Is the word "Japland" Offensive

[whiteNSXs]

It just shows the shift of demographics of NSX owners. It really does not take much education or common sense to realize that "Jap", "Chink", "gook", and a few others are racially derogatory. These kind of words really are not appropriate in any situation whether if they are referring to other races or your own. We have always praised NSXPRIME as a superior site than other car sites in terms of maturity and education levels. No, these terms do not hurt my family but does make me cringe and be embarrassed as a Prime member if these racial slurs are deemed appropriate in this site. I am glad that people speak up and denounce the uses of these terms.
Steve

 

[Vega$ NSX]

What do you guys have against Jewish American Princesses? :tongue:

 

[Energy1]

"What do you guys have against Jewish American Princesses?"

Ha! I dated one a few years ago! ...also there is a Japfest...the UK folks have every year, I have never seen any issues with the name....
http://www.japfest.co.uk/
__________________

 

[Dhalsim]

"What do you guys have against Jewish American Princesses?"

Ha! I dated one a few years ago! ...also there is a Japfest...the UK folks have every year, I have never seen any issues with the name....
http://www.japfest.co.uk/
__________________

perhaps because unlike Americans......Europeans aren't wrapped up in PC nonsense.........

Anyway I always thought Jap was a derrogatory word.......then one day we had a young (24) Japanese guy (born and raised in Japan...educated in USA)start in our company and he kept referring to his friends, family and other Japanese as Japs. I was shocked at first but realized to him it wasn't derrroagtory at all.................so did his parents fail to educate him on the meaning of the word??.........

 

[heySkippy]

Unlike some other slurs, I think Jap is primarily an American thing because of Pearl Harbor and WW2. Those of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s had fathers and uncles who served in WW2 or grew up with that war.

 

[JeffShoots]

I don't understand this Thread? Are you saying my car (this is a car forum) is JAP, JDM, JAPAN, or Japanese

Now you say cracker (I'm white) and I get hungry
Check your panties boys..........just words typed on a screen......how can that hurt you :frown:

 

[Dhalsim]

I don't understand this Thread? Are you saying my car (this is a car forum) is JAP, JDM, JAPAN, or Japanese

Now you say cracker (I'm white) and I get hungry
Check your panties boys..........just words typed on a screen......how can that hurt you :frown:

huh?? Did you mean to quote me or was that a mistake? I dont see how what you wrote has anything to do with the part I wrote.

 

[Da Hapa]

I am not Japanese but I had the pleasure of living in Japan for 6 months with a Japanese family while I was in college.

I am not a fan of political correctness but I have to be honest... I can clearly see why/how "Japland" would/could be offensive and I'm still in the dark as to why the OP in the other thread even used that term.

It's easy to sit behind a computer and throw out racially charged words and simply tell someone to suck it up and get over it. But ask yourself... would you say the same thing in a room full of Japanese nationals? Probably not.. at least I hope not. And why? Because it's rude, disrespectful and more. So if you wouldn't behave that way in person why does the safety net of the internet excuse this kind of behavior?

 

[JeffShoots]

FIXED :redface:

 

[Da Hapa]

Unlike some other slurs, I think Jap is primarily an American thing because of Pearl Harbor and WW2. Those of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s had fathers and uncles who served in WW2 or grew up with that war.

The derogatory term Jap or Nip was widely used earlier in this century by Americans, Europeans and the Australians as a derogatory term for the Japanese. Sadly, it's not just an American thing.

 

[Da Hapa]

Anyway I always thought Jap was a derrogatory word.......then one day we had a young (24) Japanese guy (born and raised in Japan...educated in USA)start in our company and he kept referring to his friends, family and other Japanese as Japs. I was shocked at first but realized to him it wasn't derrroagtory at all.................so did his parents fail to educate him on the meaning of the word??.........

Having lived in Japan I can tell you with certainty that "Jap" is, in fact, derogatory.

Moreover, not that I think it's any better behavior, but how many blacks in America and elsewhere openly refer to themselves with the "N" word? That certainly doesn't make the word any less emotional or derogatory.

 

[robr]

I may have read robr post incorrectly... I understood it as if you put the word "land" behind something it becomes derogatory. My mistake.

The way he puts it I can't think of a country that people use the part of the name as a derogatory statement.. niger doesn't count. It's usually african americans that get that derogatory name. maybe cananda and canucks.... canuckland? Its not catchy enough.

In case you are still unclear, what I said was pick any derogatory word that describes an ethnicity. You yourself said

"I agree the term Jap is offensive"

So if that's offensive, why is "Japland" not offensive? Again, pick any other term, since I'm Jewish (which technically is not a nationality, but works the same way here), I'm allowed to use "k*ke". Would you refer to Israel as "k*keland" and think that's not offensive, even though that specific word may not ever have been used before in an offensive way and I may have just invented it?

 

[KooLaid]

LoL, too funny. I'm asian and I don't give a damn.

Oh and chinese got shortened to "chink" btw. Not so much "chinaman". Chinaman was my high school nick. We also had a buddies whose nick names were "fatass", "even fatter fatass", beaner, and hanson.

I'm taking a wild guess but I'd say more 75% of the people who replied so far are NOT asian.

 

[kolohe]

Anyway I always thought Jap was a derrogatory word.......then one day we had a young (24) Japanese guy (born and raised in Japan...educated in USA)start in our company and he kept referring to his friends, family and other Japanese as Japs. I was shocked at first but realized to him it wasn't derrroagtory at all.................so did his parents fail to educate him on the meaning of the word??.........

That is one possibility. Also, just because he is Japanese and uses this term does not make it acceptable. Your initial thought was the right one, "Jap was a derrogatory word".

LoL, too funny. I'm asian and I don't give a damn...
I'm taking a wild guess but I'd say more 75% of the people who replied so far are NOT asian.

If you are inferring being asian has anything to do with showing respect and some sensitivity toward others, I would disagree. Also I would venture to say the "I don't give a damn" attitude is partly the reason such slurs continue to be perpetuated.

 

[Cairo94507]

In today's society, what rock has one been living under to think that "Japland" is an OK expression? I swear, some people's children will never grow up and actually be able to think for themselves. Oh wait....some of them become my clients!

 

[tosugrad]

Horrible poll choices.

 

[Big_D]

I dont think the OP intended for the term to be derogitory. I have also heard of Japfest which is an NSX event held in the UK. I think sometimes people are a little too sensitive.

 

[Ryanmcd2]

I need to find stripperland, I think it's by Iceland.

 

[docjohn]

I need to find stripperland, I think it's by Iceland.

hmmm I wonder where all the lappers are from???hmmmm:smile:

 

[KSXNSX]

No one is being overly-sensitive here. The OP asked if it was offensive, and people gave their responses as the OP requested them to do.

Then, he, along with others, insist that it is not offensive and that those who are offended by it are just being too sensitive. Funny if you ask me. Let's victimize the victims some more. It's their fault they are offended by a word we created to insult them.

And if you are white, you have no place to tell the minority race how they should feel about a slur your people created and used in a poor manner.

Get angry at your own people for creating the term in the first place and for the fact that you can't use "Jap" as an abbreviation for "Japan". I'm pretty sure Japanese people would not be offended by it if it wasn't backed by a history of racism and oppression.

If the OP were just looking for an explanation, that'd be fine. He's not. By the way he worded his poll, and by his trying to defend the use of the word AFTER people have generously tried to explain its history to him, he has demonstrated he is here to try to defend its use.

That is not OK.

I'm not personally upset by it at all; I have no stake in this as I am not Japanese.

And I agree that these arbitrary words are totally meaningless in themselves and should not be offensive--it's just too bad that a certain demographic made them offensive to begin with. You made your own bed, now lay in it.

That goes for all these other epithets that were created used to insult and oppress people. If you didn't use the "N-word" against African Americans while you enslaved them; hung them; beat them; raped them;etc, I bet you it'd be a totally meaningless word today. But it's not, precisely for those reasons. You made it into what it is. Whenever you call someone that word, you are conjuring up an entire history of those atrocities. Now you are telling people that they are being too sensitive about it.

If someone just uses "Jap" as an abbreviation without knowing its negative connotations, it is acceptable so long as they don't continue to do so despite learning of them. Or if the term is used in a neutral or positive fashion, that is also possibly acceptable although tactless. It all depends on how you use it.

"Jap" is the most intuitive abbreviation for "Japan". In high school, I used it once too ignorantly and in an inoffensive way. A Japanese girl told me that it was a racial slur (I had never heard it used before then) and I have never used it again even in neutral or positive contexts. No problem, and she wasn't upset at all.

Had I continued to use it, or had I insisted that it was OK, I can bet you I would have been making an @ss out of myself and offended her.

I agree that all these slurs are stupid, but I don't use them out of tact and courtesy because I know what they CAN imply to some people and I know I would sound stupid if I do use them. The only people I can blame are those that created them in the first place.

 

[KooLaid]

If you are inferring being asian has anything to do with showing respect and some sensitivity toward others, I would disagree. Also I would venture to say the "I don't give a damn" attitude is partly the reason such slurs continue to be perpetuated.

Well, the reason "I don't give a damn" is because there is more to life to worry about at the moment than someone spewing out a racial slur. It's not enough that anyone should be getting their panties in a bunch. Personally, I say you can cry about it on your way to the bank in your new R8 (because there is no new nsx) with your hot girlfriend until it's time to go home from work to be with the wife.

 

[KSXNSX]

Well, the reason "I don't give a damn" is because there is more to life to worry about at the moment than someone spewing out a racial slur. It's not enough that anyone should be getting their panties in a bunch. Personally, I say you can cry about it on your way to the bank in your new R8 (because there is no new nsx) with your hot girlfriend until it's time to go home from work to be with the wife.

I couldn't figure out half of what you are trying to say, but the message I got is: "Don't get your panties in a bunch by saying it's offensive."

1. That is trivializing the matter.

2. Just because some people are educated and know what is tactful and what is not, doesn't mean they are upset or "have their panties in a bunch." How immature do you have to be to even suggest that?

We can stand up against ignorant comments or racial intolerance without "getting our panties in a bunch." We can make sound arguments and let people know how we feel without getting upset.

I suppose you have to keep your mouth shut or laugh ignorantly like a dote to be cool? Not in my opinion. I don't care what anyone thinks. I know what is right and what is wrong and what is tacky and what is not.

It's funny that "don't get your panties in a bunch" is THE most common retort people have against people who are being politically correct. It's funny how that's the first reply to come out of every opponents mouth when someone tells someone else that they've made a racially insensitive comment.

And I find it sad you let your friends call you "Ch*naman". It doesn't matter if it was an inside joke and they didn't mean it, that is just plain retarded. Can you imagine a bunch of white guys calling their black friend the n-word? Out in public? You do know who looks like the idiot in the bunch right?

These things may not bother you personally--good for you--but you are weakening everyone else in your race by letting people do this.

I hope you don't let people call your kid "Ch*naman" either now or in the future. It's weak not to stand up for yourself. You don't have to laugh and brush it off to NOT let it bother you. Hell, these things don't get to me, but I still say something because something needs to be said. If no African Americans said anything about using the N-word, do you think white people would have stopped? Hell no.

And I am not saying whine and complain like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Just stand up for yourself in a calm and logical manner.

 

[Klayton]

alabamaland??? Well whats deutschland? or however it's spelled. The geographic location usually known as germany?

Deutschland is german for Germany. Never heard it being used as an expression of slander.

Ontopic if you don't know if it's offensive or not simply don't use it. I wouldn't use it in any situation.

 

[BD]

Apearantly, statements like these can be forgiven:biggrin::tongue:
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[KooLaid]

I just wrote a big long thing but.... my feelings on why I'm not offended or don't care needs no justification to anyone. Especially here on prime. I am what I am, I care the way I care and feel the way I feel. I can be PC when I want to and need to and not PC when I want to. Did plenty of knowing when to be PC in the service.

If you're offended by Japland, well you're offended. Good luck with that, I hope you can recover from it. Am I an insensitive asshole? yeah, I am but I'm not the one calling anybody a jap here. Is it possible to correct someone on not being PC? Sure, I was corrected when I called someone a "retard" here but the ones that were shedding the tears weren't in the mood for educating, but rather stuck on being pissed off. So sure, I commend you for educating people on making those mistakes, someone eventually has to do it but the only people who will do it are those who both care enough to and are actually emotionally affected by it. Seems you fit the criteria. I don't fit the part about caring or emotional affect so I would be the wrong man for that job in terms of Japland.

We were taught in kindergarten about "Sticks and Stones". I'm good to go.

Good luck with your....whatever it is you seek to do.

Oh yeah and this is my last post in this thread so have fun inferring whatever you wish. I get too caught up in these stupid threads that have nothing to do with my nsx or anything remotely resembling 4 wheels and a steering wheel.

These things may not bother you personally--good for you--but you are weakening everyone else in your race by letting people do this.

And to my asian brothers here, I apologize for weakening you guys by not caring. Maybe you other asians out there can be the stronger one for myself and others, for it will be many years before I can have the luxury to be offended.