Saturday, 09 April 2011
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A Request for Accuracy When Using Racial Epithets Against My Child
After having lived through continual harassment from one particular blogger, I can forgive him for posting this on my last post about my son: "CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK CHINK"But I want to bring up the importance of maintaining accuracy when using racial epithets.
1. CHINK
Charlie is half-Korean and a quarter-Japanese, plus a quarter German/Irish. The word chink is traditionally applied to people of Chinese origin. So it's not really accurate to call Charlie a chink.
You may have been using the word chink in a broader sense: the word is also sometimes applied to people with narrowly slanted eyes. But in these pictures, you can see that Charlie's eyes are actually pretty round.
2. GOOK
Next you left this comment: GOOK GOOK GOOK GOOK GOOK GOOK GOOK GOOK.
Here you may have a stronger claim to have used racial epithets properly. The word gook was indeed used during the Korean War to refer to Koreans. That said, the word gook is more commonly used in reference to people of Vietnamese origin.
Charlie is half-Korean though, so I can see where you were going with this one. I will give you half a point here.
While we're on the subject of gook, here is some "miyuk gook" soup my mother in law made this weekend. It is a seaweed soup that has magical restorative properties.
3. ZIPPERHEAD
A few minutes later, you showed some real creativity with this one: "ZIPPERHEAD ZIPPERHEAD ZIPPERHEAD ZIPPERHEAD ZIPPERHEAD ZIPPERHEAD ZIPPERHEAD."
According to Wikipedia, the term zipperhead was "coined by American soldiers as a term for North Koreans during the Korean War". Urban Dictionary clarifies that the term "is said to have been coined during the Korean war by frontline troops whom had run over enemy troops in jeeps. The soldiers claimed that the tire tracks from the jeeps left a pattern resembling that of a closed zipper along the corpse."
Charlie is neither North Korean, nor has he been run over by a jeep. Here he is riding in his toy car though.
Zero points.
4. PANCAKE FACE
Finally, you left this comment twice: "PANCAKEFACE PANCAKEFACE PANCAKEFACE PANCAKEFACE PANCAKEFACE PANCAKEFACE PANCAKEFACE PANCAKEFACE PANCAKEFACE"
According to Urban Dictionariy, this racial epithet is aimed at those that "have a flat face like a pancake." While it is true that Asian faces tend to be flatter than those of many other races, Charlie has a pretty non flat face.
So I'm going to have give you a citation for all around "inaccurate usage of racial epithets".
It's one thing to be ignorant... but please try to maintain some standards of accuracy when you are breaking out your racial epithets. Also, who breaks out racial slurs at a 16 month old?
Here's what Charlie and I think of your comments:
Have you or your child ever been the subject of harassment or racial slurs on blogs or elsewhere? How did you handle it?
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About the Author
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- From: john@xanga
- Name: John
- About Me: I believe that children are our future. Teach them well, and let them lead the way.
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Comments (63)
I can't even imagine what I would do if someone was like that towards my kids.
You, on the other hand, handled it amazingly. Bravo!
How cute is he?! Geeeez.
Never even heard of zipperhead and pancake face before now.
But no, not really. I've been called a cracker before. Like, really, did the people that thought that one up never lay eyes on a graham cracker? 'Cause those are certainly darker than yours truly. Admittedly, I'm pretty f'n pasty, though.
(I'm aware of the theorised origins of the word, before someone lectures me on those.)
When we lived in Korea, our son was born and spent his first three years of life there. 99% of the people were good as gold, especially to him. One girl in Seoul made the mistake of calling him a "baby monkey". I wasn't there that day, but I'm told my wife put the fear of God into the miscreant's heart.
As for adults who demean children, capital punishment is too good a consequence.You trying to post this on every ish site to make sure explosive sees it?
Wow!! Great post! Can't believe someone would say that about this ADORABLE kid!
This baby is ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This child is adorable. And you handled the names beautifully. Go you.
Your son is adorable! You handled this with class! Some people are just a waste of good air...
You handled it better then a lot of other parents could do.
How could you harass a baby? I mean, he's so fucking cute.
This is kind of a silly post.
@TheTheologiansCafe@xanga - Hey, just FYI... each site is run by a separate editor. I have nothing to do with which posts are picked by each editor.
He is such a handsome baby!!!!
and -.- trollsLMAO!!!! Oh man. sad for that dude who left those rude comments about your son.
You so schooled his... butt butt. Hahaha. You're awesome.
"...who breaks out racial slurs at a 16 month old?" Nice one. =]
Uh, what kind of person says things like that to such a small child? You handled that so well.
Also, Charlie is super cute :)
You're awesome. And your son is such a friggin cutie. Whoever left those comments must be a very sad person.
wow! you got an adorable lil kid on your hand!!!
i agree with the comments above, you handled this pretty well :D :D :D good for you!What is wrong with people!?
Your child is the cutest. And you handled that jerk face very well. I agree with the last picture. >:P
Your son is adorable, I am 25% Korean but I look nothing like it. I am lucky enough to have gone to school where i have not been teased, but I have had to stand up for people who weren't so lucky. Your son is so cute! and I would be proud if when I have kids that my child looks Korean. Don't listen to stupid people.
All I have to say is: AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
He is absolutely adorable!He's so cute! You handled this really well, too :)
You should be proud, you have an adorable son!
Now I'm not a baby person and I don't like babies, but aw! He is so, so cute!
You are lucky to have such a handsome baby and I'm sure Charlie will grow up to be a handsome man, so he won't care that some ugly redneck calls him chink or pancakeface, cause he will be the one getting all the girls..
charlie's adorable.
but...doesn't anyone face the odds of being ridiculed when they post real life pictures online?
thank you for educating me on these terms, not that i'll use them but at least i know they're offensive if i ever hear them. i've never even heard of half of these words.