Re: Asian-ness (was Re: "Whiteness" Re: Obseneties)
| From: | Jonathan Chang <zhang2323@...> |
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| Date: | Saturday, September 2, 2000, 1:55 |
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In a message dated 2000:09:01 6:45:12 PM, cowan@LOCKE.CCIL.ORG writes:
>> > -"banana" => utterly Americanized Asians (in the tragic sense of
>"they
>> > have lost their marbles and their heritage and gone too gung ho on
>American
>> > values of the lowest common denominator")
>>
>> That's a new one on me.
>
>I believe "banana" is an imitation of "Oreo", meaning "a person black on
>the outside, white on the inside". This originally meant someone who
>identified themselves with the oppressive elements in society, but
>now can (alas) refer to anyone of education whatsoever.
It has been much older usage than that! There has been use of this term
amongst British-educated Chinese & other "yellow-fellows" for the past hmmm
150 yrs or so.
It's not used to deride people who are educated but those who are
conformists. .. which is to say those who are trying too hard to fit into the
most dubious of the cultured "white mainstream" social mores (example: the
Asian teenage boys & young men who are heavily into "tricking out" their
small-sized sports cars with all sortsa silly gizmos, audiospeakers, stickers
& tailfins).
czHANg
<< One thing foreigners, computers,
& poets have in common is that they make unexpected linguistic
associations. >>
* Jasia Reichardt
- creative cyberneticist *