My Take | Is the term ‘gweilo’ racist slang?
- Since the return of Hong Kong to China, the race relations and power balance between locals and expats in the city have changed. In this context, it’s conceivable that the Cantonese word has become more problematic or even racist
I read somewhere that a gentleman never offends unintentionally. The problem with some words is that you can never be sure who might be offended by them. The Cantonese slang “gweilo” is one of them.
Perhaps in writing this, I have already shown myself to be no gentleman. While most Western expatriates I know don’t consider it offensive or racist, some do.
This is at the heart of a discrimination case now before the District Court involving staff at Leighton Contractors (Asia).
I have no wish to comment on the merit of the case, but it does seem to raise a general and important issue in Hong Kong, a former British colony and an international city.
Contexts and the person you use a potentially racist slur with are all important. When I was a college student in the United States, some of our black friends referred to each other in terms the rest of us, of course, wouldn’t dare.
A good friend sometimes called me by a derogatory term. I wasn’t offended. But I might have been if someone else had called me that. He was Jewish and so I responded likewise in retaliation.