I’ve got a friend named Richard who only has one leg.
What do you think his handle is?
This did start off as a generan question but since it did end up in the BBQ pit… I guess I can talk all the crap I want now. I just wanted to know if using the term Jap to describe yourself to people was wrong?.. Sure some people might take it offensively but is that any reason why I can’t use EvilJap to describe my self?
Why does the term Jap bother people so much? I can understand if some Japanese person is called Jap… they might get insulted… but what if I want to be caleed a Jap…
What really pisses me off is that a Administrator of this forum, anyways… I was told that I had until Tues morning to ‘fix this’. Fix what? My name… You want me to ‘fix’ what I am?.. how bout evilnip… oh my that might still insult some people? evilbanana?, nope would probably still piss people off.
Anyways… I have a few more days before I am kicked off this forum…
EvilJap
How 'bout…
dEvilJap
JapEvil
livEpaJ
Evil J
YellowDevil my personal favorite…
…provided happyheathen doesn’t mind
Personally your name doesn’t bother me, so I see your point.
But, what if some used another word to describe themselves?
SneakyJap
Stupid (insert racial epithet here, I don’t want to single any one out)
Lazy*
Superior*
I can see many an eyebrow raised.
Why don’t you just make a concession. I would be sad to see you go over a name issue. How about just your first or last name? Or “Asian” something ( please don’t use “Azn”–I think that looks very stupid 
).
Or you could just use something that doesn’t even identify you to a particular race. I don’t feel a need to do it…maybe you do, though. I just state that I am when there are pertinent threads about race and/or Asian issues.
I feel this board is too interesting and thought-provoking to lose posting privileges over such an issue.
I hope you will consider.
Love,
A fellow Jap.
I have been using the name eviljap for over 2 year now on the web… I am known by my friends as Eviljap, I regitser for conventions and other gatherings as EvilJap, heck… my teacher even calls me EvilJap… Some people do not like ait and do not call me that name, but I have never run into anyone that told me ‘fix’ it or that I can’t use it.
If I can’t use this name… it would probably piss me off enough that I would never want to come to this messageboard anyways… with all the stuff that is talked about on this board, you would think that people would not care or at least respect what someone wants to be called… but I guess not.
Yellow Devil does have kink of kick to it… but sounds more like a racing car or something like that.
Mods, is it possible to have a sort of vote to see if anyone is offended by it?
Granted, had you not posted this thread I would have probably seen your name and thought one of the two aforemntioned things (1. that you were making a racist remark, or 2. that you are Japanese yourself, and like me, do not mind being called a Jap). If it were the former, I am more than sure your racism would have shown itself somewhere on this board and you would have either been called on it or banned. However, if it was the latter (which it is), I am also equally sure that I would have realized this from your posts.
I don’t know…I still think you should stay.
I get annoyed when I can’t even use my last name as a handle because it has the common “shita” in it. I can’t even use my last name as an AIM handle. You’d think Steve Case would do something about it, being from Hawaii, but oh well.
But hey…I use something else and move on…
I really wish you could too.
Well, you haven’t been using it on this site for over two years. Last I checked you didn’t own the site–it’s private property of someone else. They, as you admit, asked you politely to change it to what the host (you know, the owners of the site) consider to be acceptable for their site. Now you’re just being an asshole.
the question is, once again, consistency.
why would a board which promotes frank discussions, decide that a self-deprecating userid is offensive?
but, what would Sofa King have to say on this matter?
if happyheathen is acceptable, would evilheathen be offensive?
I would galdly embrace a new sib named “happynip” (or even, if appropiate, “happyshinto”)
Is EvilBrit offensive?
Why don’t you just change it to “TheEvilJap” or “IamTheEvilJap” or something?
That way people can tell you’re talking about yourself and not about other people.
It pissed off a lot of people when I called myself an Injun. If you piss no one off, it’s perfectly okay. You’ll just have to wait and see.
sirjames
If it isn’t, can I have it? Please?! As someone who’s not quite American, I stand out more in my neck of the (Penn’s) woods.
Getting back to the OP, if someone in this neck of the woods used the term “Jap”, unless I was sure of the context and the person, I would probably bridle a bit because racism is, unfortunately, all too common. When I lived in Hawaii, if I was outside of Waikiki (read non-tourist), it wouldn’t be as likely to bother me. As far as your user name goes, it made me curious, especially in the context of this question. I don’t have a problem with it.
Then again, I’m reluctant to my first car, a much-loved yellow, Geo Metro convertible by her nickname on this board in case it is considered racist. The nickname was “The Yellow Peril”, given because I got it 2 weeks after I learned to drive and it was a tiny little thing. That was also the nickname of Amelia Earhart’s car. If it is offensive, say so, and I will never use it again in this forum.
CJ
CJ - If you want to be EvilBrit, you’ll have to earn it by doing something an eeevil Brit would do. Perhaps you could push in front of a queue, or refuse to raise your hat to a lady.
Okay, fine. How about fruitycanuck? I think that sings.
Well, interesting you should mention it.
It seems to me that in America, “Jap” is considered offensive.
However, it also seems to me that in Britatin, “Jap” is not considered quite so offensive. The writer with whom I do most of my photography work is British, and the most thoughtful, funniest, sweetest, non-judgmental person I’ve ever met. On the side, he teaches “Japs” English. As an American, I found it slightly offensive; almost as if he had casually slipped “nigger” into his speech. However, it seems that on his side of the pond, it’s not really a particularly remarkable word. I’d be interested to hear what the Limeys have to say about this. 
Anyhow, I’m a Polack, ahem, Pole. Apparently, “Polack” is considered offensive. I find this odd, as the Polish word for “Pole” is “Polak.” Now, of course in the context of “dumb Polack” it is offensive. I’d argue it’s the phrase that’s offensive, not the word itself. One may argue that the word “Polack” alludes to the phrase. I’m not so sure about that. In my neighborhood in Chicago, Polack was the standard word for “Pole.” Use the word “Pole” and people would look at you funny. I never felt any negative connotation with the word “Polack.” It never carried the weight of words like “chink” and “spic” or “wop” – that’s for sure.
I’m not speaking for Polish people by any means. Just my experience and my view. Perhaps the Milwaukee Avenue Poles had a different experience; I don’t know. I recall Mike Royko getting a lot of flak for calling the Pope a “Polack.” I didn’t see it as such a big deal. Perhaps it had to do with growing up in Chicago. I don’t know.
I’m 50% Polak blood, and I personally see nothing wrong with the word.
There’s a difference between calling yourself something and trying to insinuate something about all people with a certain heritage/race/religion.
Not everyone sees that difference the same way, though, so I try to respect other people’s wishes about what they call themselves.
Although I got my head ripped off on a feminist messageboard for referring to myself as a ‘chick’ because some of the posters there considered it ‘offensive’ and ‘degrading’ to all women.
So it seems to me that I can’t prevent everyone from being offended, ever, therefore I’m going to do the best I can and refer to myself in terms I don’t find offensive and someone else in terms they don’t. shrug
Y’know, what’s funny is, I had that feeling all along.
IronicallyEvilJap?
UntypicallyEvilJap?
EvilJap_and_thats_just_my_name_im_not_racist_and_am_japanese_myself?
Some of my best friends are japs.