# Is "kowtow" a racist derogatory term? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602 "2019-10-10T19:47:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/1 "2019-10-10T19:47:47Z")
The following comes from this thread about the [NBA and China.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=883338) > [@Political correctness - allowing China to dictate what we (Western nations) do or say.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-allowing-china-to-dictate-what-we-western-nations-do-or-say/841478/98): > > You and two other posters used the term “kowtow”. I thought this was a racist derogatory term, and a Chinese-American friend agrees. Just a thought. > [@Political correctness - allowing China to dictate what we (Western nations) do or say.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-allowing-china-to-dictate-what-we-western-nations-do-or-say/841478/99): > > Can you cite anyone else who thinks this? It’s derived from Chinese. Why would this be racist? Nobody is saying the Chinese were kowtowing here. > [@Political correctness - allowing China to dictate what we (Western nations) do or say.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-allowing-china-to-dictate-what-we-western-nations-do-or-say/841478/100): > > I think it has to do with the Chinese concept of the century of humiliation. The term is derived from a Chinese word, IIRC, which is part of their reverence or respect ceremony towards the emperor and/or the imperial family, but was picked up by westerners and often used in derogatory ways to say Chinese were, uniformly submissive or passive or whatever. > > I don’t think it’s a racist term, but it does have some negative connotations, especially today and especially when used by westerners. My sons partner and his family are from China, and this is how they explain it to me anyway when it’s come up. It may have negative connotations but I can’t see how it is racist. If the term has been used in a derogatory manner to describe the Chinese as being uniformly submissive it must have been long ago. I don’t think it is at all applied to the Chinese people in the modern world. But I could be wrong. Let’s see what turns up in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/2 "2019-10-10T20:05:54Z")
Kowtow is a derogatory term, like grovel or servile, but not a racist term. I have seen kowtow more often used to describe people or nations giving into another nations demands then about the Chinese people being servile. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/3 "2019-10-10T21:28:18Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/4 "2019-10-11T05:12:45Z")
Not racist. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/5 "2019-10-11T05:32:33Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No. No reason to be a thug. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/6 "2019-10-11T11:49:15Z")
> **[Kowtow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowtow)** > > A kowtow /ˈkaʊtaʊ/ is the act of deep respect shown by prostration, that is, kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. In Sinospheric culture, the kowtow is the highest sign of reverence. It was widely used to show reverence for one's elders, superiors, and especially the Emperor of China, as well as for religious and cultural objects of worship. In modern times, usage of the kowtow has been reduced. > The word Kowtow is derived from 叩頭/叩头 (Jyutping: kau3 tau4; pinyin... The word implies that the modern Communists are as tyrannical as the emperors were. That’s a political jibe, not a racial slur. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/7 "2019-10-11T12:13:06Z")
If “kowtow” isn’t racist/derogatory, then why, in a thread about China, was it used repeatedly instead of “grovel” or similar? I wish I knew a few more Chinese-Americans I could ask. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/8 "2019-10-11T12:59:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > If “kowtow” isn’t racist/derogatory, then why, in a thread about China, was it used repeatedly instead of “grovel” or similar? I wish I knew a few more Chinese-Americans I could ask. I say the word isn’t racist, not having read the thread, I can’t speak to the users of the word. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/9 "2019-10-11T13:05:03Z")
It’s derogatory to authoritarian political regimes, and people who ought to rebel against them, but choose to submit. Since the word is of Chinese origin, it is used in a discussion of Chinese politics. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/10 "2019-10-11T13:09:09Z")
Perhaps pushing for clarity on the question of “racist or not racist” misses a more useful point, and tends to suggest a binary choice between “people using the word that way are inherently jerks” and “we should all go ahead and use the word that way”. It’s great that English tends to adopt words from other languages, but I can see it might be a bit problematic that native users of the language borrowed from might sense a misfit between how English speakers use the word and how native users do. It might kind of trivialize and misrepresent the word. It’s a kind of cultural appropriation. If we combine that with the choice to keep using the word in a discussion involving specifically those native users, it could be insulting, right? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/11 "2019-10-11T13:21:32Z")
I’m sure that the Party apparatchiks who ordered the Tienamen Square crackdown, and today’s Hong Kong crackdown, would love it if we stopped comparing them to the imperial mandarins. Should we let them dictate the vocabulary that we use? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/12 "2019-10-11T14:14:56Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Perhaps pushing for clarity on the question of “racist or not racist” misses a more useful point, and tends to suggest a binary choice between “people using the word that way are inherently jerks” and “we should all go ahead and use the word that way”. > > It’s great that English tends to adopt words from other languages, but I can see it might be a bit problematic that native users of the language borrowed from might sense a misfit between how English speakers use the word and how native users do. It might kind of trivialize and misrepresent the word. It’s a kind of cultural appropriation. If we combine that with the choice to keep using the word in a discussion involving specifically those native users, it could be insulting, right? No. Kowtowing is a verb, not an adjective. The CCP is currently trying to get the pesky NBA and Hong Kong to kowtow to its oppressive ways. We should refuse to kowtow to them and we should refuse to stop using perfectly honest words. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/13 "2019-10-11T14:52:27Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I’m sure that the Party apparatchiks who ordered the Tienamen Square crackdown, and today’s Hong Kong crackdown, would love it if we stopped comparing them to the imperial mandarins. Should we let them dictate the vocabulary that we use? The CCP has been VERY good at stirring up things with charges or implications of racism, so this would be a two-fer for them really. Basically, they have been trying (and succeeding to a degree) in causing a mental shift that Chinese=CCP and that the CCP IS CHINA. So, got an issue with something the CCP is doing? You are a racist against China and the Chinese people. CCP actions towards other countries or wrt territorial grabs has connotations of colonialism? You are obviously a racist and hate the Chinese people. Use the word kowtow towards what the CCP is doing? Well, that’s saying that all of China and the Chinese people are subservient, or that you think every Chinese person demands this…or something. You see this all the time, though generally it’s not directed at the US. I’ve seen some of the stuff the CCP and their state owned media has said about some of the stuff in Australia, and it was funny to see them calling the Canadians racists because of the Huawei. What’s sad is so many people fall for this, both inside of China and outside. When you actually take a step back, you can see that it’s all crafted outrage and directed anger with the specific purpose of muddying the waters and obscuring the reality. I wouldn’t use the world kowtow myself, as it does have some derogatory baggage as well as history. Plus, it’s just old. But it’s pretty certain that the CCP IS trying to force companies and countries to do things their way, to think their way (and, more importantly to not think about things the CCP doesn’t want them to think about). And more people should be aware of this and aware of how the CCP is manipulating people, companies and countries, and why it’s important to at least be aware and to say something when they cross one of the many lines they cross on an almost daily basis somewhere in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Enilno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58f4c7/32.png) [@Enilno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enilno)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/14 "2019-10-11T15:09:33Z")
As a Chinese American, I don’t find the term to be racist or derogatory. The English term came from western diplomats refusing to perform the ceremonial prostration to the Qing Emperor because it would mean that the representatives of another country is subservient to the Qing Emperor. So of course it carried a negative connotation. The usage in English is reflective of this historical context. > [@XT](#): > > The term is derived from a Chinese word, IIRC, which is part of their reverence or respect ceremony towards the emperor and/or the imperial family, but was picked up by westerners and often used in derogatory ways to say Chinese were, uniformly submissive or passive or whatever. Traditionally in Chinese culture it’s just a symbol for respect or reverence. Yes it’s part of the ceremony towards the emperor, but you would also kowtow to your parents or elders, to a deity in a temple, or to express gratitude or beg for forgiveness. In modern mainland China it may be looked down on by some as an relic of the past, but not because it means to show undue subservience. I think the English term carries it’s own connotations entirely different from how the word may be used in Chinese, and using the term in context of Hong Kong and the Chinese government is pretty apt. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/15 "2019-10-11T16:44:15Z")
I would say no. Then again I’m less likely to say words are ‘racist’ generally than a lot of people here. To me ‘racist’ is per dictionary definition such as “showing or feeling discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or believing that a particular race is superior to another.” And it should be a literal expression of such views IMO, not an ever expanding circle of inferences. A fairly small list of English words IMO directly imply such views (eg. words long and commonly used unambiguously as derogatory labels), and ‘progress’ does not demands the list rapidly multiply as some seem to want it to. I myself tend not to use archaic words with an original English use referring to the supposed difference in behavior of ‘other’ cultures relative to the west (kowtow, gyp, etc). But I think it devalues real racism to call use of such terms ‘racist’. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/16 "2019-10-11T21:33:32Z")
> [@Enilno](#): > > Traditionally in Chinese culture it’s just a symbol for respect or reverence. Yes it’s part of the ceremony towards the emperor, but you would also kowtow to your parents or elders, to a deity in a temple, or to express gratitude or beg for forgiveness. This. My first trip to China back in the 80s I went with my family to visit my grandfather’s and my uncle’s graves. All present kowtowed three time towards my grandfather’s grave (all were from the younger generations); at my uncles grave the family of the same generation kowtowed once and the younger among us three times. Simply a show of respect. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/17 "2019-10-12T06:32:55Z")
I’ve used this word before and had no idea it had anything to do with China. I don’t think it’s racist, but from an etymology perspective, ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/18 "2019-10-12T14:54:14Z")
No word or phrase is _ **inherently** _ racist. Racial or racist connotations arise from usage, as does the degree that they may be offensive. If you could show–_ **through a corpus study** _–that the term _kowtow_ demonstrates a preponderance of negatively racial usage, you could say that it is a racist term, but I suspect that such usage has faded away over time. For example, you could probably argue–_ **using a corpus study** _–that the phrase _inner city_ is used to index problematic racial connotations, and arguably has racist overtones. I’m not sure you could do the same with _kowtow_, especially with regard to the Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/19 "2019-10-12T15:50:57Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Perhaps pushing for clarity on the question of “racist or not racist” misses a more useful point, and tends to suggest a binary choice between “people using the word that way are inherently jerks” and “we should all go ahead and use the word that way”.b > > It’s great that English tends to adopt words from other languages, but I can see it might be a bit problematic that native users of the language borrowed from might sense a misfit between how English speakers use the word and how native users do. It might kind of trivialize and misrepresent the word. It’s a kind of cultural appropriation. If we combine that with the choice to keep using the word in a discussion involving specifically those native users, it could be insulting, right? The comments related by **XT** in the other thread sounded like a claim of cultural appropriation to me. I don’t think CA is wrong per se, and I don’t see “kowtow” as any wrong kind of CA. It is interesting in it’s etymology, in Imperial China there may have been no negative connotations, but the western world saw such prostration as a negative thing. In this case I was using it negatively as applied to the NBA, but not the Chinese. I’m not sure why I chose the word “kowtow”, I might have seen in some article about this beforehand, or my mind made the China connection unconsciously, but I can see a little confusion by using it in this context. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602/20 "2019-10-12T23:28:17Z")
I personally would use kowtow and grovel differently. Kowtow, to me, means to completely surrender and give in to what the other side wants, while grovel means to go and beg for forgiveness, offering to do anything to get it. There is a similarity there, but not the same thing. For me, a better synonym is submit, but that lacks the negative connotation towards the one being submitted to. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kowtow-a-racist-derogatory-term/841602.md?page=2)