« Evil Kangaroos: The Story of Deanna Dahlsad | Main | April 15th: Deep in the Heart of Taxes »
April 14, 2006
Yankee Paki Cabbie
when is a name more than a name?
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
A number of years ago, I moved from the midwest to the south. I worked
part-time in the non-profit center, making phone calls to those who had
made donations in the past, asking them to renew their pledges. On day
the phones were down, putting the 10 or so of us temporarily out of work
until the problem was fixed. I immediately went to the supervisor,
asking what else I could do to occupy my time. My co-workers, who had
previously called me by my name, began calling me Yankee because I
wasn't content to sit and let time pass while I got paid anyway. I know
this, because some of them told me so. Our supervisor never called me
Yankee, because as a good southern gentleman, and a boss, he wouldn't
dare call me any derogatory names. But my co-workers did. Or so they
thought.
I, taking great pride in the reason they called me Yankee, began to
refer to myself as The Yankee. I took back the name, claiming it for my
own. In the insult game, my ownership of the word was better than
playing rubber to their glue. I don't mention this to make this blog
all about 'me' -- I do have a reason. And that reason has to do with
the power of names.
You see, No Evil Productions has created an animated short in which a
character, a Pakistani, refers to himself as a Paki. At the time that
the animation and its song were created, none of the team knew that the
term Paki had any negative connotations. After all, there are official
Pakistani websites and publications as well as decent folks who refer
happily and proudly to themselves as Paki. But then it was pointed out
that the term goes back to a pejorative use by the British, who not
coincidentally, also used the work Yankee in a negative manner. Since
No Evil Productions is literally about producing nothing evil, there's been
some concern that the character's use of the word Paki (and indeed, that
Americans produced the animation) will create or perpetuate ill
will. That's not our intention.
While we did not ask every person in Pakistan, nor all those of
Pakistani heritage their opinions, it seems that the use of this word
Paki may be very much like my claiming of the use of the word Yankee.
Someone may mean for it to be an insult, but those characteristics or
things pointed to as 'bad' are the very same things someone takes great
pride in, so the word is taken or reclaimed with new ownership, new
meaning. Time passes, and the old definitions no longer apply.
When our character, Amin the taxi driver, sings "I'm a Yankee Paki
cabbie..." he's just showing his pride in both his heritage and his new
home. He's not the brunt of any joke. He's not a negative stereotype.
He's the most intelligent character in the series of films.
But yet we wonder... if our use of the word is an affectionate nickname,
with no negative connotation, nothing mean in the context of
delivery, will the old history of the word bring about controversy?
Despite the rather common use and acceptance of the word, will some feel
it is inappropriate?
At the time of this writing, the animation has not been released, and so
I don't know if there will be any negative reaction to Amin's song. But
if there is indeed any fuss, Amin likely would wonder what all the fuss
is about. Why would people rush to defend him when he himself is not
offended?
Posted by photocartoonist at April 14, 2006 4:26 PM
Comments
i have an asian friend that is racsim
Posted by: chris wheeler at March 28, 2007 11:04 AM