"Greasers"
Yesterday in the Commentariat I mentioned that I disliked the use of words like "oily" & "oleaginous" applied to Marco Rubio, as I felt (and feel) they invoke the term "greaser," a derogatory term whites called Latino men in the 1950s & '60s. Several readers objected to my objection.
As I learned from Wikipedia, use of the term greaser has a long history:
Greaser was a derogatory term for a Mexican in what is now the U.S. Southwest in the 19th century. The slur likely derived from what was considered one of the lowliest occupations typically held by Mexicans, the greasing of the axles of wagons; they also greased animal hides that were taken to California where Mexicans loaded them onto clipper ships (a greaser). It was in common usage among U.S. troops during the Mexican-American War.
By the time I heard the word greaser, in the late 1950s, my Anglo schoolmates were using it to disparage Latinos -- almost all Cubans -- and Italians. As far as I knew, it referred to their D.A. hairstyles, which they held in place with a lot of pomade. I think that was an assumption on my part, & I've read elsewhere that it also referred to their diets of greasy food. It also may relate to Hispanics' love of cars -- low-riders -- which back in the day ran on a lot of grease.
At the same time, Anglo boys adopted the greaser look: the D.A. hairstyle, T-shirts with rolled-up sleeves (a pack of Lucky Strikes fit nicely in the cuffs), waist-length leather jackets (tho not so much in the Miami, Florida, where I lived). You might remember Elvis. And James Dean. As far as I can recall, Anglos who adopted the style in my schools did not refer to themselves as greasers, & neither did anyone else. Greasers were Hispanic or Italian, and they were the rough boys or those perceived to be toughs. The president of my high school class was of Italian heritage & wore his hair in a D.A. & the cuffs of his (short-sleeved sports) shirts rolled up, but no one referred to him as a greaser.
As it passed into history, the greaser culture became an object of nostalgic recollection. Ergo, the supposedly-Italian tough but lovable Fonzie in the 1970's teevee show "Happy Days," which was set in the 1950s. And of course the play & film "Grease" (set in 1959; first performed in 1971) is all about greasers: a gang of boys from working-class families, not all of whom are Latino or Italian. A gang of greasers -- the Pharaohs -- were important in George Lucas's classic remembrance of his boyhood past, "American Graffiti."
Latinos & Italians are more apt than other ethnic groups to have oily skin. This is likey why Donald Trump has repeatedly mentioned Marco Rubio's "sweating a lot." There is something wrong with Marco's skin, see. It seeps something. It's not like white skin (even tho Marco looks white to me).
Richard Dreyfuss, playing an actor playing a Latin American dictator in "Moon Over Parador."So when Charles Pierce refers in one post to Marco Rubio as being "oily" and to Ted Cruz -- who is half-Hispanic, albeit from Spain -- as "oleaginous," I cringe. In addition, in the same piece, Pierce writes, "young Marco Rubio ... is just dying to put on a hat with some braid and stand on a balcony." Who does that? Um, Latin American dictators, at least in the movies.
Yes, Ted is oleaginous, & Marco is slick. But when a white American writer gets the adjective thesaurus out of his head, he should be careful that the adjectives he chooses don''t convey or invoke an ethnic stereotype. I don't know what was in Pierce's head when he described Rubio as "oily enough to fry chicken in." I don't know what he was thinking when he likened Marco to a stereotype of a South American dictator. He may have done so purposely; he may be unaware of his prejudice. But I do think it betrays a prejudice, or at least an unfortunate carelessness.
If I did it myself, I'd apologize.
Both Marco & Ted merit plenty of criticism; it's easy to slam them without alluding to their cultural heritage and assumed ethnicity.
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Reader Comments (2)
Excellent, Marie. Charlie can get a bit over the top––lets his lexicon run away with him. I was put off by his descriptions–-nasty, I thought.
Since I grew up in that all-white city by the lake in Wisconsin (they featured Sheboygan in "Making a Murderer"––was watching it last night for the first time) and nary a blend of a different skin color was sporting the "greaser look." Some of these white boys rolled up their Tees, duck tailed their hair, wore tight jeans and strutted their stuff. It wasn't until I attended a large high school in Tucson, Arizona (spent a semester there) that I saw the real deal. and they all had motorcycles––rode like the wind, Brando style. I don't recall, however, that the term "greaser" was used. I do remember– watching these guys–kinda took my breath away.
I don't think Charles Pierce needs defending, but I do think you over-react to the adjective "oily". It has nothing to do with any ethnic group, but is in the same category as "slimy", "sleazy", and similar words applied to shifty and untrustworthy types. Nixon was oily, and as far as I know, was neither Latino nor southern European.