Humble Eskimo Lolly Gives Tourist a Bad Taste

How ridiculous. All I see in that illustration is a child dressed in a parka, done from an odd arial viewpoint and reaching for a candy. What child isn’t happy to grab a piece of candy?? Was the person upset about hair and eye color? No offense, but I don’t recall seeing many blonde hair, fair skinnned Inuit in any documentary or in the media. Finally, back in school we had to watch soooo many movies about traditional Inuit life, and they were called Eskimos. If that is no longer the correct name, then say so, but why so upset?

That’s how it starts. One person is offended and we have to change the world.

I’ve never known the name Eskimo to be offensive.

I did a definition search on the web and I found this footnote below. All this sounds like is someone trying to brew up a tempest in a tea pot:

USAGE NOTE: Eskimo has come under strong attack in recent years for its supposed offensiveness, and many Americans today either avoid this term or feel uneasy using it. It is widely known that Inuit, a term of ethnic pride, offers an acceptable alternative, but it is less well understood that Inuit cannot substitute for Eskimo in all cases, being restricted in usage to the Inuit-speaking peoples of Arctic Canada and parts of Greenland. In Alaska and Arctic Siberia, where Inuit is not spoken, the comparable terms are Inupiaq and Yupik, neither of which has gained as wide a currency in English as Inuit. While use of these terms is often preferable when speaking of the appropriate linguistic group, none of them can be used of the Eskimoan peoples as a whole; the only inclusive term remains Eskimo. • The claim that Eskimo is offensive is based primarily on a popular but disputed etymology tracing its origin to an Abenaki word meaning “eaters of raw meat.” Though modern linguists speculate that the term actually derives from a Montagnais word referring to the manner of lacing a snowshoe, the matter remains undecided, and meanwhile many English speakers have learned to perceive Eskimo as a derogatory term invented by unfriendly outsiders in scornful reference to their neighbors’ unsophisticated eating habits. See Usage Notes at Inuit.

http://www.answers.com/topic/eskimo

Yet another privileged minority finds offense in the unoffensive.

Inuit (not Canadian) tourist Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons claims that “When [she] was a little girl white kids in the community used to tease [her] about it in a bad way.”

Somehow I seriously doubt it. According to Statistics Canada, Nunavut has a total population of 29,325. Of this, 24,875 is Eskimo (84.8%). Only 3,960 (13.5%) are “Non-Aboriginal” identity.

I imagine that the teasing went from majority to minority, not the other way around. Anyway, to believe that anyone would be teased, in a “Bad way”, or any other way, over semantic differences between “Eskimo” and “Inuit” strains belief.

Anyway, what’s up with this “Eskimo/Inuit” business?

They’re called “Eskimo” in Alaska, and “Greenlander” in Greenland.

Ms. Parsons needs to learn more about Eskimos. She seems to think that, like her, they are all Inuit.

Some Eskimos are Inuit and others are ‘Yupik (Sarah Palin’s husband is part ‘Yupik).

Until I retired a year ago, I lived for 12 years in Bethel, Alaska. Bethel is the commercial hub of the part of Alaska where most ‘Yupik Eskimos live. The majority of the people in the Bethel area are ‘Yupik.

In my 12 years I never found a ‘Yupik in the Bethel area who was offended by the word Eskimo. And I knew a lot of them – they were my coworkers and friends and neighbors. In fact, a popular ice cream treat in Bethel is the “Eskimo Pie” and the most popular ice fishing auger is the “Eskimo” brand. Some ‘Yupik are amused, however, when visitors trying to be oh so politically correct, in their ignorance, refer to them as Inuit.

Canadian Inuit use that name, but their cousins in Alaska still use the name Eskimo.

These people have WAY too much free time on their hands!!!!

One thing the tourist doesn’t seem to get, she’s not in her country. She’s a guest in another land. I’m so tired of the overly sensitive.

There are so few of them that most of us hardly realize it, but Eskimos are some of the most racist people in the world. Obsessed with the idea that Eskimo might have once meant “eaters of raw flesh” in another Indian language, some Eskimos prefer to call themselves Inupiat, which means “the real humans”. Meanwhile the standard Eskimo term for all non-Eskimos is “qalunaq” or “qallunaaq” … which according to Eskimo mythology is a creature descended from the mating of a “real human” and a dog.

I have an American Eskimo dog. Do I need to change the breed’s name to American Inuit dog?

I would be willing to say “Inuit” for Eskimo, “Asian” for Oriental, and “Native American” for American Indian, if all the leftists who slander the Deutsche by calling them “Germans” were compelled to crawl a hundred miles on their bellies over broken glass as a penance.
In a less serious vein, it seems that the essence of liberalism/leftism is claiming bragging rights for being the most Caring, Concerned, & Compassionate person in the room. No issue is too small or insignificant to be leveraged into a claim of moral superiority. Weird people.

There is an obvious pattern here:

Eskimos get offended by candy that depicts them in their native dress. Native Americans get offended by sports teams that have Native American mascots with feathers on their heads. Blacks get offended by black cartoon characters that have black skin. Mexicans get offended when you tell them they eat beans or if you call them by the name of Pedro. Hindus get offended if you associate them with curry even though that is what they eat all the time.

Minorites get offended when we depict them as they really are. Is this perhaps because they may be ashamed of what they really are?

I don’t see whites getting offended when they are depicted as what they really are, or even when they are depicted by inaccurate negative stereotypes for that matter.

Irish Americans are proud to be associated with Leprachaun mascots and Saint Patrick’s Day. Scottish Americans are proud to be associated with bagpipes and kilts. German Americans are proud to be associated with Octoberfest. Southern white Americans are proud to be associated with the Rebel Flag. Look at all the stereotypes associated with Italian Americans.

Obviously the point to take home here is that whites don’t have inferiority complexes.

“I was taken aback. When I was a little girl white kids in the community used to tease me about it in a bad way. It’s just not the correct term.”

So it’s not really about an offense to the Inuit people, but actually about a bitter little girl seizing the opportunity to “get even” with the people who teased her.

All these losers seem to thing they have a legimate point of view. They don’t. The complainant is an Eskimo. Deal with it.

“When I was a little girl white kids in the community used to tease me about it in a bad way.”

Do I detect a little “racism” in this statement? “White kids used to tease me?” So no blacks ever teased her, only whites? Maybe she didn’t know any blacks growing up, but why didn’t she just say “other kids used to tease me?” Why did she have to single out whites?

I’m white, and I was teased my fair share of times growing up too, for wearing glasses, for example, or even for being white. There is no way teasing is going to be outlawed. Better to simply teach children not to tease than to remake our language.

And what about those people who use the expression “It’s like trying to sell refrigerators to eskimos?” Are they all racists now?

Another nutcase.I am going to bake a new Eskimo Cookie ..

I think everybody had better stock up on Eskimo Pies before they outlaw them!

and they were called Eskimos. If that is no longer the correct name, then say so, but why so upset?

NOW, besides trying to keep up with whatever the blacks are calling themselves at any given time, we have to call the eskimos WHAT?

Eskimo Ice Cream will be next. Where’s “Sharpy Sharpton”?. He’s missing an opportunity (under the table) to go after Eskimo Bars on his turf.

I hear that a New Zealand ‘gay’ movement is about to take out a class action against ‘Inuit and all associated racial names’ for advertising the term ‘Kiwi Fruit’ in supermarkets.

Go to saudi and tell them that you find the word kuffar offensive,and see if they take you seriously,there is far too much of this sort of thing,maybe the travel agents could set up an “offended tour”of various countries around the world,where bus loads of self-righteous tourists could be offended to thier hearts content,if mus parsons does not wish to be offended maybe she should stop offending others and stay home,igloos and all that.

I will be glad to show solidarity with her by consuming as many Eskimo Pies as possible, thereby removing them from the market!
Hts

“Is it perhaps because they may be ashamed of what they really are?”

Excellent post, Courtney. Truly excellent. But regarding your sentence, “Obviously, the point to take home here is that whites don’t have inferiority complexes.”, I’d take it a bit further….more like “…whites are not inferior.”

I’m a Cajun. These days, we respond positively to being called Cajun. But these days, that term is associated with great fun, great music, fabulous food, ‘Acadian’ style homes, and our supremely virile menfolk.

Three generations back, it was a different story. My great-grandparents winced when called ‘Cajun’. Back then, we were an oppressed people; isolated, uneducated, and malnourished. We were, to be honest, inferior. It was Americans, largely Protestant, who reached out and brought us up to par. My grandparents’ generation seized the opportunities offered, and blossomed beyond anyone’s most optimistic projections.

We were able to grow so much, because we had the genetic potential to do so. That is not the case with most of the world’s backward peoples. Education and nutrition can only do so much. I’d wager that ‘Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons’ senses the very real IQ gap between her group and people of Northwest European descent. She’s probably bitter. When what you are is inferior, being called what you are is the same as being called inferior. My guess is that she is only smart enough to resent, but not smart enough to transcend.

In any event, this article describes a tourist who traveled to the opposite end of the planet from her home, and found there something she didn’t like. Well, I’ve been to a lot of foreign countries, and seen a lot of things that offended me deeply (mostly in Italy, the Middle East and South America). But not once did it occur to me to contact the local paper and raise a stink. First, only in white Protestant countries can you get away with such foolishness. Second, I had the intelligence to know that ‘feelings’ are not reality. ‘Feelings’, I can generally overcome with a good hard workout.

I would encourage ‘Seeka’ to head to the gym, get on the Stairmaster, and get over it.

Greetings from New Zealand.
Ms Parsons was on national TV news here condemning our Eskimo lollies.Reports from the manufacturers say that since then,the sweets have been a sell-out in the shops…Kiwis have been buying them and cheerfully biting the heads off first.
Is she going to Australia?There,they call their beer chillers ‘Eskis.’
Marion NZ

“deal with it” makes me laugh. It’s the libs way of trying to shut up people who don’t toe the pc line. Guys — might as well give up, ‘cos we’re gonna keep talking!

Courtney, your statement would make sense if it were true. I’m half Eastern Cherokee, and also have the same first name as you. Last I checked, I wasn’t red—rather olive, like many Italians are. Those caricatures you mentioned don’t represent anything even resembling me, so I think it’s pretty easy to get irritated by those images being what people in other countries think we look like.

Also, Europeans have an interesting cultural difference in that they use self-deprecating humor. That doesn’t always translate well.

I knew a man who was American Indian, and when he was in the sun too long his skin became a deep red brown. The red was very apparent and not like a sunburn. It is as though he had red in his melanin.

I have to agree with Courtney when she said many minorities become offended easily. This is true!

I work with Mexican-Americans and in this office they suffer from a strange superiority/inferiority complex. They are proud and think they are attractive and their Mexican culture is fantastic, yet at the same time they don’t want American Whites to notice or mention any differences between us and them, whether in appearance or culture or anything. If we do, and say something like, “There is someone on the phone for you but because of her thick accent I couldn’t get a name,” they get all huffy and puffy.