Why a non spanish speaker can't use 'gringo' to address a Mexican

[William33 110]

TOS violation post removed and administrative action taken.

[Susita 175]

To just back William up a bit here - I don't find what BY said offensive either. (at least not this time ) The way I read it, was as if it was a 'dude' type comment as well. However, I know everyone reads things differently, but this is my take on it. FYI - gringo/gringa isn't just used in reference to foreigners, they will call a Hispanic person with light skin and hair gringo as well.

Sure, he could have picked a better word but I don't believe this is a TOS violation.

[TBoneTX 45,288]

Sure, he could have picked a better word but I don't believe this is a TOS violation.

Si, man. I call myself "gringo" all the time, & in fact I usually wear the term like a badge of pride. The pending child with whom Mrs. T-B. is currently heavy will be "gringito #2" in the overall family.

A Mexican restaurant chain here in the area is called Gringo's. No one is offended by that.

When I'm in Mexico or Ecuador, I can never remember whether it's more grammatically correct to say "Soy gringo" or "Soy un gringo" (I am foreign, vs. I am a foreigner). When I'm around the in-laws, am I a "guapo gringo" (roughly, "handsome guy who is foreign") or a "gringo guapo" ("foreigner who is handsome")?

The delightful (& rubia) Susita can help me with the grammar here; the point is, "gringo" is not offensive in the way I use it or in how it's perceived by family or strangers.

Edited August 21, 2010 by TBoneTX

[Fandango 1,439]

This is ridiculous, even for veej standards.

[Ladylethal 12]

In Brasil we use that word to american tourists, it's not meant to be offensive for us, but it is used as a stereotype, as in, an american tourist dressed in shot sleeve button shirts, bermudas or cargo pants and sandals, usually in an obvious contrast to what everyone else is wearing, like all tourists usually constrast anywhere they go, no matter where they came from (dressing comfortably for long days walking all over the place as opposed to dressing for work, etc).

I didn't know it had different connotations in other latin countries.

[Peikko 1,575]

If BY consistently used gringo to address people in this way it might be possible to deduce it was a benign use. However, he does not call all and sundry gringo, his posts are not peppered with a substitution of dude with gringo. The fact is that he chose to address the one person in the thread who was mexican as gringo and moreover someone with whom he was having a less than friendly exchange and I am supposed to believe that he was tossing gringo out as friendly banter? BY might be able to pretend he was not trying to use it as a term to demean the other poster, he might even be able to convince himself that that was not his intention, but if you were following the conversation he was having, that is not a reasonable interpretation.

Just to be clear here, I do not really care personally who calls who what, I think that suspensions on the basis of name calling are rather silly (Caveat, calling someone a name as part of a wider discussion of an issue, not simply name calling constantly and without provocation). However, I do expect the moderation to make sense - ignoring the use of gringo in this instance was a blatant misread of the situation, I expect more of moderators quite frankly, especially as name calling seems to be their forte, they have a lot more problem identifying hate speech which is a lot more problematic for a website that is meant to cater to all communities.

Edited August 21, 2010 by Madame Cleo

[sachinky 465]

This is feckin' dumb.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

This particular issue has now been addressed.

I agree that how something is said in context is very important, and when a post is reported, we do take a look at the post 'in context' . For the record, we never received a 'report' on this issue, and had to go and look for it. VJ is a big site and the comment could have occurred in any of a number of forums. Off Topic is also large with many threads running into multiple pages. It is much easier for us to 'act' on an issue when the report function is used as it contains a direct link to the offending post, and we can then address the matter directly. Making an unlinked reference to it in a different forum saying moderators 'should' know something would have been a lot more helpful for us with a link to the offending post.

So, please everyone, help us to do our jobs by providing us with a link to where the problem exists if you wish us to address/ resolve the situation .

[Fandango 1,439]

If BY consistently used gringo to address people in this way it might be possible to deduce it was a benign use. However, he does not call all and sundry gringo, his posts are not peppered with a substitution of dude with gringo. The fact is that he chose to address the one person in the thread who was mexican as gringo and moreover someone with whom he was having a less than friendly exchange and I am supposed to believe that he was tossing gringo out as friendly banter? BY might be able to pretend he was not trying to use it as a term to demean the other poster, he might even be able to convince himself that that was not his intention, but if you were following the conversation he was having, that is not a reasonable interpretation.

Just to be clear here, I do not really care personally who calls who what, I think that suspensions on the basis of name calling are rather silly (Caveat, calling someone a name as part of a wider discussion of an issue, not simply name calling constantly and without provocation). However, I do expect the moderation to make sense - ignoring the use of gringo in this instance was a blatant misread of the situation, I expect more of moderators quite frankly, especially as name calling seems to be their forte, they have a lot more problem identifying hate speech which is a lot more problematic for a website that is meant to cater to all communities.

Even for you, this is low. You really are a sh!t stirrer.

[SMOKE 1,426]

ok its official, VJ has become internet KinderCare. when is snack time?

[Peikko 1,575]

Even for you, this is low. You really are a sh!t stirrer.

Yeah, even for me, the lowly scumbag that I am. You ignore racism and bigotry because pointing it out is too pc, too 'white guilt' too liberal. I don't.

As to Katheryn, a moderator was already in the thread, had looked at the posts I referred to had already concluded publicly in that thread that he couldn't see any thing that was against the TOS - he did say that he was only one moderator and that others might not take the same position - in the light of that I felt a thread on moderation was totally in order Yes, it would be nice if all the unpleasantness remained behind the scenes and name calling was the biggest issue that VJ had to deal with but it's not. Moderation should be much more transparent than it is, and moderators should be able to moderate more complex issues, but if they have trouble with the easy stuff, then something needs to be done.

[Peikko 1,575]

ok its official, VJ has become internet KinderCare. when is snack time?

Moderation needs to at least appear to be consistent. The same moderator who can't see how gringo in this context was offensive had already suspended aj for calling someone a ####### Neither offense deserved suspension, or the posts being annihilated a warning would have been quite sufficient but suspending a.j and glossing over BY's offenses was outrageous.

[SMOKE 1,426]

You ignore racism and bigotry because pointing it out is too pc.

not speaking for anyone other than myself: cleo this thread is beneath you really.

[SMOKE 1,426]

Moderation needs to at least appear to be consistent. The same moderator who can't see how gringo in this context was offensive had already suspended aj for calling someone a ####### Neither offense deserved suspension, or the posts being annihilated a warning would have been quite sufficient but suspending a.j and glossing over BY's offenses was outrageous.

idk who did what & i don't really care. maybe posting history has something to do w/ it, maybe it doesn't. again idk & idc. but, the constant whinning about moderation is childish & the looking for a reason to whine about moderation on this board is ridiclous. any post refering to any race, religion, sex, political view...etc. could be offensive to someone. is it going to come to the point we can't even have an adult discussion here anymore?

[Fandango 1,439]

Yeah, even for me, the lowly scumbag that I am. You ignore racism and bigotry because pointing it out is too pc, too 'white guilt' too liberal. I don't.

As to Katheryn, a moderator was already in the thread, had looked at the posts I referred to had already concluded publicly in that thread that he couldn't see any thing that was against the TOS - he did say that he was only one moderator and that others might not take the same position - in the light of that I felt a thread on moderation was totally in order Yes, it would be nice if all the unpleasantness remained behind the scenes and name calling was the biggest issue that VJ had to deal with but it's not. Moderation should be much more transparent than it is, and moderators should be able to moderate more complex issues, but if they have trouble with the easy stuff, then something needs to be done.

No, you're not a lowly scumbag: you're an attention ####### of the worst variety, someone who needs adversarial combat daily in order to feel superior in your daily life. One who thrives on drama and bickering.

I'm not defending BY here, but if you felt there was an issue, hit the damned report button first...no, instead you create this huge parlarva over the word 'gringo'...one which doesn't even make sense as a racial comment in the scenario in which you described.

Much ado about nothing. As per usual when it comes to you, but even so...this one is surprising.