To then assume that everyone "knows" the term is a negative one when it's sphere of influence is a few small niches of the internet is being dishonest.
Dog-whistle politics is political messaging employing coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has an additional, different or more specific resonance for a targeted subgroup.
I have very little faith that sickbeard didn't know full well that he was employing a dog whistle when he dropped "SJW" into the thread.
>The reclamation of the term has spread to people who have never had it used upon them, and as a result, it is seen by many social justice advocates as a legitimate and accepted label for people who promote social justice. This has, in many circles (for example, Tumblr), heavily mitigated its pejoration, and consequently, heavily increased its positive usage by SJWs themselves
Okay, actually this is boring. You don't care and have already convinced yourself - abandoning the principle of charity. So we'll leave it at this I guess.
Riiiight. So because the n-word and the f-word have been reclaimed by their communities, I shouldn't assume that folks not in those communities aren't still using the term in a derogatory fashion?
Please.
Go back and read the original post. SJW was not being used with a positive connotation in context, and to suggest otherwise is just being willfully stubborn simply to make a point.
Are you really comparing "nigger" to "SJW"? One started off as derogatory and still is except within it's own community. The other started off as positive and became derogatory only within a few, niche communities. A more apples to apples comparison would be "Tea Partier". It became a political slur to call someone a "Tea Partier". Do you not think people use "Tea Partier" without the negative connotation when referring to someone in the Tea Party?
A Google search for `site:news.ycombinator.com sickbeard + SJW` only results in this comment thread. It was their first usage of the word on this site. Which means they have no historical basis to judge how they used the word. They even gave you the description: "To me it it means you believe in something and you're going to stand up for it."
I did not read it with a negative connotation, otherwise I would not have responded to you.
Which is what makes it a dog whistle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-whistle_politics
Dog-whistle politics is political messaging employing coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has an additional, different or more specific resonance for a targeted subgroup.
I have very little faith that sickbeard didn't know full well that he was employing a dog whistle when he dropped "SJW" into the thread.