No.
Sure seems like someone trying hard to find a word to get upset about. It literally means to Knock your head (against the ground). the character is 磕头. More commonly now is bowing as opposed to literally bowing down until your forehead touches the ground. Submit or subjugate. It is a very common practice among Buddhists today. Harkens back to the “mandate of heaven”: with heaven-earth; emperor-subject; parent-child, etc.
At worst it is cultural appropriation but methinks it’s a huge stretch to being racist. Since “English” is made up of primarily borrowed words and languages, that in and of itself is not worthy of being racist, n’est pas?
I think the word “chopsticks” has a more unseemliness about it than the word “kowtow.”
The word chopsticks probably came from the hackneyed “chop chop!” meaning to go fast, and the word is probably unrelated to any Asian terminology for the utensil.
As said before, kowtow is basically the English pronunciation of a Chinese word that is used in a meaning that’s faithful to the original.
I don’t know. Is the term “boondocks” racist because it comes from the Tagalog language?
Google is telling me that 80% of English words are loan words. This way lies madness. :eek:
Also, TIL that boondocks, and the more common local form “boonies” came from Tagalog by way of the US army. Now I’m curious how it made it to NZ slang; directly from US media, or via US military (perhaps WWII)…
Chopsticks is a literal translation of the Chinese kuàizi (筷子) meaning something quick or nimble.
Chop Chop is from Cantonese and means “do it quickly” or “right now.”
It’s one thing when the words include a reference to a culture, like “Welshing” on a bet or being “gypped.” Then, if the word came from a negative view of said culture, it makes sense to call it racist. Or if it had a history since its appropriation of being used in a racist manner (like being used as part of a negative stereotype), that could make it racist.
And I guess if the word were sacred in some oppressed culture, you could argue it was culturally appropriated. But merely borrowing words can’t be–at least, no the bad kind.