Well, I figured the stereotypical drawings were a tad obvious. I referred to the Chinese character pronouncing fortress as faultless.
Want to see another thread on bigotry? Look at the one I wrote about the stupid comment, “Robins don’t mate with bluejays.”
It’s very discouraging that DrDeth has left this discussion with his mind unchanged. And I can’t quite follow the chain of logic. You understand that the term “Jap” has always been used as a racial slur, yet you think it’s okay to use it to refer to the Imperial Forces because that’s how they were referred to during WWII. Also, because they were evil so it doesn’t matter. What part of the term Jap has never ever even been used to exclusively describe the Imperial Forces do you not understand? The ENTIRE POINT of the term “Japs” is to lump Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals and the nation-state of Japan into one indistinguishable group. That’s its historical baggage, whether you like it or not.
I don’t think “nigger” should be erased from Twain’s books, but I certainly don’t think it should be used today. We can refer to the Imperial Forces as the Imperial Forces without having to censor the term “Jap” from historical documents. Why are you jumping to extremes?
Argh. I know I’m talking to a brick wall, but it’s all very frustrating.
It’s a tricky one, the contemporary references. I was at the Canberra war memorial during the “VJ Day” (now known as “Victory in Asia Day”) commemorations in 2005. There was an exhibit of WWII vehicles, and a contemporary newsreel playing on a projection screen, on the soundtrack of which I heard the words:
I’m sure they thought that contemporary newsreels were a good idea for context and memory, but that particular phrase doesn’t strike quite the conciliatory note that Australia aims for these days.
According to the Racial Slur Database, there are a lot of words to ban because someone might be offended by the words themselves, instead of understanding the context in which the word was used. Could be a busy day for the mods!
Which is completely missing the fucking point. No one is asking for complete PC here. There is a word which was used as a racial slur in the State, someone used that and was educated about it. How fucking obtuse can you be?