I agree with timd, the word rice as it is described herein makes absolutely no sense. I do agree that it has nothing to do with the ethnic origin of the driver, but in its day it was reserved only for Hondas and other such cars that came from Japan as a play on the fact that Japan has a huge reputation for producing and consuming large quantities of rice, so the joke was that the car was a rice burner because with all the rice in Japan's diets, why not also fuel your car with the same thing? It was meant as a huge joke but then somebody got the bright idea that because a full blooded American could not possibly think a Japanese car was good looking or good performing (obviously they have not seen an Integra Type R lately) that they could then apply the term to anything that was not good looking or good performing, so in their eye any car that fit a category that did not appeal to their tastes was a rice burner which then turned to ricer and now we have "rice boy". I don't care how you word it, anything with the word rice in it that pertains to cars other than genuine Japanese cars of ANY make model and customization is meant as a slur to tell people that the car is slow and pitiful looking and fits the typical American stereotype of a Japanese car. We talk and pound on people all the time here about misrepresenting things with labels and then we turn around and incorrectly label people with the term "rice" as a desperate fumble to stab someone with an insult because "stupid looking, slow looking, ugly, etc." is not dramatic and painful enough. It is not enough to make someone bleed, but we always have to go for the kill. I for one may be a ricer to some because my car has a label that did not come from the factory, but if I am going to be stuck with that label, I wear that incorrectly termed rice badge with absolute pride because it means that I am an individual who chose to think for himself and not follow other people's thoughts on what they think I should spend my hard earned money on to make my car look good. My car goes fast enough to get me thrown in jail on any speed zone, I do not race the car, it is dependable to get me wherever I want to go with adequate planning, it gets good gas mileage and handles well, it is good looking, fun to drive and roomy. Who cares that I can't spin a donut or blow out my 300 dollar tires in 1.2 seconds (.5 seconds faster than a stock car of the same make at that and yes, I know, FWD cars can not spin donuts from dead stops, I am aware of this) at a busy intersection to prove that I am better than the minivan or the Yugo beside me? The car that has been built up to 700+ horsepower to be driven on the streets especially in rush hour is no more a waste of money, time, tires and gas than the person who chose to spend the money rebadging their car.
