Popular streamer HasanAbi has been suspended from Twitch (opens in new tab) for a week, which he claims was due to him using the word 'cracker' on-stream.
He was slapped with the ban shortly after ending his stream on December 13, during which he had debated a viewer on the use of the word to describe white people. The conversation was a continuation of an earlier stream, in which he defended its use.
"I've been called a cracker more times than every single one of you f*****g pasty little cracker bitches in my chat, okay?" HasanAbi said in response to a viewer who called it an 'umbrella hateful term' for white people. "I've been called a cracker a fuckload more than you, do you know why? Because I'm extremely online, okay?"
HasanAbi continued: "Recognise that the person calling you a fucking cracker is literally powerless, okay? Sorry, it's just the truth. The person calling you a fucking cracker is powerless. They're doing it as someone who's been historically oppressed blowing off steam. You can say that that's infantilising or whatever the fuck, but that's truly the reality. Because there is no historical or contemporary oppression tied to that word because there is no historical or contemporary oppression with being white."
Following his suspension, HasanAbi tweeted out (opens in new tab) to say "it is exactly what you think it is" and claimed that it was "for using the term 'cracker.'" His comments and subsequent ban have stirred controversy on the likes of Reddit and Twitter, dividing opinions on whether HasanAbi was in the right. YouTuber Kurtis Conner simply replied to HasanAbi's tweet with "bruhhhh," while industry analyst Daniel Ahmad said: "Kinda wild how Twitch responded faster to this absolute non-issue than the actual racism that POC streamers face on the platform."
Some thought the ban was more justified, however. "While I get that the c word itself isn't that bad of a racist/not racist slur, he clearly was not joking around with his usage of the word and the attitude that came with it," one Reddit user wrote (opens in new tab). "This all really could've been avoided." Another user (opens in new tab) called his ban "an absolutely hilarious conclusion to the last two and a half years of drama."
HasanAbi's suspension is for a week and for now, he says (opens in new tab) he's going to join newly-exclusive Ludwig (opens in new tab) over on YouTube, as well as appearing alongside Amouranth on Ethan Klein's channel.
