This is a very brief message to my Houston community. I know that the words used to describe various minorities have racially tinged, oppressive pasts that the word Cracker doesn't. When white politicians say wetbacks, when Aryan Supremacists says n****r, so on and so forth, there's an oppressive history behind those words meant to intimidate and suppress communities of ethnic minorities as well as degrade them.
But guess what? I don't want to be called Cracker, and I don't appreciate it when you do so. I'm proud of my heritage and have no issue with the color of my skin or the accomplishments of my ancestors over the long course of time. I've got no problem extolling the virtues of English culture, parliamentary systems that evolved into republican systems, the many writers of English narratives, the technological accomplishments of science in the west and the virtues handed down over time by culture. It's not perfect, I acknowledge that, but nobody's culture is.
At it stands, we live in America got dangit, and I love going to listen to hip hop. I know I'm the only white person there, I'm already aware of that. But I'm enjoying myself, having a good time, talking to people, when somebody has to bring attention to my skin color by referring to me as a Cracker. This is the second time now. I get it, the word doesn't have the historical weight of some of these other terms, but I don't want to be called that. It's offensive. It reduces me to my appearance, and that's just stupid.