Mike Hawk's Journal: Chinaman is a racial slur?

Chinaman is a racial slur? Who knew? Englishman isn't. Frenchman isn't. China = a country. Man = a man. Chinaman = something more than a man from China? I'm not buying it. Aren't there actual racial insults created from otherwise nonsense syllables? How does a compound word grow into a racial slur? I'm just boggled by this. I refuse to acknowledge Chinaman is a racial slur and I will work to take back this word from the forces of thoughtcrime. Who is with me?

sounds like

[bryanthompson]

liberalspeak to me. They invented the term Hispanics, and I don't even know what we're supposed to call black people or indians anymore. It makes me feel like a racist to have to think to myself, "okay, what am I supposed to call this person?"

It's funny, they're trying to normalize "fag," but we can't refer to someone's nationallity without being called a racist. I almost feel a JE coming on...

Of all the words?

[Mike Hawk]

Thats the only brand of logic you care to apply AC? What I am against is the concepts of thoughtcrime and wordcrime. An alternate solution would be for people to not allow themselves to be offended by a simple compound word. Since it is unlikely that many migrant workers survive from the 1800's, chinamen likely have to be told to be offended by the term chinaman. Isn't sitting around teaching other people about words that should offend them at least as weird?

Re:Of all the words?

[L-Train8]

While the first deragotory use of the word may be from the 1800's, and while you personally may never have heard the word used in an insulting manner, that does not mean that it is not commonly used today as a racial epithet.

Growning up in a part of the country where there are very few people of Jewish ancestry, I was in my 20's before I realized that "jewing" someone down on price had anything to do with actual Jews. I realize that's naive, but I have a number of Asian co-workers that would say that you a

Interesting

[Mike Hawk]

But not in the way you think. Having been big in the Street Fighter II scene back in the day, it was actually common place to hear someone describe another's tactics as "Jew". Clearly using a common name for a large group of people in a deragatory way. Yet Jew IS used in polite conversation. Jewish, Jew, Isreali. Perhaps its a question of victimization and the self-perceived status thereof.

Yet another reason to take back this word. I will not allow peoples to make themselves feel like victims when

Finally something we agree on!

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Political correctness, espeically on the liberal intollerant side, has gotten WAY out of hand. Perhaps it's the Asperger's- but I've never quite understood why cussing and racial slurs are so bad. My mother always taught me that sticks and stones break bones- but words are just words.

Having said that- blasphemy gets to me a bit, but fuckshit ain't my God and I'm very sorry for you if it's yours.

Words only mean...

[sparks]

...what the speaker means by them.

End of story.

Can't follow you on that one

[momoMonkey]

We all speak the same language here right?

(everyone)Right yo!

I will call someone an Englishman, but I will not call someone a Chinaman. I've had friends from that faraway land whom I called Asian, Chinese, but not Chinaman.

Quite the society we live in. Things we say in a blue state might not fly on a red state. Learn to adapt that's the beauty of this nation of ours. Technically you're right Chinaman is a person from china, but the moment you cross into the realm of technicalities, you enter Asshole nati