LogFAQs > #888678398

OK, I'm going to break this down for you by doing something ridiculous.

Let's say I start using "firetruck" as pejorative term. Now, clearly, the explicit intent is to insult someone, because I'm using a term pejoratively. But, by implication, it's also clear that I consider the state of being a firetruck to be somehow undesirable. In this hypothetical situation, I am clearly prejudiced against firetrucks.

This hypothetical holds parallels with people who use "gay" as a general term for describing an undesirable event or thing. Their explicit intent is not to insult gay people, but, by using a term that is heavily associated with homosexual people, the implication that being homosexual is undesirable in their eyes still stands.

Now, if we replace "firetruck" in that hypothetical with a term that already carries heavy connotations of finding a particular race undesirable (e.g. the n-word), even if you're not insulting a black person by your use of the term pejoratively, you're still saying that being black is somehow undesirable. It means you're prejudiced against black people, which is racism.

In fact, it's even more racist to use the n-word as an insult towards people who aren't black. If you use the term as an insult towards a black person, you're merely saying "I find you undesirable because of your race" (whether you explicitly intend to or not), whereas if you use it as an insult towards someone who isn't black, you're saying "I find black people so undesirable that I am unfavorably comparing you to one".
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Hank Pym changes superhero aliases more often than Hawkman changes origin stories.