I just got up from conversation with a couple of older black men, that I said “well I got to go back to work and start cracking the whip.” And it occurred to me then that it was probably a really insensitive stupid thing to say.
Sadly, it hadn’t occurred to me until it’s already said.
So, the sleigh driver who wastaking his family for an hour-long ride was training the animal? It was also used to make recalcitrant or reluctant work animals perform better while working. You could call that training, I suppose, but it’s a bit of a stretch. It also wasn’t uncommon for race horses to be whipped to make them go faster. I don’t know if it still is, it’s been far too long since I bothered to check anything horse race related. But cracking the whip was used for a very long time to get animals to work. Also people, which is the problem.
Whatever the context, you’re comparing people to animals or slaves. Which is better?
I was talking about history, backed by common knowledge which can be easily corroborated, and not very much my opinion about those acts, except the last sentence.
Also, people are animals. Perhaps you could use that as a reason to treat animals better instead of as an excuse to treat people worse.
You’re fucking with me, right?
Sure I am. It’s not like the first child abuse case in America wasn’t fought using an animal cruelty law…
What, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck are you talking about? What does that have to do with anything even remotely related to this conversation?
Well, this all started when you displayed ignorance about animals, which I tried to correct. Then I just followed along with your meanderings. Now l, if you want to back up and explain how I’m wrong about whips being cracked at animals (and people) in the context of getting them to perform work instead of solely to train them, hence the term “cracking the whip” being a euphemism for getting back to work and not solely getting back to training, please do.
If you’d rather ignore the original conversation and instead talk about your reply, please inform me how my pointing out your ignorance of animal husbandry has any bearing on me comparing people to slaves, or how that would be out of context when discussing the phrase “cracking the whip.”
No seriously, you’re fucking with me, right?
The original conversation was about how it’s offensive to compare employees to animals or slaves, so the metaphor is offensive either way, because those are the two situations where one might “crack the whip” as a means of motivation.
Nothing I said touched on its offensiveness or lack thereof, merely the inaccuracies of your statements about the historical context. Of course, in your mind, that equates to me approving of or ignoring it.