Chink
“Uncle Mike?”
“Yeah, honey.”
“What’s a Chink?”
“Whattaya mean?”
“A Chink. Yesterday, you called that man in the laundry place one.”
“What man in the laundry place?”
“That Chink.”
“Shh. Keep it down.”
“Keep what down?”
“Listen. I don’t remember saying that, but...”
“No, you said it. When that Chink said you brought those shirts in with ripped arm pits, you said, ‘Listen, you Chink, I’ll take this shirt and shove it–”
“Honey. Honey. You’re right. You’re right. I remember now. Ummm…listen, ‘chink’ is a word, that, err, people use sometimes.”
“I know. The kids in my class say it.”
“They say it to you?”
“Sometimes. And occasionally I say it to them.”
“Whattaya mean? When do you say it to them?”
“The other day, we were taking a spelling test, and Rudy Ramirez was copying off of my paper, so I called him a chink.”
“Why’d you say that?”
“Cause he was.”
“But you don’t even know what it is.”
“That’s why I’m asking you. What’s a Chink?”
“That’s not a nice word, Lim.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means a Chinese person. It’s a bad word for a Chinese person.”
“What’s bad about it?
“It’s…just…bad.”
“So, am I a Chink?”
No, honey. You’re not.”
“When I’m bad am I a Chink?”
“No. Never. You’re never a Chink. No one is a Chink.”
“But I’m Chinese. I wanna be a Chink.”
“You’re only half Chinese and I’m never gonna use that word again, ok? And neither are you.”
Jim Serpico is a US film and television producer, currently working on SEX&DRUGS&ROCK&ROLL for the FX Network and MARON for IFC. He resides in New York City with his wife and three children. Follow him on twitter @jimserpico.
photo credit:ohinternet.com
