It's hard to fault him there in the early 1900s when it was an "accepted" scientific term until nearly a century later. Thank you for sharing that link 'cause that's a new one to me!

[–] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

I mean, we can fault him while still recognising that it's of its time, but it always was a racist term, being accepted by the same exclusive (read: white European) community of scientists who coined and normalised it (and I'm sure never consulted the people it refers to) really isn't a good indication that it wasn't.

Either way, it was a new one to me too but I had a feeling so I looked it up, and once confirmed I thought it was important that people were aware of what it actually meant before they consider sharing it further or obliviously using the word. Not having a go at anyone really.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure there were like somewhat popular pop songs with that term in Finland in the 90's.

Okay the song I'm thinking of is from 1974, but it was played fairly often in the 90's. No wait yeah rerecorded in the 90's. For children's charity, lol.

Not defending anything or anyone, just pointing out how late the term stayed in use. At least nowadays it's recognised to be racist.

https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hottentottilaulu

[–] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

yeah rerecorded in the 90’s. For children’s charity, lol.

Wow, that sucks

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Finland is quite deeply racist, albeit in a very casual way.

I remember my dad buying me a mask of a person that this term would have been used for, I feel like. Like cartoonishly exaggerated racist features, full head rubber mask. Think "Disney-in-the-30s" racist.

I was so young it took me a few years to realise just how racist it was.

[–] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I've heard that, and it's similar here in the UK - the "polite" racism that is so deeply ingrained in the culture that pointing it out is what's seen as outrageous, not the racism. I'd say a parallel to your mask could easily be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwog which were still used in advertising in to the 21st century, though thankfully have lost popularity and acceptance (though still cherished and displayed by racists). It really is so deeply upsetting how we so casually get socialised from birth to have certain views of the world that we have to work for the rest of our lives to unlearn.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

so deeply ingrained in the culture that pointing it out is what's seen as outrageous,

I've genuinely no idea how many fights/arguments I've gotten into over that exact thing.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate-coated_marshmallow_treats

If you scroll down to Finland, you'll find:

In Finland, the name originated from Germany, and they were named "Negro's Kisses" (neekerinsuukot) in 1951. In 2001 the name was changed to "Brunberg's Kisses", after the manufacturer Brunberg from Porvoo,[43] for largely the same reasons as in Denmark, Germany, and elsewhere.

The name went, but the package stayed for a while after.

This article discusses whether the older ones should be completely replaced with neutral onea. In 2019.

One positive thing about me having had to move so often as a kid was that I started seeing that small town xenophobia from the outside, so.. objectively. After that it was easier to understand. Not accept, mind you.

There are ways to quickly unlearn all that shit tho. Good therapy with a psychedelic session should do the trick. Preload the trip with a lot of civil rights documentaries and moral philosophy in general.

[–] ShareMySims@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago

Oof, that's horrible but sadly not surprising.

And yeah, I think being exposed to lots of different people and situations from a young age, as well as being on the margins yourself, helps in opening one's world view up, but not always, there are unfortunately so many examples of people who either witness or are even directly impacted by bigotry, who go the other way and almost barricade themselves in it because acceptance is easier for them than fighting. It goes to show how pervasive it all is.

As for psychedelics, they're just not for me (I'm autistic, and other than weed I'm not comfortable with any other drugs, even alcohol and caffeine), but I can absolutely see how they can help some people with opening their mind, and think it would be great if they were more available in a therapeutic and supervised setting exactly for things like this (and working through trauma and other issues) but it's also important to remember that things like ant-racism are a constant things we have to continue to do every day, not something we unlearn once and are "fixed".

[–] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago

Besides the racism, we definitely can fault him for being aggressive towards a stranger only trying to show respect.

[–] DemBoSain@midwest.social 3 points 2 months ago

I'm almost certain this term was used in at least one Bugs Bunny cartoon.

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