CL <flothru@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On 05/30/2010 09:19 PM, John W. wrote:
> > On May 29, 9:30 am, mtfes...@netMAPSONscape.net wrote:
> >> Scott Reynolds<scottr...@gmail.com>  wrote:
> >>> Hello, Nishikura-san,
> >>> As you may have gathered from the response you received so far,
> >>> "haafu" is not considered by many English speakers to be an acceptable
> >>> word to use when referring to children who have one Japanese and one
> >>> non-Japanese parent. In fact, along with "mixed-race," which you also
> >>> use in your post, many people find the word "haafu" pretty insulting.
> >>> (This may be more the case for the parents than for the kids
> >>> themselves, but there it is.)
> >>
> >> Basically, the last sentence is correct; I hate the word, but it doesn't
> >> bother my kids at all.
> >>
> > I never thought of it as being in any way negative, but then I'm
> > raising my kid in the US, so maybe that's the difference. I figure
> > that since he is half Japanese it's relatively appropriate; I just
> > don't see why it's insulting. My only complaint is that haafu reminds
> > me of 'new haafu' and I'd prefer that association not exist.

> It bothers me A LOT, but I have a note from my parents.  I'm part Seneca 
> (Iroquois / Algonquin) which meant absolutely nothing on the East Coast 

Never heard the Seneca alled Algonquin; they were the largest of the
Iroquois nations. I'm part (distant) Onandaga, myself. Spent some time
on the Oneida reservations in Wisconsin when I was a kid.

> where I was born, but seemed to be Dreadfully Important in Minnesota 
> where I grew up, thanks to the Sioux (who seem to screw up everything 

Not sure why it was important; I grew up in the mid-west, and you can't
swing a dead cat there without hitting someone who had an Indian ancestor
somewhere.

> they ever try).  My immediate family all have light skin, blue eyes, and 
> blond hair, but I have some cousins who look like they're on day release 
> from the Reservation.

My grandfather had a classic Iroquois face, but blue eyes.

Mike