• spujb@lemmy.cafe
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      6 months ago

      giving you the benefit of the doubt like maybe english isn’t your first language, that word is considered a pejorative/slur in all modern usage

        • Sarmyth@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          6 months ago

          Naw, it was most commonly used as a term similar to “that chinese guy” which is easy to confuse with racism at a time period where people were generally racist towards the chinese, but the term itself is not racist. There were actual slurs back then they could use if they were about that.

          My Grandmother said they always bought they’re vegetables growing up from the chinaman who rolled his cart through the alleyway behind their homes. It’s not a term of hate, but it’s easy to say hateful things alongside it.