3mo ago

rulecist

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.

Source.

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, removed 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.*

Source.

165 comments

what
- Some people believe that labelling certain words as dirty because they have prejudicial or offensive connotations in a completely unrelated context is effective activism, passing judgement to feel like they're doing something.
  One such word is "ricing". It comes from "rice burner", which is a pejorative term referring to East Asian cars and motorcycles. The modern usage has nothing to do with cars or ethnicity.
  On a related note, the word "queer" has a similar history.
  
  I'd also like to point out that Queer has been reclaimed by Queer people. Whereas a bunch of, mostly white, Linux users have "reclaimed" it. But, in the context with my friend today, it was the car modification usage ¯(ツ)/¯
  
  The modern usage has a direct connection to it's historical usage.
  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, removed 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.*
  Source.
- what?
  
  Could have used that reply to clarify

It started out as a pejorative (like a cheap car with cheap mods) but has become a positive term associated with customization and a respect for effort involved regardless of financial resources (sometimes cheaper being more impressive).
So uh... Nah I'm gonna keep saying that. You do you.
- You can't just un-racist a word because it makes you feel bad man.
  Taps the sign.
  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, removed and what have you. Shame on anyone who uses the term and who does not realise it is very definitely racist.
  Taps the sign.
  
  You can't just un-racist a word because it makes you feel bad man.
  I think you should look into reclaiming slurs. The once derogatory term now has a positive meaning and that's imo a good thing. Look at the word 'Queer', most people (especially young people) don't know it used to be derogatory, and I don't think people should stop using it.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queer
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reappropriation
  With an obvious albeit obligatory note that if you use a word in a derogatory way that's obviously not ok, if you use it with the compliment definition it's a bit different.
  Some reappropriation can be at varying levels in different countries which is why (I assume) it's seen as worse in other countries.
  If you are to respond I would request to hear your rebuttal without copy and pasting the same article please.
  
  I'll start calling it a sleeper now.

Thank you. I'm Asian and it is honestly a bit maddening when I get white-splained as to why the term isn't racist towards Asians.
- I may be white, but I'm trans and get awful stuff said at/around me too, so I get it. Gotta have solidarity with other minorities and lift each other up! 💪

I agree with the overall message here; there's definitely better words for customisation of a Window Manager/Desktop Environment.
I can't agree that everyone using that term is racist though. I doubt that everyone who uses it is doing so to discriminate or abuse another race. As proven by this thread, the history of that word isn't exactly common knowledge in the spaces people are using it.
"bigot" might be a better term to describe people that know the history of the word and actively refuse to change their ways. It feels like throwing "racist" on here where it doesn't exactly apply sort of dampens the impact of the word. But that's just me.
- The people that now know the meaning, but are trying to argue that it doesn't matter, are no longer ignorant, and therefore don't have an excuse.
  Another example of this is that I grew up with the term "gyped" meaning to have been taken advantage of when making a deal. When I learnt that it was a racist term that denigrates Romani/Traveller peoples, I stopped using it. If I'd continued too, then that would have made me racist :)
  
  The people that now know the meaning, but are trying to argue that it doesn't matter, are no longer ignorant, and therefore don't have an excuse.
  I agree, but you're meme implies that using the term at all makes you racist
  The equivalent of this meme would be someone calling you a racist the very first time you ever used the term "gyped". You yourself stated you didn't know that term had racist history, so how could you have been racist?
  It's a different situation when someone has knowledge of history and then goes on to use the term. That's textbook bigotry and I would agree that's also racsim, but you're casting a much wider net with this meme encompassing everyone who uses the term knowledgable or not
- there’s definitely better words for customisation of a Window Manager/Desktop Environment.
  Any recommendations?
  
  Theming

Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancements. That's what rice has always meant to me, and as far as I know everyone around me. You can rice an American car and you can rice a German car just as much as you can rice a Japanese car.
I think this kind of linguistic prescriptivism is one of many things wrong with modern anti-racism movements. It's such a non-issue.
- 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.
  Taps the sign.
  That is a backronym that was invented to try and coverup the racist origins of the term. Like I've said in other comments, why don't you start using the n-word to mean the colour black and see how many friends that makes you 😊

Oh, I had only ever heard this term in the context of Linux desktop customization. Like in the context of superfluous over the top additions that look pretty but ultimately do not add anything to a system and may to some extent degrade performance.
I dont know why I never connected it with the car scene or with racist attitudes. I'm ashamed to say I think I've used the term myself once or twice. Thanks for sharing an explanation of the history of this evidently very racist term, I imagine there are others like myself who have failed to make that connection.
Idk why its so hard to just say "setup". I'm not sure that a use case this particular warrants its own terminology.
- I'm ashamed to say I think I've used the term myself once or twice.
  It's okay, you didn't know then, so didn't use it intentionally to cause harm.

Calling the term "rice" in connection to focusing on aesthetics over preformance racist just seems insane to me. There are objectly racist uses of the word rice to harm Asians. However when 99% of the community never even correlated this useage of the word to anything derogatory twords asians, and even use it positivly when someone genuinely likes JDM or overbuilt cars, the word stops being racist
You cant claim racist undertones to a word when people don't corelate that word whatsoever to anything derogatory twords Asians. The modern use of the word spoke about a car that looked like a racecar but didn't have the preformance of one, making it "ugly", and then branched to become a positive term when talking about putting lots of efforts into the aesthetic of something
The evolution of the word is not a moral failing but a redirection from a derogatory borderline slur to a word that captures the idea of "looks over preformance"
- 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.
  Taps the sign.
  
  Reading through your responses it seems you really dont give a fuck about actually having discussion. Your view is right and everyone else is wrong, because of the simple fact "racism bad"
  Theres no reason to ever redirect a racist phrase into something positive and completely seperated from its racist past, dispite the community at large already doing that. Words cannot change or evolve, and any word with even an inkling of negativity should be banned from ever being spoken (/s). I specifically called out that rice can be used in a racist and as a borderline slur, but that the modern useage of the word is painfully obviously removed from that connotation: considering the massive amount of people under this post also claiming they have never used, or even knew, the word could at all relate to degrading asians.
  Oh and since you've responded often rejecting opinions just because "its a white person claiming its not racist" let me ask you, how many Japanese people (since the old meaning of the word was specifically targeted at the japanese) do you know take genuine offence to the word? Because funnily enough my Japanese friends in the car scene love calling things riced out

I feel like a lot of people here need to stop taking this information so damn personally. You didn't know, great, that means you're not racist. Now you do know. So just... Stop? That's it. OP wasn't even a dick about it.
Personally, I'm grateful when I get a heads up that certain terms are racist, so thank you OP!
- Thank you! 🙏
  
  I actually extended your PSA over to my Misskey. A great discussion ensued followed by this term and one other being added to the slur list. :P

I appreciate the history lesson. I was always really confused by the term, but just accepted it as a silly random easy to remember word.
I’d prefer if it wasn’t hidden in the comments tho. Presenting it this way is very much inviting conflict, considering most people have no clue.
- I didn't mean to hide it, I thought most would know the usage I was referencing. It seems like, even despite the explanations, people are wanting to argue it's not racist anymore anyway.

"Rice" as a food or plant, that's fine. "Rice" as a word for a group of people, not really
- Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate.
  
  Funnily enough the Finnish version of that mnemonic definitely sounds super racist:
  Kylmä (cold)
  Koho (form of "raise/rise")
  Kompressio (probably obvious, I hope)
  KKK (aka. the 3 K treatment)
  
  FYI That's not the recommended treatment for injuries anymore, mostly the i, and a bit the r.
  https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/rice-protocol-for-injuries
  
  True, I would say that usage is completely innocent. The backronym "Racing Inspired Cosmetic Enhancements" is a red herring though. Folks try to use it to explain how the term doesn't carry racial connotations.
- It's moreso its use to discuss cosmetic modifications that I'm calling out, either on cars/motorbikes, but also it's newer use for customising your Linux DE. Rice as in the food/plant is obviously fine.
  
  Ok, that is something i didn't know. What is the connection between rice and racism here?
  
  There is nothing wrong with the term ricing as in customizing, when cooking rice you have to clean out the rice for any dirt inside I found screws in my rice once

What's your preferred term? "Linux desktop customization" is a bit of a mouthful.
- That's the problem. People aren't going to stop using rice as a verb until some new term exists that's appropriately specific, and there is no alternative term I'm aware of.
- Turn it into an acronym, LUSC (Linux UI and System Customization)
  
  I hope you mean to pronounce it like lush because I absolutely love it.
- I'm new to this idea as of this thread, so maybe I'm not understanding the issue correctly, but:
  mog
  style
  furbish
  theme
  vamp
  spruce
  look
  snazz
  attune
  deck
  alter
  finify
  spiff
  I hope this list is at least helpful in generating ideas.
- ~~As far as I'm aware, blinged out is perfectly acceptables :3~~
  Edit: Someone pointed out that this is theft of AAVE, which is a point I hadn't considered.
  
  As far as I’m aware, blinged out is perfectly acceptables :3
  really? Let's substitute the term we're sensitive about because it might offend asian people for one that might offend black people?
  
  That sounds like decorating something with gems and precious metals. Doesn't make a lot of sense for desktop customization, considering that most linux destop customizers go for a very minimalist look.

what???
- what?

The irony of removed about being racist while stealing AAVE amd then arguing its less racist is hilarious. I haven't used this term in ages but jesus if that aint some regressivist leftism i dont know what is.
- That's a fair point, you're right. Have you got other ideas for what would suit the Linux customising usage? Someone mentioned 'sleeper' and I think that's a pretty good option.
  
  If used for PC that's just a modern, fast computer built inside of an old beige case with similar looking HID.

It’s a racist term, but a lot of people simply don’t know that. How I react depends on their general attitude.

But that's how I remember to Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate injuries

everyone will feel offended at anything you say.
nice example of a philippino person being offended by it.
if i told my philippino friend abt it he'd dismiss these concerns.
different strokes for different folks.
bottom line: playing word police is problematic in itself.
just don't be a dick and you're good.
- 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.
  Taps the sign.
  
  a lot of everyday words or even slang can be described as offensive or racist if the listener deems them this way - or because the history of certain words is rooted in racism.
  you wanna tell the whole linux community that "ricing" is an offensive term?
  you wanna tell marxists that quote "it's either socialism or barbarism" that the term "barbarian" is a racist term used by romans?
  you wanna tell polish boomers that they shouldn't say "a jew hung himself" to refer to windy weather?
  a miniscule amount of people think about the racial or xenophobic implications because certain things are too ingrained in society.
  keep the spirit up, you go guys, but these things won't go away for the next few generations.
  stuff like this just fuels infighting with no real goal. - fighting actual racism and systemic racism. getting hung up on unimportant details will just alienate people who'd be sympathetic to the cause.
  we also likely live in different societies so we have different approaches to how racism is perceived. this discourse reeks of being american.

My ex was Korean and she used the term rice rocket when I mentioned I wanted a Mitsubishi Lancer because it's a cool fast Japanese car. Asians aren't a monolith that all think one term or another should be verboten. Assuming all Asians think the term "rice" is a slur is just arrogance.
- That's our word
- Same energy as "this one black person said I can say the n word".
  
  Same energy as "I'm trying to get credit for declaring a random adjective to be a no-no word."

hewwoo, so uhm what is a more apropriate thing to call my vewy pwetty laptop ui setup?
- you can choose between quinoa, couscous, and pasta
  
  What about orzo, the rice-shaped pasta?
- ~~As far as I'm aware, blinged out is perfectly acceptables :3~~
  Edit: Someone pointed out that this is theft of AAVE, which is a point I hadn't considered.
  
  a lot of modern American English slang is borrowed from AAVE, using these words isn't problematic as long as you acknowledge their AAVE origin

I got called out for saying this once, and went back and looked it up. I had meant it sort of neutrally, and there are a lot of neutral uses of it out there, but there are probably just as many clearly negative/racist uses of it, and practically no positive uses.
There's a way of being a racist that is like crypto-racism. It appears neutral, but actually moves the ball forward for racists. And my experiences with many many different kinds of people, is that the people who are best at this are like hardcore Nazis.
I personally am not someone who thinks that advocacy and allyship begins and ends with saying or refusing to say certain words. I think there are a lot of really serious problems with the current liberal establishment posture towards race, where you continue to be heavily and unfairly exploited, and now imprisoned or deported because of skin color, but politically we will make sure people aren't allowed to say certain words anymore. But also being conscientious of our speech is a part of it, whether we like it or not. Ultimately it isnt some great loss of my freedom if I decide to call a Yamaha motorcycle a "Yamaha" instead of a "ricer". I have a large enough vocabulary that I can spare a word or two.
- I think there are a lot of really serious problems with the current liberal establishment posture towards race, where you continue to be heavily and unfairly exploited, and now imprisoned or deported because of skin color, but politically we will make sure people aren't allowed to say certain words anymore.
  You're absolutely right, you can't begin and end your advocacy with no longer using certain words. That's why I'm out protesting, where I can, for causes like Palestinian recognition, Israeli sanctions and Changing the Date.
  
  Glad to hear! What is Changing the date? I'm also active politically, too few people are though

Such nitpicking for such an insignificant problem. Shit like this is why the Left fell so hard and now we're stuck with Drumpf
- Not everyone on the internet is American 💜
  
  Trump and the hard right are not a uniquely American problem, stuff like this is more straw for their imagined leftist extremist strawman. At least you get to feel righteous. * taps sign *

You can't just un-racist a word because it makes you feel bad man.
Well then, I hope you never use the word slave, slavery, or any of the derived words, seeing as etymologically they're a pejorative for Slavic people. And that's just the first example that comes to mind.
- 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.
  Taps the sign.

Just use bosozoku or dekotura instead
- Truuuue. We love a bōsōzoku exhaust! 😤

But can I still call someone who rides that kind of motorcycle without proper safety gear an organ donor or is that insensitive?
- Nah that's perfectly acceptable in my opinion. Another term that's great for that is squid, because all their appendages will be broken when they come off.

this is blatantly incorrect? Rice is an acronym for "Racing inspired cosmetic enhancements"?
- That's a backronym that was created to try and coverup its racist origin.

TIL - THANK YOU! I have a similar feeling whenever the phrase "rule of thumb" comes around.
- This is the first im hearing of any negative connotations, a quick google seems to show a wiki article with strong evidence that connections to abuse are false: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thumb
  
  Sure, but the miss information has been out there for decades and people are still put off by it. It can be false, but it is still going to be a trigger for people.
  If the goal is to not trigger people, don't use the phrase. I can say "best practice is.." and nobody needs to be reminded of domestic abuse.

Absolutely wild to me. From my experience, Toyotas are way more reliable than Fords.

also, comparing low-performance hardware to potatoes is insensitive to Irish and/or native South American people
- Are you sure its that and nothing to do with the fact we're taught to understand the relationship between electricity, energy, and computation through the metaphor of a potato battery powering very small things like LEDs?
- thanks for bringing awareness to this, now that i'm informed i should not use these terms because that'd make me a bigot instead of ignorant.

Ricing is mucking with compilation flags on Gentoo for no observable gain or even detriment. If it extends to hideous cars of a certain manufacturing origin, I'm sorry for the cars' feelings, but it's not racist until cars start having a race.

I'm sorry but actually rice boy refers to an excellent webcomic https://rice-boy.com/rb/ all other usages are incorrect

165 comments