I think there's a small amount of truth to it especially when people target someone like Luna Oi, but at least for now it's in the vast majority of cases an equivalent of chud or lib etc. and historically was a term made by mostly white British leftists to make fun of other mostly white British leftists, not something to describe groups of people in the global south.

I think this is pretty similar energy to right wing ppl / libs last year claiming using gusano is racist, obviously the people who get called gusano are almost always more reactionary than people that get called tankies outside of maybe like 1 or 2 of nazbols, but I think neither in his words are frequently racist, and it's a weird energy especially as Ben Norton is a white American guy and seems more about wanting to own the people who use tankie as an insult than it is about making a stand against any racism happening.

https://unofficialbird.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1609586255641169921#m

  • GaveUp [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    The term is racist

    Nowadays, when properly used, tankie is an insult almost always from a Westerner towards people who support nations like USSR, China, and DPRK

    And the reason why they believe supporting those nations is a terrible idea is because most of them love believing propaganda since it validates their Western chauvinism and xenophobia

    So when Ben says it's "frequently racist", that is absolutely correct

    • themagicschoolbus [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I think the word tankie has been appropriated by the left in the same way the word chud has been appropriated by the right. We use the word tankie to refer to ourselves unironically, even though the word itself originated with the right.

      Speaking of the word chud, I try not to say it anymore. The right wing just sort of owns it now and it’s like saying based, cucked, cringe, or woke. I don’t expect to be taken seriously when using these words. But tankie, I think I can be taken seriously at least among leftists by calling myself that.