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Here is another unbelievable story out of Panama for the PC crowd.

There are a lot of small Chinese stores in town, which sell basic household essentials and basic canned foods. Some even cut keys. The women in the house for some reason run them. She manages the cash register. Her name is always, in Spanish, “China” (“Chinawoman”) to the patrons. No one says it as an insult, and it is not taken by her an as insult.

This is another of those “We caught a white guy saying something improper so let's make a furor over it” stories. Chinaman is no doubt an out-of-date term, but like “Negro” it was never intended as an insult, just a description of someone. To call it an insult is like saying “Chinatown” is insulting to an entire neighborhood.

If a commentator uses a term like that, I have no problem with the management telling him afterwards that Chinese folks prefer another term these days, but to throw a hissy fit over it and demand an apology is just another example of the Orwellian nonsense that permeates our society.

The Japanese word “gaijin” was a derogatory term toward foreigners, and it still gets used, but whites generally don't freak out over it. I've even referred to myself as a “gaijin” before when talking with Japanese friends.

I don't have any problem with referring to any ethnic group by the name they prefer. But when those names change, it's a little excessive to freak out and crucify anyone who slips up and uses the old name innocently.