member, has the use of the word “thug” about him, and other young black men, started to sound like a racial epithet?
“I’ve been astonished at the blanket bigotry in some cases,” said Jamie Dukes, the 680 the Fan talk host and former Florida State offensive guard. “Thuggery denotes a criminal element.”
How did a word with roots in Hindi and historical associations with the likes of Al Capone emerge as another marker on the fault line in America’s race relations?
Last Friday, as Vick’s latest unfortunate event unfolded, these fault lines became explicit on talk radio, in sports blogs and around the office coffee pot.
TheStateOf . . . “Thugs.” I (J) think it’s getting close to a slur. It definitely seems to be used only when describing blacks.
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