Honestly, folks, I'm not looking for items on racial prejudice. They just seem to be popping up in the news.

The Japan Times is doing a reader survey on whether the connotation of the term gaijin ("foreign person") is that of a nasty, offensive slur.

quote:

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THe ZEIT GIST: Foreign branding
Being called a 'gaijin' is not unusual or harmful, says Cai Evans
'Gaijin' is a 4-letter word and should be canned, says Melanie Burton

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Interesting views there, Wordnerd - thanks for the link. Makes me wonder about some of the racial slang bandied about around here. For me, it is interesting to note that this issue of PC language occurs in other countries besides our own. I guess I assumed it did, but this verification is edifying, somehow.