MovieChat Forums > Unbroken (2014) Discussion > Is 'Japs' considered racist in the U.S.?

Is 'Japs' considered racist in the U.S.?


I recently got a 3 day ban from Facebook for posting this on a post about how ISIS treat their captives.
"If you people think that ISIS are bad, the Japs wrote the book on sick ways to torture people in WWII, I mean some really sick twisted stuff"

And that was it. I thought I was making quite a good point, as the Japs did indeed treat their prisoners worse than animals, my grandparents would attest to that! In fact I don't think there's any denying that they treated their prisoners worse than anybody else.
I obviously know that POW's didn't have a smooth run no matter where or by whom they were captured, but the Japanese came up with the bamboo came up the ass, up the finger nails, pretty much up anywhere. Then there's the "Japanese water torture", apparently so synonymous with Japan that it was named after them!
So I don't think there's really any arguing with my point, did I get banned for saying "Japs"?
Because in the UK it's just an abbreviation of Japanese, nothing derogatory about it.
I was confused about this one.

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It is considered a derogatory term.

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Just wondering if the same goes for "Krauts" or "Gerries" (for Germans).

It seems these are not considered AS derogatory as other slurs.
Is this because Germans physically fit into the western (and American) majority as generally being Caucasian with Euro origins? i.e. It's more acceptable to make slurs about the majority (whites, Christians, males, heterosexuals), but it's incorrect to make slurs about minorities?

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That's also the vibe I got. From what it seems, ditto with "jew/s" vs. "Jewish"

ORANGE for all
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Yes, just like how in the UK calling a Pakistani a Paki is considered a slur, whereas in the U.S. it's not.

Formerly Of_Unknown_Origins.

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Strange who different events cause different terms to be derogatory. I was aware that the Americans called them japs as a derogatory term, but we don't in the UK. It's the same as somebody calling me a Brit, which I don't find derogatory in the slightest.

Do you find it offensive when we refer to you guys as "Yanks"? Because it's not meant to be offensive, it's just a term that's been handed down through generations. To us it means nothing really.

Even *beep* is a term of endearment most of the time. Unless some red neck is using it I suppose, but I used to call my friends *beep* despite being white, but that too was a term of endearment.

I guess Facebook is American too, but wtf? People use that term all the time. They don't use the term "paki" although in a movie about the capture of OBL, one of the CIA techs says "the pakis have scrambled their jets" which made me laugh as here that wouldn't be tolerated.

Still don't think it was a post worthy of being banned for 3 days!

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No, I don't find 'yank' offensive and I know how it stems from the Revolutionary War. However, American southerners do find it irritating because to them 'yanks' or Yankees are northerners. That stems from the U.S. Civil War.

I agree though that FB was being overly sensitive, but it could just be that a lot of people reported you. There was a slew of anti-Japanese comments after the U.S. women beat Japan for the World Cup on Sunday.

We had/have other derogatory terms for the Japanese like nips and jungle monkeys. Those two terms aren't really used anymore. There's an infamous Bugs Bunny cartoon from the war era called 'Bugs Bunnys nips the Nips'. It's probably on YouTube if you want to check it out.

Formerly Of_Unknown_Origins.

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I think I had a stalker on the BBC world new page that I embarrassed on occasion. Then he/she reported every one of my posts.

I hear the Japanese referred to as Japs in movies, it doesn't come across as derogatory. The same as somebody calling me a Brit, pommie, a Limey doesn't bother me in the slightest.

That's the worst thing about Facebook, you try contacting them! It is literally impossible! Any "contact us" emails they've got up just bounce back. There isn't a single address you can contact them at. It's infuriating.
Their ban policy is, "bans are final whether you realised you offended somebody or not".

I've reported posts that were outright disgusting, and they weren't removed, so they've got epic double standards.

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As for Nips, or Nipponese - Nippon is the name of Japan called by Japanese people. Ever hear of All Nippon Airways? We obviously refer more to Japan, but in either case - a contraction like Jap or Nip is not the same as an insult. Really. Go sit down... Both terms were commonly used in WW 2. Find some old newspapers from that period at your library and read the war news.

*Everything happens to me! Now Im shot by a child! (T.Chaney)

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Mistake Nr. 1 - you use Facebook for anything other than contacting people you know.

I always took Japs as a shorthand.

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Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.

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Haha! You are so 100% correct in your statement. I've since deleted my profile as people can't handle the truth.

So yes, that was indeed my one and only mistake.

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Not by me. Especially when employed contextually. The context here being their horrific treatment of all allied POWs and their deep committment to racism while doing it. They often didn't kill red-headed men but kept them alive to torture as "the redder the hair, the whiter the skin."

I've read account by Jap POWs in American hands during the war. They weren't bothered by the yanks much, thought they were rather generous dopes, but they were tormented by true-believer officers.

During the war Japanese sports pages reported to home town papers about Ensign Watanbe racing Ensign Mitsuko in the 100 yeard dash and decapitating 10 Chinese to the otherer's 9. It is easy to find this stuff out either at the library or online.

The prissy hypocrisy of contemporary folks will get your entry stricken for using Jap.

LL

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It's sad really. I've reported so many posts on FB lately just to gauge what's "acceptable" by their standards. And none have been removed.

They're massive hypocrites. I was shocked when I was banned for that. Who doesn't abbreviate?
I watched Zero Dark Thirty the other night, and they changed "pakis" to "paks" which I found interesting.

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Agree FB was being too sensitive, but just FYI, it's Chinese water torture that's "famous," not Japanese

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Yeah I thought that as I typed it.
But they were sure well known for other horrific acts.
And yes, the well known phrase is "Chinese water torture" you're right.

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You're right.....they did all that and worse. But yeah, these days "Japs" is racist. It's what we called the Japanese when they were our enemies. But the present day Japanese are not our enemies and are not aggressors at all. So, it's just.....dated.

It's basically like calling German "Nazis."

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It's really not here though, that's what so weird.
It's people who have been in combat.
So Somalians became "Skinny's" the Sunnis became "Hadji's" the Germans became "Kraughts" and so on.
As we in the uk have never been at war with Japan, I'm pretty sure that most people here would agree that it was t racist, as we've never used it as a derogatory term.
On the other hand, "paki" is. Which brings me back to my original point about Zero Dark Thirty, and the censorship for uk television.
In the original version you can clearly hear them referring to the Pakistan military as "pakis" and when it aired in the uk, it had changed to "Paks".

So it all comes down to political correctness I reckon.

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I can't believe FB banned you for 3 days for using the term "Japs". While I do feel it is slightly derogative I have reported people who have posted dismembered fetuses and I was told that it didn't violate their policies! WTH?! You get banned for posting a word but not for showing a bloody corpse. The world has gone crazy.




"Vulgarity is no substitute for wit".

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It makes me sick. Especially as it's not even a derogatory term in the uk. But since that ban I've reported a few posts, just to see what their limits are.

There was one guy who posted a photo of an eagle, and it said something like "we baptise our enemies with freedom" and there was a corpse of s Muslim guy underneath.

So, this guy was posting that people were being ignorant, so I took a SCREENSHOT of this meme, so it even had his name in the bottom left, and I called him a hypocrite.
Next thing, I get banned for 7 days! The comment stayed, but the photo/screenshot was removed. So when I got back on, I reported the exact picture that got me banned, and guess what? Yep, it didn't breach their terms!

So I literally got banned for a picture that doesn't breach their standards! How, just how???
It's also impossible to contact anyone at FB about it though.
I hate them!

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As we in the uk have never been at war with Japan


Seriously???

That'll come as a shock to all the Brits who died in WWII defending Malaya (who were subjected to no less barbaric treatment than the American andFilipino troops in the Bataan Death March) and those who participated in all the campaigns in the South Pacific and China/Burma/India Theater.

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As we in the uk have never been at war with Japan,I'm pretty sure that most people here would agree that it was t racist, as we've never used it as a derogatory term.


I think you'd better go back and read your WWII history. You were at war with Japan then. Australia was very much at war with Japan and it was still a part of the Empire.

"Listen, I don't tan, I don't burn, I implode."

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I'm puzzled, Stewatson. Facebook ACTUALLY banned you for 3 days??? I've used worst rhetoric and never once did they ever reprimand me. I would think you could run your mouth off with anything, after all "it's free speech". My goodness,I wouldn't know what to do if they did that to me--I'm on it 24/7. Lololol

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