Race/Ethnicity
Questions 471-480
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THE
QUESTION:
R480: Until just a couple of years ago, I never realized "Jap"
was a derogatory term. Frankly, I can't ever think of a time I used
it, but I had put it in the same category as "Brit," "Aussie," "Yank"
or "Canuck." I'm sure there are other examples. Why is "Jap"
different? Or are these other short terms for a person's country also
derogatory?
POSTED OCT. 8, 1998
Pete S., 38, white male, Jacksonville, FL
ANSWER 1:
That's an extremely interesting question. I can only guess
that it stems from World War II. The sheer hatred that erupted after
Pearl Harbor caused perfectly innocent American-born people of Asian
descent to be locked up in internment camps, and anyone who showed
any kind of sympathy toward a person of Asian descent was ostracized
and viewed with suspicion themselves. Rarely in history has a group
been so vilified.
POSTED OCT. 20, 1998
Robert J., Erie, PA
FURTHER NOTICE:
I think Brit and Aussie are more akin to shortened
nicknames, but "Jap" is more akin to a distorted pronunciation that
became a racial slur, much like negro became "nigger," Mexican became
"Meskin," aborigine became "abo" or Indian became "Injun."
POSTED OCT. 22, 1998
A.C.C., Mexican and American Indian, San Antonio, TX
FURTHER NOTICE 2:
I remember that during World War II, the government
operated a propaganda program that was intended to aid the war
effort. This program, as it related to the Japanese, was expressly
racist, and uniformly referred to them as "Japs." Furthermore, the
Japanese were always portrayed in posters with exaggerated "racial"
characteristics, including buck teeth, bow legs and eye glasses. I
guess the use of the term stuck, and because of the context, the term
is understood as being racist.
POSTED OCT. 22, 1998
Jerry, 64, white male, FL
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THE QUESTION:
R479: I frequently watch the Oprah Winfrey show, and I was
wondering what African Americans think of her. Do you see her as a
great ambassador and example for blacks, or otherwise?
POSTED OCT. 8, 1998
Mona, 18, Asian female, Alberta, Canada
ANSWER 1:
We as African Americans are generally very proud of the
accomplishments Oprah Winfrey has achieved. However, we feel
sometimes as though she has made great strides by often catering to
the white masses.
POSTED OCT. 12, 1998
J. Johnson, African American
FURTHER NOTICE:
I will be frank: My opinion is that Oprah is a very
powerful, wealthy and informed woman, but that she's not a status
symbol to the majority of black women. What I mean by majority is
this: Black women who receive an annual income of $20,000 or less,
lower-class black families, etc. Oprah speaks about things that
people of that criteria cannot identify with. What does a poorer
person actually know about being a "shopaholic" or a "compulsive
overspender"? Nothing. Maybe if Oprah would broaden her audience
range, she would receive more support from "the average" black woman
such as myself. Just take a look at the audience. You see nothing but
rich or "damn-near" rich white women. And that's who she will
continue to cater to. And the book club, please! I and other
women such as myself have other things to do with our time, like
making sure our kids are safe every day and getting up to catch the
bus to work every day.
POSTED OCT. 12, 1998
A. Bailey, 20, working , black mom, Bridgeport, CT
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THE QUESTION:
R478: Why is it that every time I see a handsome black man, he
has the most unattractive white woman on his arm? I understand the
intrique of the "forbidden fruit," but why are the women always so
ugly? As a black woman, I find this very offensive.
POSTED OCT. 8, 1998
T.R.A., black female, Newport News, Va
ANSWER 1:
Because, in my opinion, he's settling for the first thing
white, and she's glad jungle fever was tempered.
POSTED OCT. 13, 1998
A.A.W., 42, black female
<ANABWI@aol.com>,
Plantation, FL
FURTHER NOTICE:
Perhaps you are experiencing an optical illusion triggered
by an extreme, internalized dislike of black men with white women.
The dislike is so deeply rooted that the most logical way to defend
yourself is to rationalize that all white women "on the arms of black
men" are ugly. To me, the real issue is that you simply don't approve
of these kinds of relationships and therefore pass judgment upon them
(in layman's terms, it's called prejudice/stereotyping). Many black
women take these relationships personally because of the ingrained
notion that the hidden agenda of black men involved in mixed-race
relationships is to send a negative message to "sisters" that we are
not pretty enough, light enough or just plain right enough. The
reality is that most black men who date white women are open-minded,
and most have, at one point or another, loved and cherished a black
woman as well. I think we've got to get past skin color as a way of
selecting or excluding men and get down to the business of building
our relationships upon real qualities such as honor, respect,
integrity, logic, values and honesty. It's a disservice to any
individual to lump him/her into a group. White women, like all women,
represent the full range of beauty.
POSTED OCT. 13, 1998
Dee W.,
<westde@hiram.edu>,
Cleveland, OH
FURTHER NOTICE 2:
The question is frequently asked by some African-American
women. I can understand the difficulty for a black woman seeing a man
of her race with a white woman. However, the comment that all white
women who are with black men are ugly is ridiculous. Perhaps the
person asking the question is guilty of seeing the white race as all
looking alike; something that white people have been accused of in
regard to blacks for years. The truth is that in any relationship it
should not be beauty that counts. Beauty is only skin deep. Color
differences are only skin deep. It is difficult in our society to get
beyond those color differences, but I believe that many interracial
couples are doing just that. They do not look at skin color or
beauty. They look underneath at the soul. If two people care about
and understand each other, that is all that is important.
POSTED OCT. 19, 1998
Barbara
<barcanan@megatropic.com>,
NY, NY
FURTHER NOTICE 3:
To Dee: Amen! Finally a black woman who's got the courage
to take the unpopular stance. Personally I don't take a brother's
personal choice in a partner personally. Why? Because who am I to
pass judgment on him? Where do we get off assuming the worst of him?
If we can assume the worst of him without knowing anything about him,
what does that say about the possibility that he would even find the
naysayer even remotely attractive if the opportunity exisited? I
certainly wouldn't be interested in dating/getting serious with
anyone capable of making these unfair judgments. And since when are
physical characteristics ("ugly white women") the overriding factor
in why someone would choose to be with his/her partner? Aren't
character, common interests and shared values more important than
looks? And since when does any single black woman have the right to
determine the standards of beauty? We don't want others to criticize
our physical attributes, but we want to criticize non-blacks'
features. Come on. You can't have it both ways. To the questioner:
Why not lose the chip on your own shoulder and be content to know
that the right black man is out there for you?
POSTED OCT. 23, 1998
Zawadi, black female, 33, Detroit, MI
FURTHER NOTICE 4:
Sorry Dee, Barbara and Zawadi, but I don't think that
colorblind love is what we are witnessing. While I don't agree that
black men choose "ugly" white women (that is in the eye of the
beholder), I do believe black men intentionally choose white women
and women from other ethnic groups for status purposes. I have
witnessed and have been told this by black men. Most of them see
these women as tickets to a perfect life. I find these guys
absolutely do not give relationships with black women a chance. I
don't blame the non-black women for this. If someone gave their
undying and unconditional love to me and put me on a pedestal, I
would be happy, too.
POSTED MARCH 11, 1999
K., 26, black female, VA
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THE QUESTION:
R477: Why do people call Italians dagos, wops or guineas? I'm
Italian and have no idea what they mean, but I know they are
slurs.
POSTED OCT. 7, 1998
Mario
<Bigppajay@hotmail.com>,
Newbury, OH
ANSWER 1:
I wish I could answer your question or hear the answer
because I'm Italian, too, and it really bothers me off when people
use those slang terms.
POSTED OCT. 9, 1998
Sarah, 16, Italian,
<odaraho@juno.com>,
NH
FURTHER NOTICE:
I believe the term "wop" stems from the days of
immigration into the United States. WOP meant "Without Papers" and
was notated on the top of the ship's manifest for illegal immigrants
as they arrived at Ellis Island. Not all ships would get the notaion.
Thank god for the Discovery Channel.
POSTED OCT. 9, 1998
M. Miller, 32, white male, Detroit , MI
FURTHER NOTICE 2:
"Dago" is an American mispronunciation of the common
Italian name "Diego." There is no authoritative source for the origin
of "wop," but it's widely believed to have been shorthand on Ellis
Island. Many of the Italians who came to America at the turn of the
century arrived with no money, no form of identification and no
passports, visas or work permits. Supposedly, Ellis Island clerks
referred to such immigrants as W.O.P.s (W.O.P. stood for "Without
Papers").
POSTED OCT. 9, 1998
Astorian, Irish-American
Austin , TX
FURTHER NOTICE 3:
I'm not sure about the other terms, but "wop" is an
acronym for "Without Papers," a reference to illegal immigrants. How
it got attached to Italians rather than any other ethnic group I
don't know.
POSTED OCT. 9, 1998
Laura, 37, Italian American on my father's side, Baltimore , MD
FURTHER NOTICE 4:
I am told that "Wop" is Sicilian dialect taken from
Spanish dialect. In Spanish (at least the dialect I am familiar with)
"Guappo" means handsome. I was told that Southern Italians (and
Sicilians in particular) borrowed that and when people in America
found a reason to despise newcomers (a practice that unfortunately
continues to this day) they garbled the word "Guappo" to Wop. I don't
know whether this is the true explanation
POSTED DEC. 1, 1998
Craig, 36, Queens, NY
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THE QUESTION:
R476: Why are so many nail salons owned and operated by
Vietnamese people? All of the employees are Vietnamese, men and
women. Was there a special course offered to them before they came to
this country or after they arrived?
POSTED OCT. 7, 1998
T.R.A., Newport News, Va
ANSWER 1:
There is no course offered in Vietnam for manucurists. In
fact, you don't even have to go to school to cut your or others'
nails. Because of the language barrier, the majority of new
Vietnamese immigrants find it's not very easy to find a job that
would earn a decent living ($10 - $20/hour). Vietnamese people are
hard-working; they don't mind working 12 hours a day, seven days a
week, and to become a manicurist, it only takes a couple of months to
study, and in some states the course is offered in Vietnamese. That's
why quite a few Vietnamese are manicurists, and when one becomes an
owner of a salon, that person usually employs her/his family members
and friends.
POSTED OCT. 15, 1998
M. To, Vietnamese
<mto@admin4.hsc.uth.tmc.edu>,
Houston, TX
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THE QUESTION:
R475: Why is it that a white woman will get service in a
restaurant or store before me?
POSTED OCT. 6, 1998
Naomi, 19, black female
<gauldinn@pilot.msu.edu>,
Lansing, MI
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THE QUESTION:
R474: What is the history behind using chopsticks?
POSTED OCT. 5, 1998
Liz, 20, Italian American, Boston, MA
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THE QUESTION:
R473: Director's Paraphrase: Edward A., a 58-year-old white
male from Las Vegas, Nev., feels that the African Americans who live
in his mixed apartment complex act and talk so loudly that the effect
is that they "live their private lives in public." He says that day
or night, the only inhabitants of the complex that he hears
"screaming at the top of their lungs, slamming doors and generally
being obnoxiously loud" are blacks, and that he would like to know
why this happens.
POSTED OCT. 5, 1998
ANSWER 1:
I live in a white community and view a lot of whites as
being obnoxious. I feel blacks are very friendly with each other, and
when we are together, we have lots of fun. The African Americans'
loudness in your complex is most likely caused because they are
having fun. Even when there are only a few people together in my
group of friends, it can sound like it is a larger number of people
having a party becuase we have just that much fun. I hope you are
understanding of your neighbors. If they are too loud for you, I
suggest you very polietly ask them to please lower their noise level
because it disturbs you. If you do this very politely you won't cause
any trouble, but I would not suggest that you attempt to make any
demands of them, because they probably will not appreciate that type
of attitude.
POSTED OCT. 7, 1998
Batgirl, African-American female, OH
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THE QUESTION:
R472: Is there such a thing as a "pure" race? I think not, as
I have Cherokee, Norwegian, Irish, Scottish and who knows what, maybe
even black, in me. My three children are all mixed, with black and
Cherokee Indian, and my one daughter has a hint of Asian around her
eyes.
POSTED OCT. 5, 1998
Kristine J., Port Hueneme, Ca.
ANSWER 1:
There is no such thing as a "pure race" as implied by the
common use of the phrase. Biologically/genetically, there is no such
thing as a race as defined as a distinct category within the human
race separated by clusters of genetic traits. Instead, it is a very
powerful social construct that varies widely between cultures, and
within cultures over time. And, as we are well aware, this idea has
been the reason for wars and multiple forms of oppression for
millenia. Since modern humans first appeared in the fossil record
(circa 100,000 years ago), people have been moving, migrating and
interacting with neighboring groups, to say nothing of military
conquests or colonization. Genes have been shared more often than
they have been isolated.
POSTED DEC. 4, 1998
Female, anthropologist, 32
<u19976@uic.edu>, Chicago,
IL
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THE QUESTION:
R471: I notice that many times when I use a restroom stall
after an Asian woman leaves, the toilet seat is covered in urine, as
if she had been hovering. I have been tempted to call this behavior
to the attention of the offender when it happens. Would this help?
Why do Asian women do this?
POSTED SEPT. 29, 1998
Meridith M., 32, white female, San Francisco, CA
ANSWER 1:
It's funny, my wife (Asian) and my sisters (Mexican and
Indian) have made the same complaint about white women who use public
restrooms: That they urinate on the seat cover. Perhaps all of you
are simply more likely to notice or remember when it's someone of a
different background and forget when it's someone of similiar
background. As a male, I think all men are slobs in public restrooms
because it's not their own place.
POSTED OCT. 5, 1998
A.C.C., Mexican and Indian male, San Antonio, TX
FURTHER NOTICE:
I notice urine sprinkles on the toilet after women of
various races leave the stall. Many women prefer to hover rather than
sit on a public toilet or take the time to spread paper on the
seat.
POSTED OCT. 5, 1998
S.R., 20, white female hoverer, Austin, TX
FURTHER NOTICE 2:
Have you noticed that bathrooms in Asian resturants are
often not as "clean"? Asians were taught that bathrooms, especially
toilets, were unsanitary, and therefore, Asian women tend to squat
when they urinate. Squatting causes the urine to spatter onto the
toilet seats.
POSTED OCT. 5, 1998
Cynthia, Asian
<petitecosette@yahoo.com>,
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
FURTHER NOTICE 3:
I don't think ethnicity has anything to do with the
"splatter" issue. Rather, I think it happens because women are taught
as young children not to sit on public toilet seats, but rather to
squat over them to avoid germs. The problem lies in the fact that no
one bothers to wipe their splatter from the seat when they're done,
thus leaving it for the next person, and the person after that, and
the person after that. So, even if you're not the one who did the
initial splattering, you take the heat! The solution? Take a wad of
toilet paper and wipe the seat clean. Consider it an act for the
greater good!
POSTED OCT. 8, 1998
Female, 43, black, Chicago, IL
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