Hey Jamaicans, I got a question for you...?

Question

When Jamaicans call Asian people "Chiney" is it meant to be something good or bad? When you say it are you being racist or is it just the way you talk?

I'm a mixed Chinese born and grown in Jamaica and I really don't like being called "chiney", lol. Why can't we Jamaicans just say "Chinese" like how we say Black, White and Hispanic?

haha, I'm just wondering all these things. Don't get too serious with this question now.

One love <---- (by the way, who says that anymore?!)

Answer 1

Glad to have you back! I noticed you werent on for a while.

MY Answer:

I don&#039;t intend to be racist. It is perhaps borne out of childhood ignorance: many people in Jamaica don&#039;t even know the difference between chinese and Japanese, much less to know where all the other countries in asia ARE on the map!

Where asia is concerned, many jamaicans are as ignorant as the people in the USA who think that Trinidad and Jamaica are part of the same country. Without education, geography can be a blur, and you tend to insult people with no intent to be offensive. Have you ever heard a trindadian person being wrongfully described as having a &#039;jamaican accent&#039;?

As an adult i know better than to think &#039;chiney&#039; is the same as Japanese. I have Japanese friends who were insulted enough by the suggestion and cursed me rotten. I also have friends from many other countries in asia, although i couldnt possibly find those countries on a map!

The truth is that this ignorance is widespread in Jamaica and practically ALL people using the word &#039;chiney&#039; in Jamaica don&#039;t intend to be offensive AT ALL. Its like an &#039;accepted ignorance&#039;. MANY PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW ANY  BETTER.

EDIT:

It is a fact that to some people outside Jamaica, the words &quot;C**lie&quot;, &quot;Ni**er&quot;, and &quot;Chiney&quot; are ALL considered serious racial slurs. Most jamaicans are IGNORANT of the fact that these words are EXTREMELY offensive. Sabrina or any other person of asian descent has a right to be offended! She may seem light-hearted about it, but some people wouldnt be at all!

Answer 2

If you are Jamaican you should already know it is not offensive. It is done in the same manner Jamaicans often nickname people by their physical features such as &quot;fatta&quot; &quot;slimmaz&quot; &quot;tallis&quot; etc

K

Answer 3

I guess it&#039;s just one of the things we do, I don&#039;t think people mean for it to be offensive at all. It&#039;s just like how we call indian people &quot;coolie&quot; and white people &quot;whitey&quot; is the same way they call persons of the asian persuasion &quot;chiney&quot; or &quot;Mr/Ms. Chin&quot;. I would just ignore them if I were you.

To StingJam: I think the word you&#039;re looking for is &quot;borne&quot;. If u&#039;re gonna come on here and call Jamaicans ignorant u might as well not BLATANTLY advertise that you are as well by making stupid grammatical errors (yes i&#039;m ignorant for u). I find it very hard to believe that you can differenciate between persons from the various asian countries and more importantly what in the world does geography have to do with that differentiation? I really think u need to tek weh uself wit ur Non sequitur arguments.

Answer 4

maybe it just the accent i thought mi jama (lol) friend was cussing at me but she wasnt

Answer 5

Sista, wen we say chiney we nuh mean nuhthing racist. ah same way we call de indians cooley. same way every chinese down town name Mr Chin or Miss Chin and every cooley name  Bya, wen I call ah Indian Bya dem call me Samo or Sambo, we even call some white people Cyrian it is juss an affectionate to embrace each other, so please nuh feel offended, ah tru de word Chinese nuh too fit ina patwa like de word Chiney.

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What ah way Sting can type, im write one wole helleva book juss fi say im nuh ave ah clue. 2 points is ah rass ting bwoy.

One Love Sista Sabrina, Jah Bless.

Answer 6

No it is not meant to be negitive.Just tell them you don&#039;t like it....Jamaicans are called yardy.........A Chiny Yardy sounds cute not at all meant to be negitive.Hey I&#039;m called  Yanky Yardy..Born American with Jamaican Greatgrandparents..I do! One Love/Respect......Blessings Yahoo

Answer 7

Sting u seem more ignorant than those people you are referring to in ur response...just because something is offensive in one culture doesn&#039;t mean it&#039;s offensive in another. A Jamaican man me refer to a woman as &quot;fatty&quot; and to him she&#039;s the ideal woman and another man can say the same thing and be utterly disgusted by overweight women; similarly black americans or blacks on a whole can refer to each others as &quot;ni*ga/er&quot; and it only becomes offensive when a non-black says it. Have u never heard of a little phenomenon called CONTEXT?! I agree with LeXi...u NEED to tek weh urself and I&#039;m not even Jamaican!