DCHP-2

chink derogatory, extremely offensive, Chink, chinky DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — derogatory, extremely offensive, Ethnicities

  an ethnic slur referring to people of East Asian, typically Chinese, descent.

  Type: 6. Memorial — Chink is an ethnic slur used to refer to a person of Chinese or East Asian descent. The term gained traction in the late 1800s, coinciding with an increase in Chinese migrant workers to the Pacific Coast of North America (Hughes 2006: 75). Allen (1983: 53) lists 1880 as the date of the first American attestation of chink (cf. DARE, s.v. "chink" (3); earliest quotation 1901) and Canadian examples follow soon after (see the 1893 quotation). The uses, shown in the quotations, reveal the widespread discriminatory and racist stances of many Canadians.
  The term was used in a number of compounds and contexts. A fish butchering machine invented in 1905 that replaced Chinese labour in fisheries was dubbed the iron chink (see the entry). According to Roy (2007: 319), in 1965 the periodical Chinatown News called for the elimination of chink and other derogatory terms in public discourse, following the lead of the Japanese Canadian Citizens Association in its call to end the common use of jap.
  Though chink initially targeted Chinese people, it was semantically generalized to refer to any person of Asian descent, such as Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean (see the 2007 quotation). Internet domain searches indicate that the term is still in circulation in Canada, and is currently used at levels comparable to South Africa’s, a country plagued by apartheid for almost half of the 20th century (see Chart 1).

  See also: Chinaman  Chinese laundry  iron chink  crawfish  

  • The term is included for reasons of historical accuracy and completeness. It is not intended, as clearly indicated in the usage labels "derogatory" and "extremely offensive", as a term for current use or a term, meaning or usage that is in any way condoned.

  • 1893  At the Broadway side of the park he stopped beside the line of cabs that waited in the rain for late fares. Quong took a silver dollar out of his clothes and approached the nearest cabman. "Here dolla," he said. "You go four Pell stleet [sic] eleven o'clock tomollow night, takee lil' gal lide, then me gev you five dolla." "That Chink's crazy," said the hackman to the others. "No he aint," said one. "he's laying his pipes to steal some other chink's girl. But she must be a beauty fer a heathen ter give up six dollars fer a cab fer her." 
  • 1897  "Now, miss, don't 'ee say another word. How was a young gal like you to best a Chinky? Why, Yu-ying 'ud have the teeth out of yer 'ead afore ye cud say knife!" 
  • 1911  If you have ever had a sufficiently strong desire to see this great play for yourself it will have landed you in some little town of the Pacific Coast where there are huge buildings equipped with smoke stacks and small windows like elephant's eyes. Somewhere beneath those acres of roof you may have seen smoky "Chinks" (Chinamen) kneeling before a vat of lacquer. 
  • 1912  Chink, a Chinaman. 
  • 1917  Would the gentleman who will persist in sending contributions in Chinese kindly enclose a literal translation. The Editor wishes to thank him for the compliment paid, but at this stage of the campaign and not coming from Vancouver; has been unable to master the Celestial language. It is also pointed out, that a Chink Dictionary is not included in the list of books issued by H. M. Stationary Office. 
  • 1933  The chorus, "Little Chink," featured Lorraine Olivier and Edith Johnston as Chinese girl and boy respectively. The senior girls assisted and were becomingly dressed in the native Chinese girls' costume. 
  • 1979  P.Q. Hugh Trendell writes from Cambridge: I came to Canada when I was 13 years old, in 1916, and was often called a bloody bronco. One day I asked a chap why I was called that. 'Because you're always kicking,' he said. And, looking back he was right. I was always kicking. If I thought something was wrong, or being done wrongly, I said so, not having learned in those days to keep my big mouth shut. All these dimwits who worry about racism today should have been in Canada then. We went to the Chink's for pie and ice cream after the show. We took our laundry to the Chink's. A Dago was a Dago; a Wop was a Wop; I was a rotten Limey; and no one seemed to mind. 
  • 1986  Robert Yip, a director of the Council's Ottawa branch, says the council is also fighting more subtle cultural biases reflected in the media and education systems. Yip remembers the taunts of "Chink" and "Chinaman" from fellow students when he was growing up in the '50s in Blubber Bay, B.C., population, 180. When Yip watched television, the only Chinese role model he saw was Hop Sing, the shuffling, docile houseboy and cook to the cowboy Cartwright brothers on Bonanza. 
  • 1996  Recently, a friend and I went to western Ontario for a working holiday. He said he was surprised by the displays of racism towards me. At a boat dock south of Windsor, for example, a man told him (when I was out of ear shot): "We only want whites here." When he told me this later, I said that for every person who calls me "chink," I know of hundreds who gladly welcome me as their friend and neighbor. Is Canada a racist country? No. Are there racist Canadians? Yes. But there are racists in every country. 
  • 2007  This isn't the first time Chang, 33, has been subjected to racist comments. In January, when a Korean television crew was in Saint John filming the elected civic official for a one-hour documentary about Korean politicians living overseas, he received three calls and two voice mail messages from a man, basically saying, "Go home you Gook, you Chink." 
  • 2015  There are scenes in Fresh Off the Boat that will undoubtedly resonate. In the premiere, Eddie fights back after being called a "chink." The use of the word is groundbreaking for a prime-time show. For some Asians, Eddie's reaction will be their Inglourious Basterds moment.