Chink
Chink[1] is an English-language ethnic slur usually referring to a person of Chinese descent,[2] but also against people of East Asian, North Asian, Southeast Asian appearance. The use of the term describing eyes with epicanthic fold ("Asiatic eyes") is considered extremely offensive and is regarded as racist by many.[3][4]
For other uses, see Chink (disambiguation).Etymology[edit]
Various dictionaries provide different etymologies of the word chink; for example, that it originated from the Chinese courtesy ching-ching,[5] that it evolved from the word China,[6] or that it was an alteration of Qing (Ch'ing), as in the Qing dynasty.[7]
Another possible origin is that chink evolved from the word for China in an Indo-Iranian language, ultimately deriving from the name of the Qing dynasty. That word is now pronounced similarly in various Indo-European languages.[8]
Controversy[edit]
Australia[edit]
The terms Chinaman and chink became intertwined, as some Australians used both with hostile intent when referring to members of the country's Chinese population, which had swelled significantly during the Gold Rush era of the 1850s and 1860s.[18]
Assaults on Chinese miners and racially motivated riots and public disturbances were not infrequent occurrences in Australia's mining districts in the second half of the 19th century. There was some resentment, too, of the fact that Chinese miners and laborers tended to send their earnings back home to their families in China rather than spending them in Australia and supporting the local economy.
In the popular Sydney Bulletin magazine in 1887, one author wrote: "No nigger, no chink, no lascar, no kanaka (laborer from the South Pacific islands), no purveyor of cheap labour, is an Australian."[10] Eventually, since-repealed federal government legislation was passed to restrict non-white immigration and thus protect the jobs of Anglo-Celtic Australian workers from "undesirable" competition.
Canada[edit]
On July 19, 2020, a man in Calgary was arrested after spitting on a woman of Asian descent and shouting "stupid chink" at her. The man, identified as Justin Riaz Williams, was a basketball manager at the University of Calgary who was fired from his job before the COVID-19 pandemic after staff found screenshots of him using homophobic and racial slurs on his phone.[19] Jessica Lau, the victim, uploaded the video on her Instagram account and told Global News, "I've never experienced any kind of racism ... this is a thing that's happening in the world right now." The Calgary Police said that Williams was taken into custody and charged with three counts of assault and one count of possession of a weapon dangerous to the public.[20]
India[edit]
In India, the ethnic slur chinki (or chinky) is frequently directed against people with East Asian features, including people from Northeast India, and Nepal,[21] who are often mistaken for Chinese, despite being closer to Tibetans and the Burmese than to Han Chinese peoples.[22]
In 2012, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs recognized use of the term "chinki" to refer to a member of the Scheduled Tribes (especially in the North-East) as a criminal offense under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act with a penalty of up to five years in jail. The Ministry further warned that they would very seriously review any failure of the police to enforce this interpretation of the Act.[23]