Race/Ethnicity Questions 471-480

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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