buckwheat said:
Why is it that calling an African American a "nigger" or a Singaporean a "chink" is not OK but calling a westerner an "Ang Mo" is? I certainly don't have red hair...
it's like calling a food store seller a hawker even though we don't have push carts anymore
Original definition of a hawker: Any person selling or offering for sale any goods, wares, or merchandise, including any food or beverage, on any public street, highway, or public right of way in the state from a stationary location
Anyway, the term nigger has had a history of being used inflammatarily, as has the word chink
Alot of us use the word "ang mo" with a loving tenderness.hahaha. well maybe not always. but the context is quite different and we're not as hard up on political correctness as western countries are
Another way to view it is that people in a position of power must take more care to be politically correct in their language otherwise they may be seen as looking down on less "powerful" people or cultures.
People in less of a position of power don't seem to get into too much trouble with namecalling though. (somehow, the term "whitey" never got too many angry responses from the white community).
So you can't call us chinks but we can call you ang mos because you are stereotypically in a higher position of power than us.
But us calling the Bangladeshi workers Banglas or Ahpunehnehs sounds derogatory, because we chinks are in a position of power over them (due to their lower salary)
