RE: Riceboy sighting...

[Khan Klatt <khan@mediaaccess.com>]

On Fri, 28 Apr 2000, Andrea wrote:

> 	- I am also in fact Asian American, and I do not consider mentioning the 
> 	inappropriateness of a certain phrase as a "hissy".

I do. We've hashed over this in the past. It's starting to become a
tradition on this list to identify who the newcomers are on the list. ;)

> 	- Notice that you don't call the cars "riceburners" or "rice-mobiles" or
> "rice-
> 	buggies".  You call them riceBOYS.

And your point?

> b) It is not a racial insult.
> 
> 	- You may not mean it as an insult but who are you to say that people
> won't take 	it as one.  There are other opinions in the world besides your
> obviously all-
> 	knowing one.

Fine. But there are people out there that can be offended over anything I
say. I could say "Poppycock", and someone is going to get offended. I
don't life my life in order not to offend anyone. Life is adversity. And
as part of that experience you will encounter people with diverse ideas
and beliefs. My beliefs are inherently NOT rascist.

I like to poke fun at people who pimp out their cars to ridiculous levels.
The terminology I use is "riceboy" to describe the kind of person who does
this kind of thing. If that offends people, well, they can stop doing that
to their cars, and I'll stop calling them that.

> 	- So all those stereotypes are fine since everyone thinks them anyway?
> You're an  original thinker.

The difference is that I know HOW to to think. In particular, I never said
they were fine. You saying that I said they were fine is basically putting
words in my mouth. What you've done is construct a straw man fallacy,
because I never said any particular stereotype is fine or not fine. YOU
said that. So don't go calling me an "original thinker" when you clearly
don't know my position about stereotypes.

It is a stereotype to say that tribal African natives use shields and
spears. NOT ALL African natives use shields and spears. Yet it is
sometimes helpful to think in stereotypes, because there ARE African
natives who do carry spears.

What is rascist is to say that all African natives are "spearchuckers".
THAT is an offensive term that I do NOT agree with using.

So, Sauerkraut is a culturally GERMAN food. Calling a german car a
KrautRocket is to extend a cultural stereotype to a car. Nothing
offensive.

Just like calling a Japanese car (where rice is a cultural staple in the
diet) a RiceBurner is similarly extending a cultural stereotype. Nobody is
calling anyone of any Japanese descent any names. So it is NOT rascist.

And further, since the stereotype is not based on an irrational hate or
irrational fear, it is NOT fundamentally a negative term. Therefore, MOST
RATIONAL PEOPLE would not be offended by that term.

Of course, there are many people out there that will find "Riceboy" or
"Riceburner" offensive. More power to them. That doesn't mean I'm going to
change my behavior until they can rationally explain why it is offensive.

> f) I'm sorry if your sensibilities were offended
> 
> 	- My sensibilities were not offended, I just felt the term was
> inappropriate.  
> 	The fact that you don't see that makes you offend me.

That's fine by me. Be offended all you want. I DON'T think the term is
appropriate. I see why YOU think it's inappropriate, but I think you are
wrong because I think you can't quite discern between a negative
stereotype and a simple stereotype.

> 	- Well, you can obviously say what you want, but what you say shows who
> you are.  
> 	I don't think that you're a bigot.  But, I think, at this point, a person
> of your 
> 	age since I assume you're old enough to drive, would understand if a term is 
> 	inappropriate or not, regardless if your intentions are harmful or not.

Who decides what is inappropriate? If I turned over my library to you, how
many of my books would be burned? Look, I don't want to be offensive for
being offensive sake, but you may get through life with less stress if you
stop looking for opportunities to be offended by people and their
"inappropriate" statements. The fact is that since the term "Riceboy" is
used in the context of people who drive really really ugly cars, and is
*NOT* founded in hate, or fear, it is harmless.

> The fact that you got so bothered about this issue shows that you obviously
> know the possible racial implications that your chosen term has, so, maybe
> you should think again about it.

Thank you for your concern. I'm not bothered about the issue at all. I am
100% comfortable with using the term Riceboy because I have no ill will
towards anyone who fits that description. Just like I can call really
geeky computer buffs "Geeks" doesn't mean that I wish any of them ill.

So, "Nerd" "Geek" "Riceboy" "Wimp" "Treehugger" and "Jock" are all terms I
use with very little discomfort. They are equally rascist... that is to
say NOT AT ALL. And I'm not going to stop calling computer hackers nerds,
smart people geeks, weak people wimps, environmentalists treehuggers, and
athletic people jocks.

So beware, if you drive one of these absurdly tricked-out cars, regardless
if you're black, white, purple, yellow, green or blue-- whether your car
was made in germany, japan, zimbabwe, or in the lost city of atlantis, I
will call you a riceboy, and your ride a riceburner.

-Khan