bestillmyheart

I know contemporary racism scholars would probably argue that the terms themselves contain no essentially racist quality, but rather, it is the way they have been used within an offensive context that has allowed the terms themselves to be considered racist. If people who are of Asian heritage use the terms on their own and intend nothing harmful by them, then clearly that's a different way of using them than the context others are familiar with.

I have the feeling that in the USA and Canada, terms like that sprung up during late 19th/early 20th C waves of immigration in which Asian immigrants were considered threatening and impure within predominantly "white" countries, and probably more during WWII when Japanese immigrants were interned and treated like criminals.

Look at this, making me think on a Monday morning! ;)