The few conversations I've had there have been unproductive and inflammatory. While even in other instances when I've said something someone disagreed with they would at least support their statement. Also no one would tell me why the "Confused Unga Bunga" meme is racist but they keep accusing me of it. I'm all for open discussions but even the comments there are so angry and toxic.

Edit: I'm reading every comment and taking everything people said and considering all sides. My stance on the phrase has changed but I am still hesitant about giving hexbear a chance. I'll sleep on it though.

  • Zoift [he/him]
    hexbear
    71
    10 months ago

    Unga Bunga is racist because of this shit.

    Show

    The phrase has a long history as a racist dogwhistle, and is deeply tied with "Race Science" horseshit.

    • @DrPop@lemmy.one
      hexagon
      hexbear
      21
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      Yeah I saw that but only after I added terms like racist and offensive to my search result, meaning if I just type that phrase by itself into Google nothing. I also don't watch any of that shit because it's like you said, horseshit.

      I will not use the phrase in the future though.

      • Zoift [he/him]
        hexbear
        54
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Yeah I saw that but only after I added terms like racist and offensive to my search result, meaning if I just type that phrase by itself into Google nothing.

        That's the point of a dogwhistle. If they didnt want to whistle, they'd just yell a slur. The whole point of its racist usage being able to signal racist ideology to those in the know, while hiding behind people like yourself who insist on it being fine.

        The preferred response to learning of a dogwhistle for the first time is to go "Oh shit, my bad, i wont use it again." It costs you nothing and removes camo for actual detestable people.

        When you argue to the effect "It not that racist", you provide screening for racists, and are doing their work. Normalizing crypto racist shit attracts racists. For this reason, you will be dunked by bears.

        • @DrPop@lemmy.one
          hexagon
          hexbear
          27
          10 months ago

          I'll chock this up to ignorance then. I will be adding that to my list of things not to say.

          • Zoift [he/him]
            hexbear
            36
            edit-2
            10 months ago

            rat-salute

            It happens to all of us at one time or another. We all live in societies scarred by hundreds of years of brainworms; Grew up with them, internalized them. It takes effort to just see the scope of these brainworms, much less change them.

            Most of Hexbear is hyper-vigilant against this sort of thing because we've spent a lot of time deprogramming ourselves and others of these particular ideological blinders. We can get pretty defensive when our fash-detectors ping. I'm sorry if we've hit you with undeserved ire.

        • @DrPop@lemmy.one
          hexagon
          hexbear
          9
          10 months ago

          You're right and I understand that now but maybe because I compartmentalized it differently in my head as different from "ooga booga" which is highly racist. Thanks for actually explaining it to me. Language is weird.

            • @DrPop@lemmy.one
              hexagon
              hexbear
              8
              10 months ago

              Gimme 10 minutes, and yeah you put things in terms I could understand.

                • @DrPop@lemmy.one
                  hexagon
                  hexbear
                  10
                  10 months ago

                  I thought I was in a hexbear thread but I kept getting buzzwords thrown at me. It's awfully jarring and did not help with me understanding the situation. I know it's not an excuse but sometimes my autism makes it hard for me to see the proper path through the conversation.