Comments on: “Chink Nigger”

By: carecat

carecat — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:34:32 +0000

build me a railroad, ching chong chinaman

By: lameblog

lameblog — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:58:55 +0000

This blog is hilarious. I just saw the picture of the op : Jun, big heads up YOU ARE A CHINK. Chink does not signify slanting eyes, that would be a slope, you non-Chinese inbred POS. You have little slits for eyes, therefore you are a CHINK. What's worse than being a chink? Being an ignorant chink. I'm so glad you stated you're not Chinese, that would just make you an ignorant non-Chinese oriental unbelievably stupid chink.

By: jun

jun — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:57:05 +0000

btw….
i should have spell-checked and grammar checked my comment, lol

By: jun

jun — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:53:04 +0000

hey CanelaNYC-

thanks for the input…
I agree on the whole waste of energy of trying to kill the word “nigger”, but I didnt get into that because Im not black, so i dont feel I have the right to blog about it and two since this is a Asian American site i did not feel that topic was appropriate..and also i think that applies for any racial slur, it will not die because as you said the root is still there…

and trust me Asians (mostly asian youth) dont even know about past ASIAN AMERICAN contributions nevertheless other races, (you think Yuri Kochiyama are in US textbooks??? lol)… but i think thats the case for any ethnic group especially my age group…

i wish this post would have generated more discussion but then again, since this is a Asian American site and I think it may have scared off a lot of people…

and dont worry about book long posts!
as long as they are well thought out, we dont mind it here at 8Asians…
at least I dont, =)

By: CanelaNYC

CanelaNYC — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:56:14 +0000

There’s so much of history that we eschew, for various reasons, but people still don’t understand that the sociological etymology of a word can take centuries to change or disappear if it does at all. There’s a collective memory that people use without realizing and that leads to judgments based on perceptions and interpretations that are processed using that knowledge whether we think so or not. Hence, the term ‘bad’ when Run-DMC states ‘not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good’ can take on both meanings dependent upon context but the initial meaning, the root, is still there. So while I think that whole NAACP “funeral” mess was misguided & I see the point of young people attempting to co-opt a word and make it their own, both extremes represent a huge waste of time and energy.

As for the relationships, it would be nice to see more solidarity but the tunnel vision of the current views in this country keep minorities separated. Then by perpetuating “positive” stereotypes re: Asian Americans, and promulgating stereotypes re: African-Americans, the current majority can give the impression of “colorblindness” by setting Asian Americans up as a “model minority” while implicitly pitting minorities against each other. Then of course there is the part we play; we don’t learn enough about each other. I can’t speak for Asian Americans, but way too many African American’s don’t know about contributions from people outside their immediate “community.” (Heck, I had to give my niece Yuri Kochiyama’s biography ‘Heartbeat of the Struggle’ and her teacher almost couldn’t/wouldn’t believe her report.) Then there are the circumstances where we should have each other’s backs – Hot 97’s Tsunami song, Spanish Basketball Team’s BS – and you don’t see that interaction and reciprocity. Eh, so loaded a topic but really good post. Sorry for the book-long comment.

By: Derek

Derek — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:40:58 +0000

my parent’s were born in the US, specifically in San Francisco in the 60’s. their high school Galieo was predominantly black and asian. as you know, there was a lot of movements going on in the 60’s where equality for blacks were just as important as asian rights. bonds and friendships were formed regardless of races. my parent’s friends from high school are latin, black and asian (more asians, of course) and i love it. as for me, my very close friends are all different shades. i think newcomers to this country have different experiences and perspectives on relationships with other minorities which sadly leans negatively.

By: Efren

Efren — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:03:02 +0000

Jun: This is an incredible post. I love the way how you dissect and look at how both racial slurs have impacted both the Asian and black communities, and that there is really a very tenuous connection among us, if at all, and how very, very few people (either Asian or black) are really willing to cross the divide and find commonalities, instead of trying to exoticize each other.

The one thing that I would just have to comment is that “nigger” has been used against Asians in America as well since Asians first started immigrating to the US in the 19th century, when the Chinese railroad workers were called “niggers” after the panic over increased Chinese immigration along the West Coast. Another example is when the Filipinos started immigrating into the US in the early 1900s as university students into the mainland US, we were also called “brown niggers,” etc.

It’s funny that whenever I mention the fact that Asians were called niggers by white people that the Asian American so-called hip hop fans who call themselves “nigga” suddenly become extremely quiet…