A “thug” (1810) is someone who is violent with little regard for the law. Like “savage” and “terrorist”, it has become highly racialized, especially since 2009.

Think like a White racist:

• savages = Native American men;
• terrorists = Muslim men;
• thugs = Black American men.

White Americans use these words to stereotype the men of an out-group as dangerous and naturally violent, as lacking morals and empathy. Whites thenuse that as an excuse to act in just that way towards them: violent, no empathy, no morals. Drones, police brutality, genocide.

You can see how racialized the word “thug” has become in 2015. Here is how many web pages use the following phrases according to Google:

• 497,000 “black thugs”
• 88,700 “Latino thugs” + “Hispanic thugs”
• 87,100 “white thugs”
• 8,520 “Asian thugs”

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Source: abagond.wordpress.com