japanese posters
Out of context: Reply #46
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- monokrom0
CATJbr
(1.) Actually, the Japanese use a very large number of borrowed words from multiple languages (including English) in addition to what you would consider native Japanese. The pronunciations of the borrowed words differ more or less from the originals depending on a number of factors. This holds true for Korean as well (lots of borrowed words).
(2.) Your whole cause for complaint is that using "Jap" as an abbreviation for Japanese is that it recalls a now-distant era when the United States and Japan were at war. Guess what? That was *60 years ago*. It's part of history.
Someone else claimed that their Japanese-American friend's grandparents would be deeply upset if they were to hear the word "Jap" (since they lived through during that time). If they were indeed alive during the 1940's mature enough at the time to remember clearly the injustices that were done to them and their families, then they are very senior citizens now. Many seniors tend to be upset by a *lot* of things - including (but not limited to) loud car stereos, public discussions of same-sex marriage legislation, rap music, etc. If they become extremely distraught when they hear a particular word, even if it's used in a completely innocent context, then, by all means, censor yourself when you're in their presence. People of that age aren't long for this world anyway, so whatever you can do to accommodate them while they're alive builds good karma. But to try to force the word out of public usage is *insane*.
(3.) If people still use it as a slur, I haven't heard it used as such except in some very old films. The people who've used the term "Jap" in my presence (including several Japanese-Americans) use it in the same sense as the ntb poster : "Jap toys", "Jap posters", etc. If you're going to try to convince me that, once abused, a word can never see a respectable use again, then I'm afraid that you're out of luck. Because you are dead wrong. Why not try to force the word "queer" (once an epithet used abusively against homosexuals, now used proudly *by* many homosexuals with pride) out of the public lexicon instead?
Perspective : Once upon a time, "Negro" was a perfectly acceptable shorthand for "African-Americans" (see United Negro College Fund) embraced by African-Americans themselves. Before that, the term "Colored People" was used (see National Association for the Advancement of Colored People aka NAACP). At the moment, it's frowned upon to refer to non-Caucasians as "colored people", but "people of color" is still marginally acceptable. Approved designations for Americans of Spanish-speaking descent have proliferated beyond all reason, with many previously acceptable words replaced.
The debate over which words are/aren't "acceptable" is a form of mental masturbation. It's very unproductive.
You insist that "Jap" always has been, is now, and always will be used as a racial epithet. I know real, live breathing Japanese-Americans (in addition to plenty of non-Japanese-Americans) who use the word for what it is, a geographic abbreviation. Time marches on. I'm not going to lecture Japanese-Americans on the nonexistent anti-Japanese racist overtones of a word that they use casually on a daily basis.
For anyone to take issue with the use of the word "Jap" by a non-American born and raised in a foreign country and an altogether different culture is completely idiotic. Arguing that it's completely unacceptable for use within the United States is only marginally less so.