I've never used it that way - I would use it for my cats when I forget to feed them, or if the kids are getting anxious for the party to start or if there's a group of disgruntled coworkers who will be making trouble for the project we are all working on.   

It seems like it could be, though  - as it generally connotes a groups of "oppressed" people about to cause trouble/rebel/fight.    I stopped using it - and look for some other better idiom or phrase to use

I've started going with a theme of good ole Stokers  Dracula's famous line:  “Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!”.    to hint at the restrained wildness/portent of possibly unpleasant action kind of thing...  rather than the restless natives thing. 

I like that swamp changed from "racist" in the thread title to "insensitive phrase" in the first post. It doesn't matter how I intend what I say, it is how it is received (unless I place myself in the center of the universe).

[Tiny]

I'm not sure if the phrase "the natives are restless" is racist... I've never used it that way - I would use it for my cats when I forget to feed them, or if the kids are getting anxious for the party to start or if there's a group of disgruntled coworkers who will be making trouble for the project we are all working on.

Yeah, I quoted myself... I've never heard the phrase used in real life when someone is intending to be demeaning or degrading of other humans. I've never heard someone use that phrase to "signal" they dissapprove of black or brown people thinking they are more than second (or third class) humans. You know when people say stuff with a "wink wink nudge nudge" you "KNOW" what I mean kind a way. Or when people say stuff and wait for your reaction to see if you are in the "know" or are "a kindred spirit".


And on the Stoker reference - the cats are singing, what music they make!  when they are crying for dinner.  And the kids are "ah, Children of the Night - what music they make!"    

[bobosensei]

Jul 17, 2020 11:52:57 GMT -5 swamp said:

I often use the pharse "the natives are restless" when referring to someone who wants to hurry up and get something done now.    It was often used in my family, I never really thought about the origins, and now it's dawning on me that it may be an insenstive phrase. 

(The people aren't Native American, it's just people in general) 

Also, it took me almost 45 year to figure out the phrase "lazier that a pet 'coon" was racist.  I had never heard of a black person referred to that way.  I've always though a 'coon was a raccoon. 

Thirty years ago my grandmother and her husband would call the Atlanta Falcons the Fal-coons.  I just thought it was a funny way to say the word falcon and had no idea about the reference.  I was very embarrassed years later when I realized what it meant.  I really wish my parents had more conversations with me about things like that.  They were both hippies so I didn't grow up in a house with overt racism like a lot of people in my small, fundamentalist baptist, deep south community.  But there was a lot that they never went out of their way to explain to me.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I had no idea that the word "spook" was racist till someone here told me.   I thought it was referring to someone who looks creepy/up to no good all these years.  I heard grown-ups use it around me all time but they never put it in context. 

DH had to ask me what Brazil nuts were actually called because he knew what his grandma called them and that's hella racist.

Turns out there are a lot of phrases in our vernacular that have racist/sexist/homophobic undertones that I've never stopped to consider before.  I was reading a list of 10 common phrases that are racist and I only knew two of them.   Several I've never heard in my life.   

[CCL]

Yes, those are racist. I guess an individual's interpretation depends on where/how they grew up. I'm sure I was exposed to a lot more than some of you were. I'm also very familiar with a lot of other terms I would never repeat. I've always tried to teach my children better than that.

[NastyWoman]

Jul 17, 2020 13:23:40 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I had no idea that the word "spook" was racist till someone here told me.   I thought it was referring to someone who looks creepy/up to no good all these years.  I heard grown-ups use it around me all time but they never put it in context. 

DH had to ask me what Brazil nuts were actually called because he knew what his grandma called them and that's hella racist.

Turns out there are a lot of phrases in our vernacular that have racist/sexist/homophobic undertones that I've never stopped to consider before.  I was reading a list of 10 common phrases that are racist and I only knew two of them.   Several I've never heard in my life.   

I thought spook was slang for spy? I haven't used it since, to the best of my knowledge, I don't know any spies. What else is it used for?

[laterbloomer]

First - absolutely racist. That said, I got caught on a whole lot of things liked that when I first moved away from home. My parents, especially my dad, have a very diverse group of friends. They would use all those terms on each other much like black people use the n word on each other. They had enough of a foundation of friendship that no one got upset. I didn't realise they were ignorant terms. It caused me problems a few times.

[TheOtherMe]

I have learned if you feel you need to ask the question, the word or phrase is racist.

I want to a high school with about 20% Black students, 10% Hispanics, the rest white.  "Coon" was racist then and that is context in which I first heard the word.  

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jul 17, 2020 11:52:57 GMT -5 swamp said:

I often use the pharse "the natives are restless" when referring to someone who wants to hurry up and get something done now.    It was often used in my family, I never really thought about the origins, and now it's dawning on me that it may be an insenstive phrase. 

(The people aren't Native American, it's just people in general) 

Also, it took me almost 45 year to figure out the phrase "lazier that a pet 'coon" was racist.  I had never heard of a black person referred to that way.  I've always though a 'coon was a raccoon. 

yes it is racist.

It from colonialism when the colonists were talking about the natives.....

[Lizard Queen]

I thought it was a line from some movie.

[thyme4change]

Jul 17, 2020 11:52:57 GMT -5 swamp said:

I often use the pharse "the natives are restless" when referring to someone who wants to hurry up and get something done now.    It was often used in my family, I never really thought about the origins, and now it's dawning on me that it may be an insenstive phrase. 

(The people aren't Native American, it's just people in general) 

Also, it took me almost 45 year to figure out the phrase "lazier that a pet 'coon" was racist.  I had never heard of a black person referred to that way.  I've always though a 'coon was a raccoon. 

We had a blue tick coon hound. She was lazy. But, now that you mention it, we probably could have just called her a blue tick hound. I have no proof she would hint or tree a racoon. Just a rumor. No raccoons around here.

[Lizard Queen]

Jul 17, 2020 15:25:00 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I thought it was a line from some movie.

I was right, it is from a movie, and one I'm pretty sure I actually saw a long time ago:


"Wiki User
November 13, 2012 8:03PM
I heard this line in a play in 1953 but do not know the name of the play. Any ideas?

According to TVtropes.org this comes from a 1933 film of the H.G. Wells book "The Island of Doctor Moreau." It implies that the indigenous population is about to rise up and attack the people who don't belong there. Harkens back to racism, imperialism and Anglo-Saxons going into the lands of others and trying to exploit/oppress the native people.

^^

It is indeed from "The Island of Lost Souls (1933)," uttered in several forms by Charles Laughton as Dr. Moreau. However, as the 'natives' in question are not natives at all but the human/animal hybrid results of Moreau's experiments. As such, the above claims of racism, imperalism and exploitation are erroneous."

[thyme4change]

Jul 17, 2020 15:14:04 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Jul 17, 2020 11:52:57 GMT -5 swamp said:

I often use the pharse "the natives are restless" when referring to someone who wants to hurry up and get something done now.    It was often used in my family, I never really thought about the origins, and now it's dawning on me that it may be an insenstive phrase. 

(The people aren't Native American, it's just people in general) 

Also, it took me almost 45 year to figure out the phrase "lazier that a pet 'coon" was racist.  I had never heard of a black person referred to that way.  I've always though a 'coon was a raccoon. 

yes it is racist.

It from colonialism when the colonists were talking about the natives.....

I told my husband that I have a new attitude around the colonial style. Colonial houses, colonial furniture, etc. I never really connected it to people who were just going out and stealing land from people. It seems so much less romantic now.

Yes, swamp, I would stop using the word "natives". But maybe we could come up with a word to sub in - like "crackers" or "kinfolk" or "hillbillies" or "drama queens" or "clown posse" or "nuts" or "snowflakes". We can keep suggesting until we come up with something so funny you will stick with it.

[Happy prose]

Neither phrase is racist. 

[billisonboard]

Jul 17, 2020 15:45:31 GMT -5 Happy prose said:

Neither phrase is racist. 

hmmmm.

[Happy prose]

Jul 17, 2020 16:01:49 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jul 17, 2020 15:45:31 GMT -5 Happy prose said:

Neither phrase is racist. 

hmmmm.

Which one do you think is racist?

[billisonboard]

Jul 17, 2020 16:51:41 GMT -5 Happy prose said:

Jul 17, 2020 16:01:49 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

hmmmm.

Which one do you think is racist?

Thou has declared Truth. Who am I to disagree?

[CCL]

Jul 17, 2020 14:17:00 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Jul 17, 2020 13:23:40 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I had no idea that the word "spook" was racist till someone here told me.   I thought it was referring to someone who looks creepy/up to no good all these years.  I heard grown-ups use it around me all time but they never put it in context. 

DH had to ask me what Brazil nuts were actually called because he knew what his grandma called them and that's hella racist.

Turns out there are a lot of phrases in our vernacular that have racist/sexist/homophobic undertones that I've never stopped to consider before.  I was reading a list of 10 common phrases that are racist and I only knew two of them.   Several I've never heard in my life.   

I thought spook was slang for spy? I haven't used it since, to the best of my knowledge, I don't know any spies. What else is it used for?

I don't even want to say. You can find it at urbanlegend.com. Basically the same as the n word.

I'm surprised so many of you have never heard these terms.