[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-153344-en":3,"doc-seo-153344-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},153344,962085570644,"Melati","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d",2,"Literature","Racial Colloquialisms 1 - 12 Common Words & Phrases with Racist Origins or Connotations","A guide to scrutinizing everyday English terms that carry racist histories or connotations. Each entry explains a phrase’s common usage, traces its etymology or historical context, and clarifies how seemingly neutral language can perpetuate exclusion, discrimination, or stereotypes. Examples include theater-related slang, legal clauses that limited voting rights after the Civil War, and derogatory terms associated with the Romani people and anti-Black disparagement. The material also highlights why modern claims of “ignorance” don’t erase harmful meaning.","12 Common Words & Phrases with Racist Origins or Connotations  \nSome seemingly innocuous terms in the English language have racist or otherwise problematic histories.  \nBy Brittany Wong  \nIncluding additions from [https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/culturally-offensive-phrases-you-should-use-at](https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/culturally-offensive-phrases-you-should-use-at)  \n\n| 1.\u003Cbr>“Peanut Gallery” | If second graders start to get chatty in their seats, the teacher might shout,“Quiet in the peanut gallery!” If someone is giving unsolicited advice in the comment section online or heckling in a theater, we might dismiss them as just complaints from the peanut gallery.\u003Cbr>It’s a colorful phrase―and one that journalist Jeremy Helligar pointed out in Reader’s Digest has “the fingerprints of Jim Crow and segregation” all over it.\u003Cbr>The “peanut gallery” was once used to refer to people—mostly Black people—who were sitting in the cheap seats in vaudeville theaters and would throw peanuts on stage if they didn’t like a performance rather than throwing tomatoes. (Yes, throwing foodstuff on stage was once a thing. The first noted reference to throwing tomatoes after a bad performance came in an 1883 New York Times article describing actor John Ritchie being pelted with tomatoes and rotten eggs by the audience.“[A] large tomato thrown from the gallery struck him square between the eyes and he fell to the stage floor just as several bad eggs dropped upon his head.” Tough crowd. )\u003Cbr>Some hold that “the peanut gallery” is more of a classist disparagement than anything else ―but others say there’s a racist implication.\u003Cbr>“The ‘peanut gallery’was the cheapest and worst part of the theater, and the only option for Black attendees,” the National Urban League said of the phrase in 2018.“No one wanted to sit in the peanut gallery and today, no one wants to hear from the peanut gallery.” |\n| --- | --- |\n| 2.“Grandfathered In”\u003Cbr>or“Grandfather Clause” | If a long-time customer is “grandfathered in,” it means they’re exempt from any new (typically more stringent) requirements or fees a company establishes. (For instance,“I’m grandfathered into a really sweet Hulu deal from a partnership they did a few months back with Spotify.”) A “grandfather clause” exempts certain people or groups from the requirements of a piece of legislation affecting their rights, privileges or practices.\u003Cbr>The phrase has a racially charged history: Its origins go back to post-Civil War attempts to undercut the voting power of newly free Black people by creating strict requirements for new voters, including literacy tests, that did not apply to the descendants of those who voted prior to (usually) 1867. On paper, these rules didn’t discriminate, but in practice, everybody understood how they would work: It was white people, by and large, who were“grandfathered in” to vote.\u003Cbr>“Because of the 15th Amendment, you can’t pass laws saying blacks can’t vote, which is what they wanted to do,” Eric Foner, a Columbia University historian, told NPR in 2013.“But the 15th Amendment allowed restrictions that were non-racial. This was pretty prima faciea way to allow whites to vote, and not blacks.” |\n| 3.\u003Cbr>“Gyp,” “Gypped,” | When we feel shortchanged, cheated or swindled, we might say we’re been “gypped” out of something. This one is racist because it’s tied to the term “gypsy,” an offensive term used to refer to the Romani people, who’ve long faced discrimination because of their darker skin and were even enslaved in some parts of Europe. |\n\n\n| “Jip” and\u003Cbr>“Jipped” | Sweeping laws against the Romani people were widespread in many European countries. For instance, in Britain, a 1530 law banned Romani people from entering the country and forced those already living there to leave within 16 days.\u003Cbr>“Fifteen years later, a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire declared ‘whoever kills a gypsy, will be guilty of no murder,’ leading to a killing spree so severe the empire was forced to issue a caveat ","cbCaisTPXiZ4JSZv","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisTPXiZ4JSZv","pdf",336583,6,1,3,"English","en",105,"# 12 Common Words & Phrases with Racist Origins or Connotations\n## “Peanut Gallery”\n## “Grandfathered In” - or “Grandfather Clause”\n## “Gyp” - “Gypped”\n## “Jip” - and “Jipped”\n## “Uppity”\n## “Articulate”","[{\"question\":\"Why is “peanut gallery” considered racially problematic?\",\"answer\":\"It historically referred to people—especially Black attendees—sitting in the cheapest theater seats, who could disrupt performances. The term’s associations with segregation and class-based disparagement contribute to its racist implication.\"},{\"question\":\"What does “grandfathered in” or “grandfather clause” mean, and why is it linked to racism?\",\"answer\":\"It describes exemption from new rules, often in laws or business requirements. Its origins relate to post–Civil War efforts to restrict newly freed Black people’s voting power while allowing white people—typically those who had voted earlier—to keep the vote through “grandfather” exemptions.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the term “uppity” function in racial discourse?\",\"answer\":\"It is used to disparage Black people who are seen as challenging social hierarchy, including accusations of being “haughty” or “elitist.” The article notes it has strong historical racial overtones and is meant to police a Black person’s perceived “place.”\"}]","Racial Colloquialisms 1 - 12 Common Words & Phrases with Racist Origins or Connotations | PDF",1787874037,5,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":29},"racial-colloquialisms-1-12-common-words-phrases-with-racist-origins-or-connotations","",{"@graph":37,"@context":85},[38,53,68],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,48,50],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/racial-colloquialisms-1-12-common-words-phrases-with-racist-origins-or-connotations/153344/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":42,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-05","2026-08-27",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Why is “peanut gallery” considered racially problematic?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It historically referred to people—especially Black attendees—sitting in the cheapest theater seats, who could disrupt performances. The term’s associations with segregation and class-based disparagement contribute to its racist implication.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What does “grandfathered in” or “grandfather clause” mean, and why is it linked to racism?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"It describes exemption from new rules, often in laws or business requirements. Its origins relate to post–Civil War efforts to restrict newly freed Black people’s voting power while allowing white people—typically those who had voted earlier—to keep the vote through “grandfather” exemptions.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"How does the term “uppity” function in racial discourse?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"It is used to disparage Black people who are seen as challenging social hierarchy, including accusations of being “haughty” or “elitist.” The article notes it has strong historical racial overtones and is meant to police a Black person’s perceived “place.”","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,100,104,108,112,117,122,127,130,134],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":30,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":113,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":129},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":131,"slug":133},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":30,"slug":137},19,"General","general"]