An unexpected occurrence of an ethnic slur

[ronbutters at AOL.COM]

How does "dago" come from the soul of Black people?

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at gmail.com>

Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:19:02
To:ronbutters at aol.com
Subject: Re: An unexpected occurrence of an ethnic slur


Not in any song that I know of. And, FWIW, both "honky" and
"African-American," IMO, are quasi-learned artificialities. Both are
unreal and should not be treated as though they came from the soul of
the people. "Honky" appears to have run its course and, with any luck,
"African-American" will die before I do or, at least, be restricted to
African immigrants, whether from super- or sub-Saharan Africa.

Historical note. The Black Panthers and their jargon were never
particularly influential in the Greater Los Angeles area, where I
lived during the relevant era. It was controlled by US (United Slaves:
"Wherever we are, US is!"), founded by Ronald "Maulana Ron Karenga"
Everett, since 1979 a professor at California State University, Long
Beach. OTOH, Huey is dead.

-Wilson

On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 4:10 PM,  <ronbutters at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ronbutters at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Re: An unexpected occurrence of an ethnic slur
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Never a honky?
>
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>
> Date:         Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:33:03
> To:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject:      [ADS-L] An unexpected occurrence of an ethnic slur
>
>
> In the song, "Garlic Blues," Helen Humes sings that her garlic-loving
> boyfriend is
>
> "... just like a _dago_ ..."
>
> AFAIK, this is unique in black music. Well, there is the use of
> "monkey-man" for a West Indian. But this is the only case that I know
> of in which a slur against a white ethnic group occurs.
>
> -Wilson
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
>  -Sam'l Clemens
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
 -Sam'l Clemens

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org