Guinea (was Re: Asian = Oriental, etc.)

[Laurence Horn]

>On Thursday, February 08, 2001 10:50 PM, Gregory {Greg} Downing wrote:
>>  Subject: Guinea (was Re: Asian = Oriental, etc.)
>>
>>  Why Guinea? From the (offensive) generalization that downscale
>>  urbanites of
>>  Italian background are wannabe-macho types who are supposed to be wife
>>  beaters. "Guinea tee" is the old-time tee-shirt or undershirt that is
>>  frequently pressed into service as casual outerware below a certain income
>>  level.
>[snip]
>>  Greg Downing, at greg.downing at nyu.edu or gd2 at nyu.edu
>
>Maybe this answer is meaningful to everyone else, but I still don't get it.
>What has Guinea to do with Italians?
>
I'm not sure what the source of the puzzlement is, unless it's
etymological.  As I mentioned last night, "guinea" is a
well-established ethnic slur (like "wop" and "dago") for Italians,
and in particular Italian-Americans, who are associated with these
shirts.  As to WHY Italians are called guineas, that seems a bit
cloudy, although dInIs tentatively offered his own speculation.

larry