Fun with Urban Dictionary

So the Canadian press (you too will be surprised that you've never heard of such newspapers as "The Star" and "The National Post") has landed on a whopper of a story: whitefolks have been using the word "Canadian" as code for blackfolk.

The evidence? This email from a district attorney in Texas:

"He convicted Mr. Sosa of a double intoxication manslaughter, got a weak jury to give him 12 years in each, and then convinced Judge Wallace to stack the sentences," Harris County assistant district attorney Mike Trent wrote in an office-wide memo. Then came the odd part: "He overcame a subversively good defence by Matt Hennessey that had some Canadians on the jury feeling sorry for the defendant and forced them to do the right thing."

Then came the headlines:

The new code word for black: 'Canadian'

When is a Canadian not a Canadian?

Racists using code word `Canadian' as substitute for N-word

So, if one is to believe the fourth definition provided on Urban Dictionary, then this really is some racist large-scale phenomena.

The strange thing behind all this, though, is that the DA involved now insists that he would never send out such an epithet to an email list of 200 lawyers. I kind of buy this argument. He insists he thought they were actually Canadian, and is quoted saying (to the Houson Chronicle):

"Do you guys think I'm crazy?" Trent wrote recently in response to a blog post. "Am I insanely stupid enough to send a racial slur to 250 LAWYERS? Litigious, complaint-ready lawyers, some of whom are African-American?? That is just absurd."

Of course, one might argue that it's also absurd to believe Canadians were serving on a Texas jury.

Trent's response: "All that is required to serve on a jury in Harris County is that you have a TDL (Texas Driver's License) and reside in the county."

So my new thought on the matter is that:
1) Racists are using Canadian in other circles
2) The DA is actually making fun of Canadians,vand learned to do so because he has racist friends and he never picked up on the joke