I hope no one on this list watches Deadwood ...

How about more on MT?


on 3/20/08 3:40 PM, Tracy Wuster at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Dear Mark Twain listserve members,
> 
> Like many of you, I would guess, I read Mr. Fears usage of the word
> "coolie" with a cringe and a warning to my significant other, who is
> well versed in the history of similar situations on this listserve,
> that maybe we should head to the cellar to wait out the storm.  My
> first reaction was to simply laugh off the usage, not because it was
> funny, but because its author has become the proverbial "crazy uncle"
> who might be better to laugh at than fight with.
> 
> But at the same time, I have been reading Robert Lee's insightful book
> about the historical development of stereotypes of Asians in America
> (the chapter on "The Coolie and the Making of the White Working Class"
> being most germane.)  This book makes apparent, if it needed to be
> made so, why the invocation of the word has no place in public
> discourse, unless of course in historical context, as a previous
> respondent suggested.
> 
> The objection to the use of the term "coolie" is not merely a
> "pathologically correct" objection to colorful language. It is not
> "group-think" to understand that the term has a highly pejorative
> history (which is not really a matter of what one *perceives*).  The
> point of the objection, I perceive, is that the term "coolie" has no
> place in intelligent discussions except as a historical term.  And it
> only has a place in humorous usage if it is actually funny.  I would
> guess that others on this list would join me in thinking that Twain
> would not have found your "coolie" joke whimsical.
> 
> One last point.  There is a categorical distinction Mr. Fears failedl to make
> between the usage of the pejorative term "coolie" and the pejorative
> terms "fossil" and "troll."  The first term is a pejorative that
> applies to a group of people of a certain race.  "Troll" and "fossil"
> are pejoratives that were applied to a single person.  The first term
> may serve to limit contributions of a large number of people; the other aimed
> to only limit the commentary of only one.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Tracy Wuster
> 
> 
> On 3/20/08, David H Fears <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Isn't it interesting that those who lie here waiting in attack mode for
>>  terms they *perceive* as pejorative respond by using terms such as "troll"
>> and
>>  "fossil" in ways which are undeniably pejorative. Such abuse can only limit
>>  contributions to this forum.
>> 
>> 
>>  David H Fears
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>  **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL
>>  Home.
>>  
>> (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00
>> 030000000001)
>> 

-- 
Linwood Cottage, Sheffield

There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and ever eatable,
drinkable and smokable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation.
They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it. How
strange it is. It is like paying out your whole fortune for a cow that has
gone dry.
-- Mark Twain's Autobiography


http://fch-senseandnonsense.blogspot.com/