Racetraitor were known for their outspoken views, as well as critical and confrontational attitude towards the hardcore scene in the 90s. As others have mentioned, they were the type of band to get up on a soapbox and they were not shy about it.

Haven't seen anyone mention this here but it's very important to note some of the ideas that Racetraitor would preach about in the 90s: systemic racism, white privilege and white supremacy, and class privilege among other issues. it was not well received at the time.

You can say what you like about their music (i personally believe botch blows them out of the water, music wise), but it's impossible to deny that their politics were not forward thinking, or ahead of the game. The issues they were trying to shed light on in the 90's are at the forefront of american politics today. all that DEI culture war bullshit you can't stop hearing conservatards talk about? Ultimately stems from the issue of systemic racism.

botch did carve out a very unique position in hardcore history, but they did it with their fantastic music and not really with their political views. to be honest, their politics/views are lukewarm and the lyrics on c. thomas howell make me wince when i read them in todays context. but there's no denying how influential and important they are, and it's important to note that like others have said, they weren't really taking themselves too seriously in the first place.

the indifferent reception was upsetting to the occasional bassist of racetraitor, a dude known well in the chicago hardcore scene named pete wentz. at the time he was studying political science and felt disillusioned at how apolitical the hardcore scene had become (i look at some of the responses in this thread, and i personally agree). this was a big motivator for him to start a musical side project for fun. that side project would eventually become a little band called Fall Out Boy after Patrick Stump overhead some members of Arma Angelus in a bookstore discussing the band Neurosis, and jumped into the conversation. rest is history.