Talk:states' rights

RFC discussion: June 2011
Definitions inconsistent with part of speech. If it's a plural-only noun, how can it be 1. a singular belief and 2. an interjection or catchphrase? Equinox ◑ 15:40, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

"supposedly"
Is that POV or really true? Equinox ◑ 16:13, 11 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Seems like the "supposedly" could be removed and nothing would be lost. 98.170.164.88 22:35, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

RFV discussion: July–December 2023
Sense 2: racism, misogyny etc. The citation is very poor, since it says "[they] used states' rights arguments to restore a system of white supremacy [etc.]" so it's still really using states' rights in sense 1, but speaking about how that was perverted. It doesn't seem like a separate definition of the term. Equinox ◑ 21:01, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes, I would see this def like the spurious defs at pro-choice or something like that. Good job finding this! --Geographyinitiative (talk) 21:18, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
 * It wouldn't surprise me that there should be some doublespeak usage to support the challenged sense. DCDuring (talk) 21:38, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
 * "States' rights" as used nowadays in the US is a dog whistle term used to express opposition to civil rights legislation and often to deny that the South fought the Civil War to maintain slavery and white supremacy. You are right that this is not a definition per se, although this may merit a Usage Note; see . Benwing2 (talk) 22:30, 6 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Yeah, as it stands I would think this would be something to roll into either definition 1 (appending something like ", especially in reference to their right to enslave people before the Civil War, or to enact discriminatory policies") or a usage note, unless there are cites that more clearly literally do mean "racism, etc", e.g. if there were cites talking about Musk unbanning Nazis on Twitter "because states' rights trump [whatever]". - -sche (discuss) 01:18, 7 July 2023 (UTC)


 * Failed, but I revised definition 1 as suggested above (feel free to alternatively change to a usage note). - -sche (discuss) 20:19, 22 December 2023 (UTC)