When did Mexican become a "dirty" word?

Tags: Race, Racism, Language, Mexico, Pejoration
Email this Topic • Print this Page

Read Question
Reply to All

Quote:

I try only to take offense when I think offense is meant.

Bingo!

That is exactly as it should be.

I don't take offense to "half-black" or "half-white", but I am apprently insensitive to these issues. Mulatto used to be the approved word but that fell out of favor so many years ago that many people don't recall the word at all.

I usually say bi-racial or inter-racial but I hate that whole silly mess least I ever have to describe myself as penta-racial/tribal or something. I just call myself a mutt and be done with it.

0 Replies

@ebrown p,

ebrown p wrote:

I agree completely with your answer aidan.

I do a question for Foxfyre... are the people on radio talk shows who are referring to Obama as "half-black" generally positive about the Obama administration?

If everyone who used the term was also strongly opposed the ides of the Obama administration, I would be highly suspicious of their intent.

The radio shows I listen to are generally positive toward Obama and his administration. I have never heard either of these terms used.

I wasn't listening closely enough to be able to give a good answer to that. I just heard the terms used though I don't think they were used in any kind of derogatory sense but more in the sense of curiosity of why the President would refer to himself as black instead of half-black when he was also half white or sort of in that context.

Probably one of those silly things, but it did catch my interest enough to think about it a bit. I didn't hear anybody ragging on or bashing the President during the period I was listening.

1 Reply

@Foxfyre,

Quote:

I didn't hear anybody ragging on or bashing the President during the period I was listening.

That's because they are still fixated on bashing Clinton (I bet that changes as of this week).

0 Replies

@Foxfyre,

Foxfyre wrote:

Actually I grew up with "Little Black Sambo" and remember the character with fondness and remember teacher using the story as an example of resourcefulness and innovation to help us think outside the box to solve problems. He certainly did not stereotype or diminish black people in any way in my mind. I, and I think most of us kids, saw him as just another, but very smart/clever, kid who happened to be black.

Just for correctness sake, Little Black Sambo was an Indian from India:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Black_Sambo

1 Reply

@Foofie,

Yeah I know but that wasn't specified in the story if I remember it right. I'm pretty sure there are no tigers in Africa though. Smile

We read the story in the same way that we would have read it if Sambo had been a kid born to farmer parents in Iowa. In other words the issue of race or ethnicity never came up. It was a story about a kid dealing with a problem.

I think children need to be exposed to much more such stories matter of factly and without social indoctrination being included. Then and then only will people begin to FEEL that we're all in this together and race in the context of racism will be erased from the national psyche. So long as we continue to call attention to it, make a big deal about it, dictate to others how they should think about it and deal with it, and separate people into groups in our minds, racism will remain alive and well.

0 Replies

Boomer writes

Quote:

I usually say bi-racial or inter-racial but I hate that whole silly mess least I ever have to describe myself as penta-racial/tribal or something. I just call myself a mutt and be done with it.

LOL. That's where I am....a pure mutt. I have so many different nationalities in my ancestry, there is no way to separate out one as dominent.

0 Replies

Read Question
Reply to All

When did Mexican become a "dirty" word?

Related Topics