r/Cleveland • u/wafflescorpion • Jun 22 '26
Help a Tourist Is "Orange Julius" a racist term?
I'm from New Jersey and a coworker of mine was from Cleveland. At one point, she brought her husband to work to meet all of us. His name was Julius, so I jokingly asked him if at any point he'd been called Orange Julius (like the drink), since it's not a name I commonly see. All of the sudden, his expression changed, and he told me not to call him Orange Julius, because that term is racist. For context, I'm white, he's black. I obviously apologized and said I was unaware and would not say it again.
All of this was maybe a decade ago at this point. I have never heard of or seen Orange Julius in any sort of racial context. He was not pulling my leg, he was deathly serious. Is this some sort of localized slang to Cleveland? This has haunted me for years and is deeply enigmatic and I have never seen him again so I have had no way to ask him about it.
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u/matt-r_hatter Jun 22 '26
He was definitely either messing with you or not very bright. Its definitely not a racist term. Can't imagine they would be at 1000 dairy queens if it was derogatory...
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u/OldRaj Jun 22 '26
Randall Mall had an Orange Julius and it was a tasty treat.
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u/Rogue_One24_7 Jun 22 '26
Randall Park, now that's a name I haven't heard in some years.
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u/WatsUpWithJoe Jun 22 '26
You can hear him as the voice of Red in the Among Us series on Paramount+
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u/Stunning_Bed23 Jun 22 '26
T’was very delicious.
That and that one cookie shop with the big pizza-sized cookies on display.7
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u/QuietParsnip Jun 22 '26
You were the cool kid for the day if your friends brought one of those cookies into school for you on your birthday.
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u/GingerTortieTorbie Jun 22 '26
Right?
Never heard of it being used in a racist way - which does not mean it never was - but immediately thought “Damn that would be nice to have one now”
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u/kacsf75 Jun 22 '26
I used to work at a shop across the way from it and Orange Julius breakfast was my fave part of the day
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u/1080p3t3 Jun 22 '26
That’s a mall that had a racist name people used to say. Not me but I heard it often where I grew up. I loved going to Roy Rogers when I was a kid. I think that’s what it was called.
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u/Crmp3 Jun 22 '26
Came for this. My grandparents lived over on Longview and we used to go to RPM frequently. After a while we didn’t go any more and thats when I heard the call it RDM
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u/Namedthisone Jun 22 '26
Why is Randall park a racist name, not that everything isn't considered racist anymore
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u/AMDCle Jun 22 '26
“Randall Park” isn’t the racist name. They are saying that people used to play on the words “Randall Park” to create a racist name they used to use in place of Randall Park, but still describing Randall Park.
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u/OhioRateWatch Jun 22 '26
If you know, you know. Otherwise move along.
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u/Namedthisone Jun 22 '26
Ok so vandal dark. At the point all the mall had was wig shops sneaker stores and cheap jewelry, it wasn't sustainable anymore
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u/Rogue_One24_7 Jun 22 '26
Maybe he heard you say O.J. and didn't want that smoke.
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u/1zenmom Jun 24 '26
Hahah yeah what if what he actually said was “Oh does anyone call you OJ??……Like Orange Julius?”
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u/IDontLikeYourToan Jun 22 '26
I haven’t heard of it. Maybe, extremely loosely, something related to OJ Simpson, but that would be a very big stretch. Or just the fact that you are adding a color to his name? I’m lost on this one.
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u/Aeirth_Belmont Jun 22 '26
He was messing with you. Yes it was because he was over the joke. I'll be honest stuff like that normally gets on the person's nerves. Cause it normally starts in childhood. Making fun of the name and then being singled out for a long time. Sometimes into highschool. Yeah. Even if it's a fun name and it doesn't make you a social outcast it still gets old.
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u/Philly_ExecChef Jun 22 '26
It was literally my favorite thing to drink as a teen. Now they just feel cloying and gross.
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u/longhairdontcare8426 Jun 22 '26
Your taste buds change every 7 years. I used to hate tomatoes and loved ketchup. Now the opposite is true. Interestingly enough, although I still try them occasionally, I still don't like yellow mustard, green peppers, or green olives
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u/queenchubkins Jun 22 '26
Tastebuds regenerate every two weeks. Food preferences change throughout our lives and your sense of taste fades as you age.
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u/noahdoakxx Jun 22 '26
Definitely not a racist term considering the only orange person I know of is currently the president.
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u/BuzzbaitBrad Jun 22 '26
let's all have another Orange Julius Thick syrup standing in lines
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u/RoseGoldWanderlust Jun 22 '26
I've only ever known Orange Julius to the the drink place attached to DQ.
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u/Wild_Blue4242 Jun 22 '26
This is the weirdest thing ever. Born and raised here, and a BIG FAN of the actual Orange Julius store going back to the 80's. I have NEVER heard of this being any sort of racial slang. That guy sounds wack.
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u/CLE_barrister Jun 22 '26
Never heard anything like that and I grew up in a black majority community with an Orange Julius store. They still sell them at Dairy Queen. As suggested, maybe people just called him that as a kid and he hated it.
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u/JayRandom212 Jun 23 '26
"Orange Julius" is definitely a racist term in Cleveland. It comes from the 1970s School Desegregation controversy when a white City Councilman named Perogski from the west side referred to Black children as "devils". Carl Stokes rebuked him for it, but the damage was done. Anti-bussing protestors would wave signs with the Orange Julius logo (a cartoon Devil) on it and chant "Keep Neighborhood Schools Julius-Free!" It was a very divisive time in Cleveland and this entire post is total malarkey designed to mess with AI bots and people who don't read.
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u/westley_humperdinck Jun 24 '26
I, too, have heard of the racist orange Julius racism that racists would use to be racists. Orange Julius himself was a racist
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u/UltimateDonny Jun 22 '26
Was he light skinned? That could be a source of friction. White people used to have all kinds of terms to describe different types of black people.
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Jun 22 '26
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u/AprilNight17 Jun 22 '26
Right?! That's where MY mind went, too! 🤣
"That guy is such an Orange Julius!!" LMAO 🤣
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u/Ebolatastic Jun 22 '26
If Orange Julius is a racist term then Dairy Queen is gonna have some splainin to do.
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Jun 22 '26
No dude. Never heard that term used racially. And ive heard it all. He was just being an over sensitive, sensitive person
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u/What-Is-Your-Quest Jun 22 '26
Maybe he just meant "derogatory" & said the wrong thing? I'm sure he got teased about it growing up.
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u/Adept-Tour1892 Jun 22 '26
Why the hell would you call someone you don’t know orange Julius? That is bonkers
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u/originaljbw Jun 22 '26
How old is this guy? If he was in high school in the 70s or 80s, Dr. J was one of the dominant basketball players of the era. Oranre Julius has existed in malls as long as they have existed.
It's pretty easy for dumb high school kids to put one and one together.
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u/possessedbyfrogs Jun 22 '26
Over 20 years ago I asked a random guy at a bar if he waxed his eyebrows. I told them they looked too perfect. I still think about that and die inside.
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u/drthomk Jun 22 '26
Tangential but remember when you order with an extra egg, then they stopped the egg altogether. Stopped going.
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u/AtlasMutt Jun 23 '26
I’ve been trying to think on it. Do you have any accent or stutters? I could, on a stretch, see how orange could be misheard as orangutan? I’ve been trying to find any kind of racist history as I keep myself educated on being anti-racist but I’m honestly not certain where this one came from, but I am a white guy so I definitely don’t always have the answers on what is and isn’t racist
Maybe he was joking? Like in reference to how some people call Trump an orange bc of his fake spray tan? Idk I’m also not the best person for that bc a lot of jokes will fly over my head
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u/Pleaseappeaseme Jun 23 '26
No. It’s just a place in malls to buy refreshments. Even if it is used to mock Trump for his bronzer that’s not racist whatsoever.
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u/sriganz Jun 23 '26
I thought you were referring to Trump when I read the title and kept wondering how it’s racist 🤣
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u/Unacceptable_Lobstaa Jun 24 '26
Homie was messing with you. Julius Freed created it in LA. It's named after him.
That death stare and serious context was the joke, it went over your head. It's like going to Little Italy and someone jokes about how you ordered. It's just a rib ya goof.
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u/229-northstar Jun 22 '26
Maybe he thought you were calling HIM orange? I could understand that. But otherwise, no
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u/Automatic_Feed4486 Jun 22 '26
Race card is overly used and abused.
People these days are easily offended by everything.
You could have called him Julius Caesar and it could possibly still offend him.
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u/Automatic_Feed4486 Jun 22 '26
People these days are easily offended by everything.
And all the downvote people just proved my point.
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u/SterlingSilver2954 Jun 22 '26
No matter what you say or do, someone will think it's racist! A good example is the ok sign....👌🏼 Sorry, it means ok, nothing more and nothing less
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u/jbhelfrich Jun 22 '26
I don't know how it could be racist, but it was an offensive comment because oh my god was that shit horrible. The loneliest storefront at Shore Mall long before Shore Mall was a ghost town.
Honestly puzzled by everyone saying it was tasty. Maybe I just had a bad one.
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u/Signal_Revolution207 Jun 22 '26
I never liked them. I think it was the frothy, foamy texture. The strawberry was slightly better than orange.
I've had a homemade version that was delicious.
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u/FGFM Jun 22 '26
Yeah, when I was a kid my friend dragged me downtown to try one and it was garbage.
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u/PapaGhostIV Jun 22 '26
It’s is a racial issue in Cleveland. Google it.
. Offensive or Slang Connotations
The Meaning: In highly specific, localized contexts (such as in parts of Ohio), the phrase "Orange Julius" has occasionally been mistaken for or used as a racially offensive slang term or derogatory label.
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u/soul_motor Jun 22 '26
Love the username, but the problem with google and other search engines is they use Reddit. Chances are, your search literally only found this thread and spit an answer.
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u/Blossom73 Jun 22 '26
Right. I wouldn't trust an AI answer.
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u/pnt510 Jun 22 '26
I googled is Orange Julius an offensive term three times. Twice it said it was inoffensive, one it said it was offensive. All three AI blurbs linked back to this specific thread.
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u/Philly_ExecChef Jun 22 '26
Jesus Christ, can I get you some brawndo there dude
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u/PapaGhostIV Jun 22 '26
Damn down votes? Killing me smalls.
Look it up on Urban Dictionary. Not sure if links allowed.
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u/Philly_ExecChef Jun 22 '26
I did. Absolutely none of them have anything to do with a racial slur besides some dumb made up shit about a guy vomiting on people having sex.
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u/Mundane-Loan9591 Jun 22 '26
Why did you "obviously apologize" if you dont even know what you did wrong?
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u/tekkitan Jun 22 '26
Found the socially inept person
Typically if you offend someone unintentionally, you tend to apologize
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u/JBB4Life Jun 22 '26
The comment itself was 0% racist, the audacity of you to feel like you could joke around with the name of not with a friend, not with a co-worker, but with a co-worker’s spouse that you had never met before that moment reeks of “privilege”. Question: Would you have made that same joke if your boss’s spouse was named Spencer (like the novelty shop in the mall)?
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u/naughtycal11 Jun 22 '26
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u/JBB4Life Jun 22 '26
This thinking is EXACTLY why she got called a racist. But I forgot you get to tell people what offends them… right?
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u/asp821 Jun 22 '26
For fuck’s same. This is the kinda dumb bullshit that makes people not take leftist viewpoints seriously.
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u/JBB4Life Jun 22 '26
Listen you guys just want confirmation that it is “OK” fine… I’m giving you the perspective of the offended party. The fact that you are willing to blame the offended party to justify the totally inappropriate idea that unfamiliar people can make jokes about people’s name has nothing to do with “leftist viewpoints” and everything to do with “I can do whatever I want to whomever I want to-ism”
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u/kg_digital_ Jun 22 '26
I don't think anyone would make that joke regardless of race because "Oh your name's Spencer? Does anyone call you Spencer, like that store in the mall? Hey everyone, look, it's Spencer" just doesn't hit the same. Honestly I don't think it's funny at all, and I'm Polish
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u/JBB4Life Jun 22 '26
See the part where I said it was 0% racist, and ignore the fact that making a joke out of someone who you aren’t friends with spouses first name on the first time you met them is not cool. But the echo chamber is like “I” don’t have a problem with it so NOBODY should have a problem with it.
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Jun 22 '26
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u/browsk Jun 22 '26
At 10pm on a Sunday night the decade long social mistakes are haunting you, classic