DCHP-2

banana DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. & adj. — Ethnicities, slang, derogatory

  a person born in Canada of Chinese or Japanese descent who is seen as culturally assimilated into the Canadian mainstream.

  Type: 3. Semantic Change — Banana is generally used as a colloquial pejorative to describe a person of Chinese descent born and raised in North America. The common explanation, "yellow on the outside, white on the inside" (see the 2014 quotation), characterizes someone as having been completely assimilated into mainstream society. The term is also used in connection with the first generation's expectation that their children should acquire their heritage language and culture, despite often challenging monolingual settings in Canada (and despite multicultural policies, see Department of Justice reference). Often, likely because of peer pressure or even racism, these children have no desire to learn Chinese language or culture regardless of their appearance. According to internet domain searches, banana in this metaphoric sense appears most frequently in Canada (see Chart 1).
  Should one be needed, a substitute for banana without negative connotations is CBC, or Canadian-born Chinese (see entry). As a more precise and factual term, CBC is to be preferred.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "banana" (3), which is marked "N Amer.", and OED-3, s.v. "banana", which is marked "N. Amer. (chiefly Canad.)".

  See also: CBC ((2))  Canadian-born Chinese  jook sing  

  • The term's inclusion does not signify any endorsement, as clearly indicated in the usage label "derogatory". The term's meaning or usage is not condoned in any way.