So in a meeting today, we’re talking about a coolie hat – the one on a joystick, so names because it look like a hat that a chinese laborer, aka a “coolie” would wear.
So, fresh off the corporate ethics training, I ask if this is racist and if we should call it something else (half jokingly).
What say you?
I don’t know the origin of the term, but when seeing the little “coolie hat” on top of my flight sticks, I always thought it looked like what Devo was wearing in the “Whip It” video. So I assumed, because they were “cool” that the nickname was referring to their hats. I was considerably younger then.
I voted No, but I suppose it depends on whether the term “coolie” is somehow derogatory to those Chinese laborers.
I say no, but I’m no Coolie.
I dunno, but I think Bull withdrew his offer to give me one.
I’m part-Wong, and had no idea the word “Coolie” was supposed to be something bad. Huh.
“It’s cool, I’m taking it back”
“Coolie
4
Life”
It is offensive, yes. However I think most folks just call it a “hat switch” these days, which should sidestep any problems. I’ve never heard anyone include the “coolie” when talking about a joystick.
H.
I’ve never heard of the term either. The first joystick I ever used with one (Thrustmaster HOTAS setup - Falcon 3) referred to it as a “hat switch”.
There’s a nice oriental lady down the street that wears one while doing yardwork… so no.
Of course “oriental” is another story. Can I nominate “Devo Hat” switch as the new replacement term?
Thumb hat?
I’ve only ever heard it called a hat switch.
Coolie = “ku li”, “bitter strength”
So I’m told, anyway.
Technically “Coolie” is a racist term that goes back to the days of Chinese laborers imported into the US, however since most people don’t KNOW it’s derogatory it’s kind of lost any power/relevance. There are also racist terms for blacks, Irish, Italians, etc. that have faded over the years and if used in an indirect manner most people wouldn’t even recognize.
So is it racist? Yes, its origins are fairly clearly racist in nature. Is it offensive? For most people, no, simply because they’re unaware of its origin and it’s not as obvious as “slant”, “slope”, “gook”, “chink”, etc.
I guess it’s like that children’s rhyme I learned as a kid in Virginia:
Eenie meenie mighty moe
Catch a tiger by his toe
If he hollers let him go
Except it took me until age 20-something to realize the word tiger was just a placeholder for the word nigger. And then I was like “Holy shit, why did our parents let us recite that rhyme?” Maybe they were just as ignorant as us kids.
By realize, what do you mean? You figured it out one day? How? I have no idea how ‘tiger’ is supposed to obviously be a placeholder for ‘nigger.’
Well, depends on the time period. “Nigger” was used instead of “tiger” for a good stretch of the early 20th century, but it doesn’t actually predate the “tiger” form:
Yet more Wikipedia love
What the fuck!?