@Pizzagirl, what do you mean by “thug”?
@Pizzagirl, so what do you mean when you say someone is acting like a “thug?” Surely, you realize that “thug” is a code word (or interpreted as that by many) for an incredibly repugnant term sometimes used for minorities.
Hmmm…I can feel your anger…it makes you stronger…makes you focused…makes you powerful…
Thug means a not-too-bright petty criminal who throws around his weight to intimidate others, of course. A thug can be of any color / ethnicity - it has nothing to do with what you’re hinting at. Just because a few people have decreed it’s a new code word for a certain race doesn’t actually make it so.
thug
THəɡ/
noun
1.a violent person, especially a criminal.
synonyms: ruffian, hooligan, vandal, hoodlum, gangster, villain, criminal;
While in the wake of the Ferguson riots I learned that in some communities (and by this I don’t mean simply geographic communities) the word thug has taken on a racial subtext many of us use the word according to its dictionary definition without reference to race.
If you ever visit some of the more uncivil parts of the internet (such as the comments section on any news article), it becomes clear pretty quickly that an enormous number of vile people have adopted its use as a euphemism or proxy in the exact way that @BlueRoses123 describes.
To clarify (post-edit window): I was in no way suggesting that Pizzagirl was using it in that fashion.
You realize, of course, that Yale is one of the largest non-profits on the face of the earth?
I really don’t care what a bunch of vile people do with that word. I don’t take my cue from them. I use it according to the appropriate dictionary definition and I’ll keep doing so.
@EarlVanDorn Taking a few cues from Archie Bunker?
@Pizzagirl obviously you’re free to use words as you see fit, but the word (and it’s usage) has been used to imply several things. That’s why the posters were asking. Of course you shouldn’t be lumped in with a group of posters that use the word with that intent (I would however argue some posters on CC should), but I think them asking for clarification was valid.
i don’t accept that a bunch of racist bubbas who are just itching to use the n word anyway get to redefine words.
I think we should stick with this meaning of thug: (Because languages should never evolve.) 
historical
a member of a religious organization of robbers and assassins in India. Devotees of the goddess Kali, the Thugs waylaid and strangled their victims, usually travelers, in a ritually prescribed manner. They were suppressed by the British in the 1830s.
I believe the cult in India was actually known as “thugee.”
Yes, thugee was shortened to thug as, say, the Middle English word “kynde” was shortened to kind or type.
Not culturally respectful for the British to suppress the thugees religious rituals.
Gee, what happened to the days when gay meant happy, thongs were something you wore on your feet in the summer, and rubbers were what you put on your shoes to keep them dry in the rain?
“Gee, what happened to the days when gay meant happy” – Nothing 
I really wish there was somewhere you could go to learn what words have become “code words” for vile racist expressions (you know, like golf and hard work).
Because really, it is not terribly persuasive for someone to “rebut” a point by saying that use of a word that has carried no pejorative racial connotation at any point in recent history is an indication of racism. If you want to defend the kids surrounding the car, or the kid at Yale yelling at the master, or the communications professor for that matter it would be far more persuasive to do so based on the content of their arguments rather than an attempt to make criticism of their tactics taboo.
Well, in my case, I wasn’t mentioning it to rebut anything. Certainly not a criticism of the tactics used by the protestors, since I agree that those have been largely ill-advised and counterproductive in the long run.
I was simply weighing in to vouch for the new connotation of the word, and make people aware that if they make a habit of using the word “thug” that there’s a risk of being misinterpreted that they might not have been aware of previously.
@pizzagirl, the thing is, have you talked to many African Americans about what they hear when they hear someone outside their community use the word “thug?” Unless you are part of that community, then be prepared if you use it to have people interpret what you are saying as pretty racist. You can argue all you want about the “real” meaning of the word: I am talking about how other people will hear it. http://www.wbur.org/npr/403362626/the-racially-charged-meaning-behind-the-word-thug