General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWARNING: May offend some. It's called Coon Hunting
The use of this term as an ethnic slur derives from the practice of using coonhounds (dogs trained to hunt raccoons) to recapture escaped black slaves.
A few years ago, a friend of mine was in Arcadia, Florida trying to find his way back to Sarasota. He stopped at a small convenience store to get directions when a group of guys came bursting in to buy beers so they could coon hunt that night. Listening to their conversation, he realized they were talking about hunting for black men. He got out of there fast.
I cannot get that image out of my head when I think of George Zimmerman as he loaded his gun that night.
Sorry if this offends.
PDJane
(10,103 posts)It's disgusting, but it's not your monkey.
calimary
(81,321 posts)Not offended by what you SAID. But I am VERY MUCH offended by the reality behind what you said. THAT is offensive as hell.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)It's sickens me to the core.
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)LeftInTX
(25,376 posts)What a creepy experience for your friend........
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)There are lots of "coon hunters" who are hunting raccoons. I don't particularly care for the "sport," but it's origin is not racial. That doesn't mean that some people don't use the term to describe a racially-charged crime, though.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)Still, it's a phrase that sounds so sinister.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)Even without the racial context, "coon hunting" is some fairly nasty stuff in my opinion. As far as I know, they are hunted only for their pelts and not for their meat. I don't even want to get into the specifics of how they are hunted.
Since I rescued a couple of raccoons when I was a teenager, I'm probably biased. They stuck around for several months until the next mating season when they heard the call of the wild. Beautiful little creatures. Ornery as hell. There's a reason for the phrase "goofy as a pet coon."
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)Scared the life out of me. They look so different in the south than they do in the north.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)The two we had were raised by us and a bunch of cats. In fact, a little runt cat was the male's best friend. My mother bottle-fed them.
They were two of the cutest, most lovable critters I've ever seen, but yeah, in the wild, totally different thing.
My grandparents caught an adult raccoon in a box trap at about the same time we had our raccoons. They had set the trap because raccoons were tearing into feed bags out in the barn. Nobody wanted to kill it, so they dumped it in some wooded property a couple of miles away, where my grandparents kept some cows in the summer. To this day, my grandmother swears it made it home before they did.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)My dad used to call me a raccoon during the 60's when I wore heavy eyeliner.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)sometimes in the south
The others were pretty but that one had a distended snout and scared the shit out of me, and he was huge, like a big dog, and ugly.
Dear Lord. I was traumatized by a raccoon, but it's true. All of that was true. It was HUGE with a longer snout, but it's other little brethren were big, but really cute. Three of them could have gazed at me with those gorgeous little masks and I would have invited them inside they were so precious - but that one with the longish snout scared me to death, as did the bit mother looking one of them.
That happened on my porch. I don't know what would have happened in the woods.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Gracious! The worst I had was one sneaking up on me on the patio while I was reading and stealing cat food from the bowl two feet away. I finally noticed, and couldn't bring myself to move because, well, rabies, but it was just eating and using it's little hands and cute as pie.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)I managed to get into the house before it reached me and the group home staff were on the floor laughing.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)because of rabies!
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)on the back porch one night. They are no joke, and carry rabies. I strolled outside thinking, "look at the big kitties eating the leftover cat food after my baby came in." They weren't kitties. Two of them weighed at LEAST 40 lbs. They didn't seem scared at all, but they carry rabies like no one's business. They just peeped up at me until I opened the door, slammed it, and didn't go out again.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)and no, they are no joke.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)but the rabies bit scares the shit out of me, and apparently, when I had been taking my cat in at night, they had been joyfully eating the rest. My vet told me to keep my cat in at all times, only letting her out NOT at dawn and twilight (the crepuscular cycle) until they wouldn't encounter each other. I stupidly had left out cat food at twilight before this advice, thinking my cat would appreciate it. Yes, so do raccoons, in droves.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)They don't seem so sweet, though, when you hear the hiss. It's almost as bloodcurdling as a bobcat's growl.
They are still beautiful animals, though. The two that we raised were a lot of fun.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)And scared the shit out of me. I slammed the glass patio door and prayed for them to go away. They are insufferably cute, but very dangerous to pets.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)It might have thought you were a potential meal. Glad you slammed the door. You probably didn't want that little fellow following you in the house!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)It probably was hissing at me because it realized I was scared of it. Animals do that, when they realize that you aren't exactly friends. They thought I was the chuckwagon until I realized they weren't exactly cats and nearly fainted because of rabies.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)Certainly didn't mean to offend.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)it had this weird nose, and squinted his eyes at me, and like a dumb person, I thought, he has shorter hair than the rest of the clan that is with him (really, he had no whiskers or facial hair) RABIES! Slammed the glass door shut.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)So they are basically thieves and terrorists but I have gone nothing to run them off because of said faces.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)there favorite foods were cat food, vanilla wafers, and some sort of disgusting little marshmallow pies.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)in a way. The cute ones. It's the one that is missing whiskers and facial hair that scares the crap out of me. I was kind of charmed the night I was reading a book on the patio and I had left some food for the cat and I saw on reach in with a very delicate and dextrous hand about 2 feet from me into the cat bowl. I didn't do a thing. I just kept reading.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They have those sweet little faces and you really can't do anything about them. When the one little raccoon reached into the cat bowl for food with it's little hand, peeping at me while I was reading a book, I pretty much melted.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)Makes it almost impossible to get mad at them. ITs like well duh Im stealing your cat food.
Tigress DEM
(7,887 posts)Coon
(US, UK and Australia) a black person. Possibly from Portuguese barracão, a building constructed to hold slaves for sale (1837).[54][55] Popularized by the song "Zip Coon", played at Minstrel shows in the 1830s.
HISTORICALLY, blacks have been put down with many terms that call them animals instead of people because literally they were treated as if they were not "really" civilized human beings.
Remember a lot of discrimination is "denied" by pretending there is some other innocent explanation and hate language has been "coded" for a long time so that people can put others down and then act as if nothing happened. But when the game has gone on for years people know what's really going on.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)That wasn't the point of my post at all.
Tigress DEM
(7,887 posts)My point is that the TERM Coon has been an acknowledged racial slur for long enough that it's "origin" as a racial slur is legitimate aside from actual hunting of an animal.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)I wonder if the OPs etymology of the slur is correct. It is plausible.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)It's as offensive as hell, but it's not your offense.
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)The only place I could find it was at #6 on Urban Dictionary for the word coon.
I coon hunted for 30 years all over the south and have never heard it to mean hunting black people.
olddots
(10,237 posts)Did you ever get any raccoons ? because the slang word coon isn't about raccoons .
Well maybe I'll go troll hunting for little ugly elves who live under bridges .
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)Go Vols
(5,902 posts)just pointing out your error about coon hunting as someone else has done above.
Call Me Wesley
(38,187 posts)Go Vols
(5,902 posts)Like I said above,I coon hunted for over 30 years all over the South and never heard it to mean what the OP said.
But I have never hunted in New York City where your link clearly shows it means otherwise there.
kentuck
(111,103 posts)A good coon dog was worth a lot of money. He would go out in one direction for about a hundred yards and if he didn't tree, he would come back and touch base. Then he would go out in another direction. Then, when he treed a raccoon, his bark would be strong and very loud. I never thought of it in racist terms but maybe I was just naive?
lumpy
(13,704 posts)And he wasn't referring to racoons. The man left the South and spent enough years out of the South to realize that most people didn't appreciate hearing the word 'coon' in reference to blacks. He grew to realize how demeaning it is to use such terms.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)I am not a hunter (used to bird hunt some) but scent hounds of all stripes from dachshunds to bloodhounds fascinate me. I have a beagle. But there is something about Blueticks that I just can't take my eyes off them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetick_Coonhound
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,330 posts)He got it from the shelter so he didn't know anything about her or the breed.
She's a great dog and he hit the shelter jack-pot. She appears to be full bred.
He WAS a little embarrassed at the breed name when people would ask her breed. Living in a diversified Chicago neighborhood, he felt a little apprehensive about using that word "coon"....
That was until he kept having older African American men come up to him on the street saying "That's a Tree Walking Coon Hound!, awesome dog!" etc. etc. It seems the older AA men who grew up hunting in the south knew the name.
jdadd
(1,314 posts)Hassin Bin Sober
(26,330 posts)clue. Black have been referred to as coons for as long as I can remember. Just because you haven't heard of term used racistly doesn't mean it's not true!!!!???? I don't believe you about coon hunting and 30 years, virgin ears. Bullshit!!!!!
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)what you believe about me hunting.BTW,if you are so inclined you can search my post and see that I have posted similar before and also spoke of pet coons I had as a kid that I got while hunting.
shouldn't. right and nuff said.
ladjf
(17,320 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)Electric Monk
(13,869 posts)This was with a google image search for: coon hunting funny
?
oh, and this http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/01/1079438/-Coon-hunting-slave-catchers-and-vigilantes
heaven05
(18,124 posts)classic amerikkkan culture. geez
moondust
(19,993 posts)Anderson was near his truck in the parking lot at the Metro Inn in Jackson, Mississippi, at 5 am on June 26, according to prosecutors.[1] The two vehicles pulled off the freeway and into the motel parking lot.[1][6] According to an attorney representing one of the group, they assumed that Anderson was trying to steal a vehicle because they saw him trying to break into a vehicle. The vehicle was Anderson's own; he was trying to break in because he had lost his keys.[4] The group repeatedly beat Anderson and robbed him, the district attorney said, citing reports from witnesses. Video from a motel security camera does not show any beating occurring but instead shows the perpetrators entering and leaving the frame of the video.[1][5] One witness reported that one of the perpetrators yelled white power when returning to his truck after the beating.[1]
According to Rice, the Jeep drove off, driven by William Montgomery[7] and the green pickup, driven by Dedmon, ran over Anderson, killing him. It left the scene at a high speed.[1][2][5]
After leaving the scene, Dedmon boasted about beating and running Anderson over, while using racial slurs, saying[1][5] "I ran that nigger over" to the accomplices in the other Jeep.[5][8] Law enforcement officials indicated that Dedmon repeated that statement with the racial slur in subsequent conversations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Craig_Anderson
lumpy
(13,704 posts)culture. My brother spent 2 years in Alabama on a job. He returned home tainted with racist remarks against blacks. Our family was astounded that this person was left with such a racist attitude. I don't know if he regretted his attitude, he and his family left the West coast to settle in Florida of all places.
moondust
(19,993 posts)During the Carter administration. I was in a university town and worked with and met a lot of liberals/Democrats (my boss later filled a top post in the Clinton admin). I've never made so many friends in such a short period. Not at all racist, although the social company I was in was not very mixed as seems to be common in the "dual culture" South. I left there with great memories and some hope that the South was "coming around."
I'm sure it largely depends on what kind of social situation one finds oneself in, as well as one's prior sociopolitical leanings and how young and impressionable one is at the time.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)I wish it was history, but it is not
Call Me Wesley
(38,187 posts)So I guess denial is futile. It's not about the furry critters.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)Response to graywarrior (Reply #21)
freshwest This message was self-deleted by its author.
hay rick
(7,624 posts)Many years ago I worked with a man who loved to hunt with "coon hounds." He was a semi-illiterate fifth grade dropout from Tennessee. He asked me to write a letter for him to order a coon-hunting puppy from a magazine devoted to coon hounds and coon hunting.
We were in southern California. He would take his hunting dogs out at night. One time his dogs treed a bobcat and he brought the cat around in a cage to show us the next day.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)heaven05
(18,124 posts)he did. Totally ignored and covered up with that 'goon' bullshit lie used by many on this site. But the verdict was correct. To a lot of trolls and DUers. Sad. No clue.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)It went from 'coons' to 'punks,' with the better audio copies made available.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)So will the Feds in a Civil Rights case.
The South is FAMOUS for manipulating evidence to fit the narrative that there is no evidence of racism.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)lumpy
(13,704 posts)heard "fucking coons" on the tape.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)50 times that day, to now, multiple times, all the different EQs.
He says 'punks.'
heaven05
(18,124 posts)going on since Harriet Tubman was helping slaves escape. Still using that cover term huh. Doesn't surprise me. Amerikkka. geez
libodem
(19,288 posts)Sanitized language makes everyone believe this is post-racial America. It's still out there, folks.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)I would hope he called the police if he heard someone contemplating murdering black people.
I have had the displeasure of hearing racial slurs many times. I do not recall a single time hearing white-on-black racists use "co*n" as a slur. There is the big one, and there is one that starts with a "J" sound I heard a number of times. It's a pretty ancient slur.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)The N word was included in the rah rah rah-ing
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)graywarrior
(59,440 posts)And I doubt the cops would have done anything. Small town.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)I have definitely heard the word cook used as a racial slur. But I have heard it much more often as a short form for racoon. And I have only heard the term coon hunting as literally meaning the hunting of raccoons. I had a grand uncle who coon hunted a lot. He had coon dogs and lights he wore on his head, etc. Definitely from a different generation.
But the question your post raises is regarding the etymology of the racial slur coon. Did it come from slavemasters using their coon dogs for tracking runnaway slaves? It certainly makes sense.
HipChick
(25,485 posts)Hell...in that part of the world, they prob join in
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)HipChick
(25,485 posts)that cannot even relate ..
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)I'm pretty sure the reason I can't relate to that is because, despite all the racism that does exist, that kind of scenario is now thankfully rare.
I think this story is race-baiting glurge. I don't buy someone heard a group of people discussing setting out to murder black people and did nothing about it put pass along a horrified story. I'd call the cops. I don't know anyone who wouldn't call the cops.
I'm calling bullshit.
HipChick
(25,485 posts)and some would say they caused their own murder..
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)Warpy
(111,276 posts)or unless you're calling a fellow DUer a pejorative.
ileus
(15,396 posts)At our peak we had 12 hounds, you'd take 4 out each night and rotated them to keep em' fresh.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)I'm Black, and I don't have a striped tail or claws or fur on my body. The term "coon" makes no sense. But then again, these same people who invented and/or regularly use that term don't exactly come off as the sharpest tools in the shed.
mwrguy
(3,245 posts)Shit goes both ways.
ileus
(15,396 posts)Heddi
(18,312 posts)for some bullshit reason
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At Sun Jul 14, 2013, 04:46 PM an alert was sent on the following post:
WARNING: May offend some. It's called Coon Hunting
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023255933
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ALERTER'S COMMENTS:
Offensive, derogatory name for a person of color - bigoted hate speech - DU is becoming over run with racist posts.
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Why is everything posted questioned with such animosity around here? Tough shit if that poster doesn't believe me. Mr G told me when he was in the Navy in the 60's, that was a common past time in the south.
malokvale77
(4,879 posts)That was as recent as 1998. It brought about the hate crimes law here.
And, yes they still use that term today right here in Texas.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)mstinamotorcity2
(1,451 posts)that people of color haven't heard already. No offense taken.
Lunacee_2013
(529 posts)And, even though I'm white, I threw such a fit about it that the person who used it never said it in front of me again. Why some posters think you made up that story kinda puzzles me. Maybe it's because I live in the south, but I thought everyone knew about this slur, and it's no big secret that black people don't really trust the cops, especially southern ones. Why should they? I can't even begin to count how many news stories I've heard about cops abusing someone after profiling them based on their skin color.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)I couldn't believe it when she turned the conversation to the n*****s and how the whites knew how to keep them in their place. That took place in the mid 90s. I was shocked, told her I was from the north and didn't think that way and walked out. Unbelievable.
reusrename
(1,716 posts)There was a big display set up in the middle of the lobby with all sorts of stuffed wildlife with little plaques: "possum" "quail" "gator" and such. It was a rather large exhibit so it took them several minutes to notice that over in one corner of the case there was a stuffed human head with "coon" on the plaque next to it. They left the event and were too sick to eat that night.