Beaner is a derogatory slur originally from the United States to refer to individuals of Hispanic or Latino descent, particularly those that are from Mexico or of Mexican American heritage.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It originates from the bean being a staple ingredient in Mexican cuisine.

Usage

The word was first seen in print in 1966, although the term has reportedly been in use at least since the 1940s, having evolved from previous slurs such as bean-eater (1919) and bean-bandit (1959).[2] It is one of many national and ethnic slurs that refer to a nation's cuisine, such kraut for a German, spud-muncher for an Irish person, and frog for a French person.[5]

The word is considered to be one of the most offensive slurs for Mexican-Americans, although according to The Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the word is only "usually considered offensive".[2] Academics say that it is the most prominent anti-Mexican slur, having replaced greaser after the 1950s. It can resonate with the xenophobic sentiment that "you’re not American, and you never will be", and as such is sometimes directed at any Hispanic.[7]

In the 2000s comedian Carlos Mencia was known for using it, and other pejoratives, extensively and used it regularly for comedic effect in his Mind of Mencia program.[2]

In May 2018, about two weeks before Starbucks initiated a racial bias training program for its American employees, a Hispanic customer in La Cañada, California, received his order with the name Beaner written on it.[8]

Other use

Because the term originates from a common English word, there are other pre-existing or unknowing uses of beaner. For example, beaner has been used to describe someone from Boston (Beantown, Boston baked beans, Boston Beaneaters); when accidentally smoking a marijuana seed (alternatively called a bean);[9] a nickname (the 2012 book In Beaner's Backyard);[10] in coffee shops (for the coffee bean); and for a hit by pitch in baseball (beanball). Awareness about the offensive meaning of the word is resulting in its usage being criticized and phased out of mainstream use:

  • On September 15, 2007, regional coffee chain Biggby Coffee, having been called "Beaner's Coffee" since its founding in 1995, decided to change its name to Biggby Coffee in response to comments about the unintended slur in its name. Biggby CEO and founder Bob Fish said, "We ultimately felt we would be condoning the use of a disparaging term if we chose to do nothing"[11]
  • In 2019, the use of the word beaner in the New York Times crossword, clued as "Pitch to the head, informally",[12] generated controversy.[13] New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz claimed he knew that the term had a pejorative meaning, but he had never personally heard it used as a slur before and argued that "any benign meaning of a word" ought to be "fair game" for inclusion in the crossword.[14] Shortz ultimately apologized for including the slur[15]
  • In 2019, Duluth, Minnesota coffee shop Beaner's Central changed its name to Wussow's Concert Cafe. Owner Jason Wussow stated that "Although the name Beaners was chosen twenty years ago out of innocent unawareness, it is undeniable that this word is xenophobic and offensive to many"[16]

Use in film

The word has been used by Tommy Chong in Cheech and Chong's Next Movie,[17] by Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, by Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad, by Al Pacino in "Donnie Brasco" and by Jeff Bridges in The Morning After,[18] and in the movie 30 Minutes or Less by Fred Ward.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Definition of beaner". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Booth, William (September 28, 2005). "The Mouth of Mencia". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  3. ↑ "San Diego's top Latino cop retires". The San Diego Union-Tribune. September 1, 2005.
  4. ↑ "Pedro deflects the barbs; Racist comments don't faze Sox ace". The Boston Herald. September 14, 2000.
  5. 1 2 "You are what you eat... arguably: John Sutherland on national nicknames". The Guardian (UK). July 31, 2000.
  6. ↑ Romero, Dennis (2019-02-01). "The worst slur for Mexican-Americans is still a mystery for some". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  7. ↑ Romero, Dennis (February 2019). "The worst slur for Mexican-Americans is still a mystery for some". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  8. ↑ Pérez, Dinorah (17 May 2018). "Hispanic Customer Given Starbucks Order With Racial Slur Written on Cup". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  9. ↑ "I Found a Beaner in My Satchel". cannapages.com. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  10. ↑ IN BEANER'S BACKYARD | Kirkus Reviews.
  11. ↑ "BEANER'S COFFEE to Rebrand as BIGGBY COFFEE". BIGGBY COFFEE®. 2007-09-15. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  12. ↑ "Tuesday, January 1, 2019 crossword by Gary Cee". www.xwordinfo.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  13. ↑ Graham, Ruth (2019-01-03). "The NYT Crossword Puzzle's Use of an Ethnic Slur Says a Lot About the State of Crossword Puzzling". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  14. ↑ "NY Times Crossword Editor Apologizes for 'Slur' in New Year's Day Puzzle". TheWrap. 2019-01-02. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  15. ↑ "Sunday Puzzle: Stuck In The Middle". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  16. ↑ "West Duluth coffee shop to change name". duluthnewstribune.com. 2019-06-25. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  17. ↑ Dennis Romero (2019-02-01). "The worst slur for Mexican-Americans is still a mystery for some". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  18. ↑ John Cribbs. "Sidney Lumet's The Morning After". The Pink Smoke. Archived from the original on 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  • The dictionary definition of beaner at Wiktionary
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