In an email, someone named “Kate” writes:

Hello Radley:

On August 20, you published the below:

“Even a cursory look at the USDA recommendations suggests chicanery. ‘USDA?’ Why is the federal department responsible for the promotion of U.S. agriculture making dietary recommendations? Might there be conflicts of interests, there?”

I suggest that in the future you avoid use of the word “chicanery”. This has a derogatory connotation to those of Mexican heritage – and reminds them of the lack of civil liberties that Cesar Chavez fought so hard to earn. Chicanery comes from Chicano, from Mejicano. The best we can do is to be politically correct and to avoid passing on the prejudice the word implies by simply not using it.

The word Chicanery is a reminder of the era that the US thought of all Mejicanos as swindlers; still portrayed in Hollywood, as the ‘classic’ or ‘typical’ Mexican. The word chicanery, and its negative connotation, has crept into the american language much as the expression ‘gone Turk’ crept into European languages in the last stages of the Ottoman Empire.

I like your writing, and your theories. I support the Cato. As an author working toward more equality in civil liberties, I hope your awareness to minority sensitivities increases.

Eh, I have my doubts about the depth of Kate’s support of the Cato, main reason being that she refers to it as “the Cato.”

At any rate, I can’t find a single dictionary that references any Mexican association with “chicanery,” negative or otherwise. From what I can tell, the word’s roots are French, or maybe German, and predate any immigration-related animus against Mexicans.

My guess is that “chicanery’s” resemblance to “Chicano” and that its meaning plays into Mexican-American stereotypes has led PC-minded Kate to assign it an alternate, more nefarious etymology.

So no go. And I like the way the word sounds. So I think I’ll keep using it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 11th, 2004 at 9:51 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.