“ETHNIC”
Hey Shmei-
Well, if we’re setting aside for the moment my belief that the labels of “good”, or “bad” are irrelevant and useless (thanks michael krass…):
I don’t like the use of the word “ethnic” to desrcibe ANYTHING. food, people, aesthetics (“she has a really ethnic look), language, dialects, neighborhoods…
because it doesn’t mean much, other than “not-white”, or “not-american” or “not-white-american”. and usually, it refers to “not-white/american” but OF color. moreover, “ethnic”, as a descriptor, has had an evolving meaning over the last several centuries.
a brief history lecture, if you’ll indulge me:
When the first waves of post-revolutionary immigration started to happen in the US, it was largely Italians, Germans, and Irish. As such, they were the others, and Italians especially were the darky others. They were the “ethnics”. (naturally, slaves, and later freedman/women were largely irrelevant and defied such classifications, as they were either considered property, or were then so isolated and segregated that their difference was self-evident.)
And then eastern European jews, escaping the pogroms / military conscription in Russia and Poland. the jews. VERY ethnic.
Then there was the beginning of the Asian influx as the trans-continental rail-road was being built: Chinese laborers who were absolutely nothing other than indentured servants. And then Latinos, other Asian natonalities, African immigrants…etc etc.
African Americans are hardly ever referred to as “ethnic” because they’ve been in this country so long, they’re just the perennial Dark Other.
and Irish, Italian, German, and Eastern European americans are, at this point, almost always thought of as “white”. not ethnic. not the other.
so, as I understand it, ethnic means “foriegn/dark-skinned other”. those who are considered ethnic change from one generation to the next.
italian food is no longer considered “ethnic food”: thai food is. ethopian food, most certainly.
so, is it a “bad” thing to say about someone? a bad descriptor? racist? probably not as bad as the nigger, spic, gook (for chinese), kike (jews), jap (as it refers to japanese americans, not jewish american princesses), towel-head, kraut (for germans) guinea (for italians)…etc.
it is most CERTAINLY racialist.
and, usually ignorant, as it doesn’t actually describe anything at all, except otherness.
which leads me to the question that I don’t think has a single, all-encompassing answer: is otherness a bad thing?
it sure is when it’s used against a person or a group, either personally or institutionally.
but, as we all know, to acknowledge difference is not necessarily a bad thing. we don’t particularly want to be a melting pot anymore, but maybe a salad bowl…
soooo…
ethnic.
not usually a compliment, unless it is accompanied by “exotic” which makes it sexualized, and I guess some people think that makes it a compliment, but still not really…
not as destructive as other types of racial language…
but most definitely not helpful.
