The Northerner
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Thu Jan-20-11 06:52 PM
Original message |
TYT: Is 'Gringo' Like the N-Word? NPR Under Attack |
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Edited on Thu Jan-20-11 06:53 PM by The Northerner
Run time: 06:28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8i1OpdJMS0
Posted on YouTube: January 20, 2011
By YouTube Member: TheYoungTurks
Views on YouTube: 17237
Posted on DU: January 20, 2011
By DU Member: The Northerner
Views on DU: 1801 | Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss NPR coming under attack over a guest who used the word 'gringo' in reference to the Arizona shooting.
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Sal Minella
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Thu Jan-20-11 06:59 PM
Response to Original message |
1. One possible source for the word comes from the U.S. soldiers |
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singing "Green Grow the Lilacs" -- the Mexican soldiers called their opponents "greengrows" -- true or not true? don't know. Good story, though.
So I would think gringos could call each other that, just as blacks call each other the n-word.
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demosincebirth
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:05 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
5. When U.S. troops invaded Mexico through Vera Cruz and marched on |
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to Mexico City, crowds formed and chanted "Green Go, Green Go." U.S. troops or Marines wore green uniforms. So, it evolved into Gringo.
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Sal Minella
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Thu Jan-20-11 08:47 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
16. Indigenous people stood along the road chanting in English? n/t |
demosincebirth
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Thu Jan-20-11 08:54 PM
Response to Reply #16 |
19. Not indigenous people...Mexicans in Mexico City. They were educated, you know. |
EFerrari
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:05 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
6. "Gringo" is a word whose valence changes with context but |
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Edited on Thu Jan-20-11 07:07 PM by EFerrari
it can never be analogous to the n word because white people are never in the position of black people in this country.
ETA: This is one of those right wing "reverse racism" false equivalencies.
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demosincebirth
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:08 PM
Response to Reply #6 |
8. Its only a reference to persons from the U.S. nt |
EFerrari
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:09 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
10. I don't think I understand your point. n/t |
demosincebirth
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:37 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
11. I'll try and simplify it. In Mexico, if you're white and come from the U.S, you're a gringo. |
EFerrari
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Thu Jan-20-11 08:17 PM
Response to Reply #11 |
13. Okay. I guess I don't understand it as a reply to my post. |
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The word can be used affectionately, neutrally or negatively depending on context.
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demosincebirth
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Thu Jan-20-11 08:48 PM
Response to Reply #13 |
17. In Mexico, there is only one meaning. Believe me, I lived there. |
EFerrari
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Thu Jan-20-11 11:37 PM
Response to Reply #17 |
21. One literal meaning which varies tonally depending on context. |
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I don't think we're really contradicting each other.
The other day I told my mother I was one of the few cousins that didn't turn gringa, meaning that I'd kept some of our culture and we both laughed. That wasn't to put down my brother or any of our many cousins.
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demosincebirth
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Fri Jan-21-11 02:26 PM
Response to Reply #21 |
28. Of course you can also make it derogatory by putting a few choice word before it. nt |
zeemike
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Thu Jan-20-11 08:46 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
15. I got it from someone who knows Latino history |
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And it did come from the song Green Grows The Lialcks....the Mexicans thought it was one word gringo..and they did not understand the songs meaning...and it was not a derogatory term.
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hlthe2b
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:00 PM
Response to Original message |
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Edited on Thu Jan-20-11 07:01 PM by hlthe2b
Have they never seen the zillions of westerns on tv and in movies? Frankly, I've never heard a Latino use that in a particularly derogatory way, though perhaps in come circles it is. It refers to foreigners, or more specifically, white people, just as the Hawaiians refer to "Haole" (which literally refers to lack of color). While I think the term "honkey" has acquired more derogatory reference in its use, there is no equivalent in these terms, at least to the "N" word. That is just ridiculous.
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Sinistrous
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:05 PM
Response to Reply #2 |
7. An acquaintance of mine who lived in the southwest once |
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told me that, if you were in a bar in Mexico and started to hear the word "gringo", it was time to get the heck out of there.
From that I concluded it is not an emotionally neutral word.
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EFerrari
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:08 PM
Response to Reply #7 |
9. You might have concluded that your friend was less than fluent |
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Edited on Thu Jan-20-11 07:14 PM by EFerrari
in Spanish. :)
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Major Hogwash
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Thu Jan-20-11 09:02 PM
Response to Reply #9 |
Sinistrous
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Fri Jan-21-11 12:47 AM
Response to Reply #9 |
23. Then may I conclude that you will now share your extraordinary |
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grasp of Spanish and enlighten me? Or was your post just a drive-by cheap shot?
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EFerrari
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Fri Jan-21-11 01:06 AM
Response to Reply #23 |
24. Might want to check up thread if you're really interested. n/t |
EFerrari
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:02 PM
Response to Original message |
3. Amy Goodman broadcasts the best news every day. |
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Hello, McFly?!
But aside from that, what this story tells us is that Breitbart has one black friend. Bet me.
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SPedigrees
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:04 PM
Response to Original message |
4. If it is equivilent, since we are the gringos, we get to say it. nt |
jjewell
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Thu Jan-20-11 07:40 PM
Response to Original message |
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an American white person "Gringo" is the equivilent of an American white person referring to a black person by the "N" word???
You have GOT to be kidding...
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drgonzosghost
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Thu Jan-20-11 08:36 PM
Response to Original message |
14. Proud American expat "Gringo" here! |
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I live in Central America, and the term just doesn't bother me.
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DRex
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Thu Jan-20-11 08:52 PM
Response to Original message |
18. The worst possible name for a white person... |
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in my opinion, is massa.
When I was in Nigeria years and years ago I was horrified to be called that by most of the really poor people I met, which was almost everyone. I was just a kid, I couldn't believe it. I tried to ask everyone not to call me that, it hurt my heart so much, but Lagos was around 20,000,000 people then, so you couldn't tell everybody. Anyway, I don't know if it was a racial word so much as just some kind of deference, or if it dates to when sons of the family were commonly called master.
So maybe it was just one of those things where an old colonial word had lost some crucial aspects of its meaning, I don't know, but being just old enough I guess to comprehend the legacy of the slave trade, it was horrifying.
Gringo I kind of like.
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Grassy Knoll
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Thu Jan-20-11 11:51 PM
Response to Original message |
22. This is quite the norm........ |
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and I'm not offended , I'm more offended by republican lies and fox news slant and distortion to run this country in the shit hole to gain power again, And Cmdr.Pill Popper Limbaugh is a prick for being a cesspool manager for stirring the shit.
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HankyDubs
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Fri Jan-21-11 01:36 AM
Response to Original message |
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who tells you this term really offends them or is any way similar to the n-bomb in terms of its historical significance...
...is one more lying gringo.
I hate cilantro so when I make guacamole I refer to it as "gringomole." Groans and rolling eyes ensue.
White people are such fucking crybabies I swear.
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saras
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Fri Jan-21-11 01:59 AM
Response to Original message |
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Gringo would be like the n-word if Mexicans had owned American slaves for a couple hundred years, Mexico ruled the world, there were more whites in jail in Mexico than Mexicans, and whites were pretty much still second-class citizens throughout the North American continent.
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Iggo
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Fri Jan-21-11 02:44 AM
Response to Reply #26 |
27. That pretty much sums it up. |
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It's not a nice word, and depending on context it can be quite rude and mean.
But it ain't the n-word, no-way no-how.
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Devil_Fish
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Sun Jan-23-11 12:24 AM
Response to Reply #27 |
29. I'm a Gringo. I'm not offended by the word. Guedo dosn't offend me eaither. |
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My Mexican Wife's family call's me both, and calls my daughter Gueda, quite lovingly.
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