Beaner

Beaner is a derogatory slur for Mexicans or people of Mexican descent also used to refer to other Hispanic nationalities.[1][2][3] The term originates from the prevalence of pinto beans and other beans in Mexican cuisine.[3][4][5]

Not to be confused with Beanball or Beaner Lake.

Background

According to The Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the word was first seen in print in 1965, although the term has reportedly been in use at least since the 1940s (perhaps having evolved from previous slurs such as "bean-eater" and "bean-bandit" that were in use since as far back as the 1910s).[1]

Controversies

In 2007, regional coffee chain Biggby Coffee, having been called "Beaner's Coffee" since its founding in 1997, 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."[6]

In 2019, the use of the word "beaner" in the New York Times crossword, clued as [Pitch to the head, informally],[7] generated controversy.[8] 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.[9] Shortz ultimately apologized for including the slur.[10]

In 2019, Duluth MN 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". [11]

Use in film

The word has been used by Tommy Chong in Cheech and Chong's Next Movie,[12] by Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino and by Jeff Bridges in The Morning After.[13] The slur also titles the 2013 movie Beaner, a fictional retelling of the true story of an undocumented Hispanic worker who was brutally stabbed in Long Island.[14]

See also

References
  1. Booth, William (September 28, 2005). "The Mouth of Mencia". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  2. "San Diego's top Latino cop retires". The San Diego Union-Tribune. September 1, 2005.
  3. "Pedro deflects the barbs; Racist comments don't faze Sox ace". The Boston Herald. September 14, 2000.
  4. "You are what you eat... arguably: John Sutherland on national nicknames". The Guardian (UK). July 31, 2000.
  5. Romero, Dennis (2019-02-01). "The worst slur for Mexican-Americans is still a mystery for some". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  6. "BEANER'S COFFEE to Rebrand as BIGGBY COFFEE". BIGGBY COFFEE®. 2007-09-15. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  7. "Tuesday, January 1, 2019 crossword by Gary Cee". www.xwordinfo.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  8. 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.
  9. "NY Times Crossword Editor Apologizes for 'Slur' in New Year's Day Puzzle". TheWrap. 2019-01-02. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  10. "Sunday Puzzle: Stuck In The Middle". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  11. "West Duluth coffee shop to change name". duluthnewstribune.com. 2019-06-25. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  12. 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.
  13. John Cribbs. "Sidney Lumet's The Morning After". The Pink Smoke. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
  14. "Beaner (2013)". Internet Movie Database. Archived from the original on 2017-02-12. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
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