Is the phrase 'Jap Camp' racist?

[Insula Dei]

As featured in J.G. Ballard's Empire of the Sun. (Gee, it's been a while since I've read any Ballard,...)

It's not the most polite term, but it doesn't refer to the nicest of places either.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

It is racist, if only for the term "Jap."

That being said, I still use it to refer to Japanese POW camps in World War II. It's just a comforting, colloquial zing to make when talking about such atrocious places. I know it's wrong and I know I shouldn't say it... but I do.

I always wonder if I'm using the phrase wrong though, and if it's actually a term meant for Japanese Internment camps in North America. I never call those Jap camps, and never would.

[Governor Scott]

No less racist than the term 'Jew Camp.'

[Holmes]

Yes, obviously.

[argentarius]

No, it's just a faster way of saying Japanese internment camp.

[Supersonic]

Haha, no it isn't. People are too quick to pull the racist card nowadays.

[J. J.]

It is as racist as "Brit camp," "Yank camp," or "Sov camp."  The last time I checked, being Japanese was a nationality, not a race.  While most Japanese are Asian, numerous allies were also Asian.

[nclib]

It is as racist as "Brit camp," "Yank camp," or "Sov camp."  The last time I checked, being Japanese was a nationality, not a race.  While most Japanese are Asian, numerous allies were also Asian.

It pretty clear that historically the term 'Jap' has had far more negative connotations than the term 'Brit'.

[opebo]

Yes.  So?  That doesn't mean it 'mustn't be said'.

[Darius_Addicus_Gaius]

People are too uncomfortable with these kinds of things. Why can't people just laugh about a silly slogan once in a while? It's like no one has a sense of humor anymore. No one is advocating slavery, segregation, or voting discrimination. Let's laugh and poke fun at each other. Nothing is better than humor for bringing people together.

[asexual trans victimologist]

People are too uncomfortable with these kinds of things. Why can't people just laugh about a silly slogan once in a while? It's like no one has a sense of humor anymore. No one is advocating slavery, segregation, or voting discrimination. Let's laugh and poke fun at each other. Nothing is better than humor for bringing people together.

Unless, of course, you're a member of a group being insulted.

[Darius_Addicus_Gaius]

People are too uncomfortable with these kinds of things. Why can't people just laugh about a silly slogan once in a while? It's like no one has a sense of humor anymore. No one is advocating slavery, segregation, or voting discrimination. Let's laugh and poke fun at each other. Nothing is better than humor for bringing people together.

Unless, of course, you're a member of a group being insulted.

If it's done in an insulting way such as Obama referring to us as clinging to our guns and bibles. People need to learn how to have fun and joke. Rarely are racial jokes meant to be insulting. Even more rare do those who tell the jokes not apologize for being offensive. Democrats use race as a way to get votes and that's the real problem.

[Reginald]

People are too uncomfortable with these kinds of things. Why can't people just laugh about a silly slogan once in a while? It's like no one has a sense of humor anymore. No one is advocating slavery, segregation, or voting discrimination. Let's laugh and poke fun at each other. Nothing is better than humor for bringing people together.

Unless, of course, you're a member of a group being insulted.

If it's done in an insulting way such as Obama referring to us as clinging to our guns and bibles. People need to learn how to have fun and joke. Rarely are racial jokes meant to be insulting. Even more rare do those who tell the jokes not apologize for being offensive. Democrats use race as a way to get votes and that's the real problem.

Yikes... care to elaborate at all? What in your opinion makes something insulting? You are obviously capable of being offended yourself. Due to your noted tendency to platitudes, your argument lacks depth and citation (among other things...)

[Darius_Addicus_Gaius]

People are too uncomfortable with these kinds of things. Why can't people just laugh about a silly slogan once in a while? It's like no one has a sense of humor anymore. No one is advocating slavery, segregation, or voting discrimination. Let's laugh and poke fun at each other. Nothing is better than humor for bringing people together.

Unless, of course, you're a member of a group being insulted.

If it's done in an insulting way such as Obama referring to us as clinging to our guns and bibles. People need to learn how to have fun and joke. Rarely are racial jokes meant to be insulting. Even more rare do those who tell the jokes not apologize for being offensive. Democrats use race as a way to get votes and that's the real problem.

Yikes... care to elaborate at all? What in your opinion makes something insulting? You are obviously capable of being offended yourself. Due to your noted tendency to platitudes, your argument lacks depth and citation (among other things...)

I don't need citation to explain what offends me. What offends me is people not thinking. We're all capable of being insulted. There is no line of insulting and not insulting. Everyone feels differentlyl. I'm not playing into a game of defining a line.

[Reginald]

People are too uncomfortable with these kinds of things. Why can't people just laugh about a silly slogan once in a while? It's like no one has a sense of humor anymore. No one is advocating slavery, segregation, or voting discrimination. Let's laugh and poke fun at each other. Nothing is better than humor for bringing people together.

Unless, of course, you're a member of a group being insulted.

If it's done in an insulting way such as Obama referring to us as clinging to our guns and bibles. People need to learn how to have fun and joke. Rarely are racial jokes meant to be insulting. Even more rare do those who tell the jokes not apologize for being offensive. Democrats use race as a way to get votes and that's the real problem.

Yikes... care to elaborate at all? What in your opinion makes something insulting? You are obviously capable of being offended yourself. Due to your noted tendency to platitudes, your argument lacks depth and citation (among other things...)

I don't need citation to explain what offends me. What offends me is people not thinking. We're all capable of being insulted. There is no line of insulting and not insulting. Everyone feels differentlyl. I'm not playing into a game of defining a line.

Absolutely, everyone is insulted by different things. Which is why I find this to be just a tad presumptuous (and what I was primarily wanting you to explain):

Rarely are racial jokes meant to be insulting.

[Insula Dei]

'Jap Camp' isn't a 'silly slogan',nor were they a lot of fun,...

[Holmes]

Oh my god. They were internment camps and "Jap" is an ethnic slur. Close thread, ban some people in here, etc.