'Jap' is a racial slur.

[astuarlen]

This is a very old (Rant) topic on PSOW.

:JPsmile: even needed closure once due to such. :jp smile:

What's great about the emoticon renaming issue is that the image itself is still nastily stereotypical and completely unnecessary, its very existence--nevermind execution--being highly problematic. Actually, I kind of forgot it was restored... now I'm of a mind to bring this up with The Management. It may have been a legacy of some default emoticon set added when the board was young, but it should, unquestionably, go.

Spoiler!

I'll avoid using the R word, just because that automatically puts a lot of people on the (indignant) defensive.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

I wasn't aware of (CAPS or not) case sensitive typing out the first one. Uppercase then preview, nothing, could've been gone. All lowercase it showed after posting.

For those who think its shorthand, yeah you got your LAX, SFO, PHX.

You do not have your "JAP," Japan Airline Port/Place:

http://www.world-airport-codes.com/w...-airports.html

http://www.world-airport-codes.com/a...ry-name/j.html
(Country Abbreviation as well is JP)

Not Japan, but Costa Rica

http://www.world-airport-codes.com/c...enes-8793.html

[Kion]

At the restaurant I work at, I get called gaijin all of the time. It`s nicer if they add gaikokujin, or gaijin-san for the complete more polite word, but it`s basically the same thing. Either way it really doesn`t bother me. Being politically correct isn`t everything, it`s the context.

[Datsun 510]

Actually, it's funny, my friend Amanda is half Japanese, and calls herself this all the time... In public, though, full japanese people will look at her all pissed off until they get cussed out in japanese

"a white chick speaking japanese?! That's it, i'm moving back to Okinawa!"

[HeartBreak301]

Racial slurs exist because they offenders know it offends the offendee. Stop being offended and getting mad and we won't see this as much. I'm Irish, I don't get pissed if someone calls me a wifebeating drunk, I just ignore them.

[astuarlen]

So, who wants to play racism bingo? We've got cards aplenty.
I'm far from a perfect ally, but at least I can point out some of the more egregious examples of ick here:

Trying to make the case that slurs against people of color are congruent to stereotypes about groups of white people is a too-common but fallacious exercise. To do so is to completely ignore the context of historical and ongoing oppression by which white people above all (and, yes, even acknowledging that white folks are not a monolith and have/can experience systemic oppression--though, in the U.S. for instance, groups of particular European immigrants [e.g. Germans, Irish, Italians, etc] who were initially targeted by earlier adopters of colonialism in N.Am. have eventually claimed the mantle of white privilege) have benefited through colonialism, cultural imperialism, economic exploitation, the othering of people of color, etc. Stereotyping ("positively" see: "model minority", "neutrally", or negatively), slandering, or positioning any group of people as the other/outsider is unacceptable. But these two situations are fundamentally distinct and operate on different levels, given the larger contemporary and historical context of power--not to mention the fact that the perspectives on privileged groups offered by cultural artifacts, entertainment, and historical accounts are vastly more varied and nuanced than depictions of people of color in what we call Western societies.

Furthermore, the presumed approval of an individual or segment of individuals from a targeted group for X slur/stereotype/insult or their reappropriation of certain terms doesn't give blanket permission for the use or perpetration of these words and ideas and does not relieve the words of their context and implications.

Finally, one cannot blame a victim for the actions of an aggressor (although I've found this is one of America's favorite pastimes) or the oppressed for the actions of the oppressor. The responsibility for offering respect and dealing with one's own negative acts and attitudes is on the offender--the one with power and privilege.

[washuguy]

Racial slurs exist because they offenders know it offends the offendee. Stop being offended and getting mad and we won't see this as much. I'm Irish, I don't get pissed if someone calls me a wifebeating drunk, I just ignore them.

Thats what i'm saying, we give words power... If we let the people know it hurts or offends us, they're gonna keep using the word as a weapon. Solution? Ignore the person, let them be ignorant and call you whatever they want. Is it right? Nawwwww... But what are you gonna do? MAKE them say something else? i'm done trying to MAKE people do stuff. We're all individuals and that needs to be respected. Let freedom of speech truly reign and stop judging eachother and everyone will get along just fine.... However... If you don't want to be called a certain something, then fine, that should be respected as well i guess...

[HeartBreak301]

Thank you, my point is that people overreact too much. The world is an ignorant place. You can't expect everyone to know it offends you, especially with "Jap", thats an uncommonly known racial slur. (around me it is) So just roll with the punches, even if they're completely unintentional.

[Outrider]

While in a perfect world I would agree with you guys, the fact of the matter is that there are many people that are rightfully offended by this terminology and I think it's hard for somebody who has never been offended by a term (or even known why it was offensive) to say whether or not it's okay to user it in a non-offensive way.

[ShinMaruku]

Or you could just type out Japanese. With spellcheck built into every browser nowadays there isn't a reason to abbreviate everything under the sun unless you're THAT addicted to Twitter.

People are that stupid though. :E