Hi Cornel, Allow me to address your post point by point, as you have raised many separate ones...
Cornel wrote: > Hi Aristo > This issue is a can of worms because usage changes all the time. Suddenly, > one finds an accepted term has become derogatory and one can get caught out > by those insistent on being politically correct instantly without allowing > for a period of transition to the new accepted terminology and no > space/allowance for MANNER and CONTEXT as you point out. Aristo responds: Unfortunately, I had sent this post twice, once with modifications. The one you responded to was the older one which was rejected but mistakenly approved a few days after my modified post which you seem to have missed. In the modified one, I mentioned an important statement "Why should a Black feel insecure about his or her skin colour, or a Chinky about the shape of his or her eyes?" My issue is with reforming the way we look at these words. WE (including Blacks and Chinkys) have been conditioned to look at these words as derogatory. Who cares about Selma's "sensibilities" when it comes to the word Black? I would feel nothing if someone referred to me as a "Brown" with no derision intended. But I certainly am aware that I have to use the words judiciously and certainly not on first use, but only after a certain level of familiarity is attained. Cornel wrote: > Uncle Tom is perfectly OK in the UK but apparantly not so across the pond. > The word chinkey or term chinky-eyed would be very unacceptable here just > like slit-eyed as once used by Prince Phillip....Incidentally, in which part > of the world are you located? Aristo responds: Here in Bangalore, there is a large number of the Chinky-eyed North Eastern Indians, especially in the student and young working community. I have a couple of Naga, Mizo, Manipuri and Sikkimese friends (most of them educated in English medium and up till Bachelor level at least) and they HATE the term "Chinky" being used to refer to them. When they overhear statements by "mainland Indians" (as they refer "us" to) like "vo chinki log...", they go ballistic. I slowly try to convince my sphere of influence that "most of the time, 'mainland Indians' do not mean any derision when they use the word Chinky. Moreover, most don't know the word or meaning of the word 'Oriental'. In any case, don't you have Chinky eyes? So why you so insecure of them?" The real issue with them is their STATUS in our Indian society. Its an issue of RESPECT, as is everywhere I guess. I constantly hear the racist statements made by mainland Indians like "Chinkys are all dumb" or "All Chinky guys are waiters, cooks or security guards, and all Chinky girls are salesgirls, call centre workers or prostitutes!" Whether this represents the facts or not (by and large) is not a matter of race, but a matter of OPPORTUNITY, MEANS and LANGUAGE, according to me. The ST quota which applies to most North Easterns, have helped in the past, and I notice that most of their parents work in the Government. Most of my North Eastern friends were educated in English medium, have the financial means and have the opportunity, and thus have done pretty OK for themselves, many of them more educated than me (for the moment!), given the percentage of NE's to the population of India. The ones that were brought up in Mainland India are no different from any other Indian. Just last night I was having a drink with one of my Manipuri friends and he informed me that he had got through the Infosys entrance test, an aptitude test that not many get through (no quota's here!) And as far as prostitutes are concerned, well, I guess there's just more demand for them! Many of the younger North Easterns identify with the Black community of the US. They dress like them, speak like them and even rap like them, with their own accents of course! I think it has much to do with the above issue of respect. I tell them while it is impossible to change the mindset of a billion Indians at one go, I tell them that I will do my bit (which I am right now), but I also encourage them to EARN the respect of the mainland Indians around them. Slowly but surely, things WILL change. If your interested to know a little more about this, here is a link to an article about Racism on a blog of a Mizo IIM-B passout I had met once: http://mizohican.blogspot.com/2006/02/chp-55-racial-ponder.html And one more important issue regarding NE's: the political aspect. This is deserving of a whole new discussion, but I will only mention the issue of BSF personnel raping Manipuri and Naga women and that of Naxalism. Until the Government can ensure the safety, security and democratic stability of the NE people, we are not going to earn THEIR respect. Cornel wrote: > I note the interesting examples you have provided and have learnt something > new about the people of Hawai for example. Aristo responds: Strictly speaking, I believe that the chinky-eyed Hawaiians are Japanese immigrants, and may not be native. Cornel wrote: > Have you come across toy boy used for someone on the young side with a mature > woman as his companion? Aristo responds: Yes, I have. Unfortunately, I am yet to discover the joys of toy-boyhood and I'm afraid time is fast running out for me. Cheers! Aristo. "And still I see no Changes, All I see is racist faces, Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races..." - "Changes", Tupac Shakur. My Modified Post earlier: Hi Selma & Cornel, I have not been following this thread in its entirety, but this one caught my eye. I claim no expert knowledge about the history of the semantics of racial group terminologies, but I have a few thoughts on today's usage. I don't see the need to invent any new words. As you may have noticed, I have used the word "Black" instead of "African-XXXXX" before and I do so frequently, as I am not a stickler for political correctness. I even use the word "Chinky" while speaking instead of "Oriental" or "Asian". Now while "Black" is not considered derogatory by all, "Chinky" is considered by them as equal to the term "Nigger". But as usual, a fellow Chinky can use the term. Note that "Oriental" & "Asian" does not include the Chinky-eyed people of Hawaii while "Asian" obviously includes non-Chinky races. Now I don't see any reason why we shouldn't call a fig a fig (the word "spade" replaced for obvious reasons!). Both, "Black" and "Chinky" refer to PHYSICAL characteristics rather than the REGIONAL roots that their politically correct counterparts refer to (which are not neccessarily correct). Why should a Black feel insecure about his or her skin colour, or a Chinky about the shape of his or her eyes? My exception is to the MANNER or CONTEXT in which the words are used. If it is used in a derogatory sense, then I protest. In fact, even their politically correct counterparts can be used derogatorily, which I would then take exception to, especially when prefixed with that horrible word "THESE"! Eg. "these" African-Americans, "these" Orientals, and my latest favorite: "these" Bharats! I hope to see a future bigotless generation where we wouldn't have any qualms or insecurities about the semantics of racial or ethnic group terminologies. In fact, I am already starting to see it. Cheers, Aristo. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
