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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Swift who wrote (65333)	8/14/2010 12:01:13 AM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217716

only the guilty-minded would feel insulted by the endearment term connoting, "oh, gee, he is not from here, not one of us who are, may need help, ala marco polo, so help him if you can", as in the beijing olympic chant that so many guilt-in-dark-heart neocons had re "friends visit from afar, how happy we are" hamoon is unworthy and needs illumination

To: Tom Swift who wrote (65333)	8/14/2010 12:05:50 AM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217716

your first post on this thread tom, what brought you to us?

To: Tom Swift who wrote (65333)	8/14/2010 1:55:49 PM
From: Hawkmoon	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 217716

I have found it is in common usage and to me it basically means white boy. Nothing insulting by it. Some places in the south commonly referred to Blacks as "pick-a-ninnies".. Supposedly it was fairly common in some place, but I'm sure they never meant anything insulting by it. The POINT that TJ seems to want to avoid is that it's irrelevant whether it's usage in this current day is "harmless". The origin of the term, "Gweilo" has it's origin in xenophobic and racist ideas related to how Chinese culture perceives itself amongst the rest of humanity. Trying to avoid, or justify it's usage avoids the basis upon which the term originated. And just because you translate it as "white boy", it means "ghost man" in Chinese and represents how historical Chinese culture has perceived foreigners by skin color. It's very similar to how many Latins still refer to Americans as "gringos". When I was serving in the jungles of Panama, doing a humanitarian military assistance mission, all the locals referred to us as "gringos". I started passing the word, politely and tactfully, that, in general, Americans consider the term to be derogatory and insulting. Word got out not to call the US soldiers Gringos.. And harmony was preserved, on both sides. Discrimination will continue to exist in our societies so long as people excuse categorizing people by color, race, sex, or creed rather than the color of the blood that courses through their veins and the ideas that form in their minds. Hawk