RE: Monkeyfist.com: Bush's Racist Slur

>>>>> "jack" == Jack Bornstein <[email protected]> writes:

  jack> <sarcasm> I think the simple explanation for Mr. Bush's gaffe
  jack> is that "Pakistani" is just too difficult of a word for the
  jack> man to pronounce.  I mean, four syllables is really pushing it
  jack> for someone who has killed more of his own brain cells than I
  jack> care to imagine. </sarcasm>

I think that's a small possibility, but it seems unlikely, given all
that's happened.

  jack> I must admit that I too was unaware that "Paki" was a
  jack> derogatory term.  I'd never even heard of it until now, and I
  jack> can certainly understand how one might think it was an
  jack> acceptable term along the lines of "Afghan", "Uzbek", "Brit",
  jack> or even "Yank". 

I'm sure many Americans are unaware of it; well, some at least.  What
I find very interesting, however, is that no one -- well, no one I've
read on this so far -- seems to realize or care that Pakistani
Americans will *clearly* know that it's racist, will take it as such,
and will view Bush's refusal to apologize as highly detrimental to
their sense of self-worth and dignity, to say nothing of adding just
that much more friction to their civic and social life.

Do they simply not count at all? I bet many of them are Republicans
and voted for him!

But a few things:

1. it really has been reported in the US for a long time, since the
   70s -- so it's not absolutely obscure

2. the only interesting question is whether *Bush* knew, not whether
   most Americans did. Insisting that most Americans did not know just
   obscures the relevant questions

        But now that it's become clear that it is an
  jack> offensive ethnic slur, the man could at least apologize.

Absolutely. The failure to apologize is far more telling than the use
of the term in the first place, since it may very well have been a
relatively innocuous slip.

But refusing to apologize is just plain nasty. And racist.

And *completely* indefensible.

  jack> And I've doen some online research that shows that it is
  jack> indeed offensive, no matter what Tim Blair
  jack> <http://timblair.blogspot.com/> says:

Tim Blair says this:

  The article continues: "Most Americans are unaware of the
  sensitivity of the term. In Britain, however, it is considered an
  ethnic slur toward Pakistanis who emigrated there in large numbers
  in the 1960s and '70s."

  What the article doesn?t mention is that the term isn?t considered a
  slur in Pakistan, or anywhere else outside of the UK. 

That's strictly false, of course. It's considered a dire insult
throughout the *UK*, as well as Canada, and in the US too, where there
is a sizeable Pakistani expat and immigrant community.

That claim is just false on its face.

  It?s not a
  slur; it?s an abbreviation, and a friendly-sounding one at that. No
  wonder Bush, with his fondness for nicknames, used it. 

No wonder? Well, after Cheney used 'Pak' -- which is actually the much
more common abbreviation -- the NYT reported clearly that "Paki" was
racially offensive. This is not a mystery or a secret.

  For more information, go to PakiSearch.com, where you can catch up
  on the "Latest Paki News", consult a "Paki Shopping Guide", and
  receive your "Free Paki Email". Shabash, shabash!

Ah, I see, so Blair subscribes to the school of thought which says
since black folks use the n-word with each other, then it's not
offensive for White folks to use it, too.

Wow, now that's dumb!

[sites which confirm 'paki' is a racist slur snipped]

Yeah, it's trivially easy to learn and is really indisputably a racist
slur. That some people don't know or care changes nothing.

It's use to describe immigrant violence, "paki bashing", if you knew
nothing else about it, would be strong prima facie grounds for
regarding it as offensive to Pakistanis and to others who care about
such things.

Best,
Kendall Clark