<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div>"<span class="gmail-il">Coon</span> is a racial slur, there is no other use of the word."<br><br></div><div>That's simply false and takes next to no time to prove as much.<br><br><a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/coon">http://www.dictionary.com/browse/coon</a><br><br><div class="gmail-def-list">
<section class="gmail-def-pbk gmail-ce-spot">
<header class="gmail-luna-data-header">
<span class="gmail-dbox-pg"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">noun</span> </span></span> </header>
<div class="gmail-def-set">
<span class="gmail-def-number"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">1.</span> </span></span>
<div class="gmail-def-content">
<a class="gmail-dbox-xref gmail-dbox-roman" href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/raccoon">raccoon</a><span>. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-def-set">
<span class="gmail-def-number"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">2.</span> </span></span>
<div class="gmail-def-content">
<span class="gmail-dbox-italic"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Slang:</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Extremely</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">Disparaging</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">and</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Offensive.</span> </span></span><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">a</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">contemptuous</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">term</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">used</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">to</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">refer</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">to</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">a</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">black</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">person.</span> </span></div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-def-set">
<span class="gmail-def-number"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">3.</span> </span></span>
<div class="gmail-def-content"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">a</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">rustic</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">or</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">undignified</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">person.</span> </span></div>
</div>
</section>
</div><br>Word Origin and History for <span class="gmail-u-headword"><span class="gmail-js-headword">coon</span></span> <div class="gmail-source-box">
<div class="gmail-source-data">
<div class="gmail-def-list">
<span class="gmail-dbox-italic"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">n.</span> </span></span> <section class="gmail-def-pbk">
<div class="gmail-def-set">
<p><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">short</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">for</span> </span><a class="gmail-dbox-xref" href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/raccoon">raccoon</a><span>, <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">1742,</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">American</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">English.</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">It</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">was</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">nickname</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">of</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Whig</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Party</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">members</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">in</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">U.S.</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">c.1848-60,</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">as</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">raccoon</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">was</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">party's</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">symbol,</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">and</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">it</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">also</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">had</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">associations</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">with</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">frontiersmen</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">(who</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">stereotypically</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">wore</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">raccoon-skin</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">caps),</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">which</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">probably</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">ultimately</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">was</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">source</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">of</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">Whig</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">Party</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">sense</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">(the</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">party's</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">1840</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">campaign</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">was</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">built</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">on</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">a</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">false</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">image</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">of</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">wealthy</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">William</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Henry</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Harrison</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">as</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">a</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">rustic</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">frontiersman).</span> </span><br><br><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">The</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">insulting</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">U.S.</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">meaning</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">"black</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">person"</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">was</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">in</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">use</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">by</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">1837,</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">said</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">to</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">be</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">ultimately</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">from</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Portuguese</span> </span><span class="gmail-dbox-italic"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">barracoos</span> </span></span><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">"building</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">constructed</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">to</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">hold</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">slaves</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">for</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">sale."</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">No</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">doubt</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">boosted</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">by</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">enormously</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">popular</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">blackface</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">minstrel</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">act</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">"Zip</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Coon"</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">(George</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">Washington</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Dixon)</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">which</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">debuted</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">in</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">New</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">York</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">City</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">in</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">1834.</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">But</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">it</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">is</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">perhaps</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">older</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">(one</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">of</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">lead</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">characters</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">in</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">1767</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">colonial</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">comic</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">opera</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">"The</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">Disappointment"</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">is</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">a</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">black</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">man</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">named</span> </span><span class="gmail-dbox-italic"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Raccoon</span></span></span><span>). </span><span class="gmail-dbox-italic"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">Coon's</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">age</span> </span></span><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">is</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">1843,</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">American</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link gmail-oneClick-available">English,</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">probably</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">an</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">alteration</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">of</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">British</span> </span><span class="gmail-dbox-italic"><span><span class="gmail-oneClick-link">a</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">crow's</span> <span class="gmail-oneClick-link">age</span></span></span><span>. </span></p>
</div>
</section>
</div>
</div> </div></div><div><br>The word coon has long been used as a short to
raccoon. As someone who grew up in a rural area where raccoons regularly
killed chickens, ate pet food, and got into people's things I assure
you it was in common usage. We also shortened coyote to coyot.<br><br></div>Outside that... <br><br></div>* Coon Mountain: <a href="http://adirondacklandtrust.org/Explore/Coon-Mountain">http://adirondacklandtrust.org/Explore/Coon-Mountain</a><br></div><div>* Coon Mountain crater: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Crater">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Crater</a> <br></div>* Coon Creek: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_Creek">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_Creek</a><br></div>* Coon Rapids: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_Rapids,_Minnesota">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_Rapids,_Minnesota</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_Rapids,_Iowa">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_Rapids,_Iowa</a><br></div><div>* coonhound: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coonhound">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coonhound</a><br></div><div>* coon hunting: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_hunting">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_hunting</a><br></div><div>* The Coon: A South Park character: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coon">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coon</a><br></div><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:52 AM, Chris Duesing <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:chris.duesing@gmail.com" target="_blank">chris.duesing@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">I can't believe this "discussion" is happening. Coon is a racial slur, there is no other use of the word. The fact that a bunch of white Europeans are pointing out that the dozen people involved in this thread aren't offended simply shows the lack of diversity in the mailing list. The "oh I'm butthurt because other people get offended by things" is fucking ridiculous. It is a racial slur, period. If this isn't a library only intended to be used by racist fucks then rename it.</div><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 10:28 AM, nx <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:nx@nu-ex.com" target="_blank">nx@nu-ex.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">For what it's worth, the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of this thread was "that is a racist slur". I've also never heard anyone call a raccoon a coon.<br><br>The news that cowboy was named for "cowboys kill apaches" is disappointing.</div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div class="m_6649094617833958522h5"><div dir="ltr">On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:22 AM Fred Hebert <<a href="mailto:mononcqc@ferd.ca" target="_blank">mononcqc@ferd.ca</a>> wrote:<br></div></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div class="m_6649094617833958522h5"><div dir="ltr"><div>What I'm saying is that it does not matter how I interpret things. I asked and the author said publicly it was a raccoon. I'm okay with that explanation and I'm ready to believe it.<br></div><div><br></div><div>My point is that other people won't ask the author, won't know who he is, and will pick an interpretation and stick with it. They won't need the context, they won't need anything. They'll just do it. The name can be interpreted in a racist way, and so it's pretty much guaranteed that it will be eventually interpreted that way. The author is free to go ahead and keep the name, and the users and
onlookers will be free to read whatever they want in that name.</div><div><br></div><div>That is 100% my point.<br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:17 AM, Krzysztof Jurewicz <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:krzysztof.jurewicz@gmail.com" target="_blank">krzysztof.jurewicz@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><span>Fred Hebert writes:<br>
<br>
> Anyone is of course free to name their software whatever they want. Picking<br>
> a racist name is however never going to be consequences-free as this e-mail<br>
> thread first shows on the first day of release, and adoption figures may<br>
> also reflect it.<br>
<br>
</span>Merriam-Webster online dictionary (naming itself as “America’s most-trusted online dictionary”) says that there two meanings of “coon”:<br>
<br>
⒈ raccoon;<br>
⒉ offensive — used as an insulting and contemptuous term for a black person.<br>
<br>
I presume that context matters. What makes you think that in this context this word means ⒉? Wikipedia in the article about raccoon says that is also known coloquially as “coon”, so I guess this is not a very uncommon usage.<br>
<br>
Or are you saying that non-racist usages of words that have also racist meanings should be eventually abandoned?<br>
<br>
(I’m not a native speaker, so bear with my eventual ignorance).<br>
</blockquote></div><br></div></div></div><span>
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