Beaner is a derogatory Pejorative originally from the United States to refer to individuals from Mexico or of Mexican American heritage.
Usage
The word was first seen in print in 1965, although the term has reportedly been in use at least since the 1940s, having evolved from previous slurs such as
bean-eater (1919) and
bean-bandit (1959).
It is one of many national and ethnic slurs that refer to a nation's cuisine, such
kraut for a German,
spud-muncher for an Irish person, and
frog for a French person.
The word is considered to be one of the most offensive slurs for Mexican-Americans, although according to The Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the word is only "usually considered offensive".
In the 2000s comedian Carlos Mencia was known for using it, and other pejoratives, extensively and used it regularly for Comedy in his Mind of Mencia program.
In May 2018, about two weeks before Starbucks initiated a racial bias training program for its American employees, a Hispanic customer in La Cañada, California, received his order with the name Beaner written on it.
Other use
Because the term originates from a common English word, there are other pre-existing or unknowing uses of
beaner. For example,
beaner has been used to describe someone from Boston (Beantown, Boston baked beans, Boston Beaneaters); when accidentally smoking a marijuana seed (alternatively called a
bean);
a nickname (the 2012 book
In Beaner's Backyard);
in coffee shops (for the
coffee bean); and for a hit by pitch in baseball (
beanball). Awareness about the offensive meaning of the word is resulting in its usage being criticized and phased out of mainstream use:
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On September 15, 2007, regional coffee chain Biggby Coffee, having been called "Beaner's Coffee" since its founding in 1995, decided to change its name to Biggby Coffee in response to comments about the unintended slur in its name. Biggby CEO and founder Bob Fish said, "We ultimately felt we would be condoning the use of a disparaging term if we chose to do nothing".
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In 2019, the use of the word beaner in the New York Times crossword, clued as "Pitch to the head, informally",
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In 2019, Duluth, Minnesota coffee shop Beaner's Central changed its name to Wussow's Concert Cafe. Owner Jason Wussow stated that "Although the name Beaners was chosen twenty years ago out of innocent unawareness, it is undeniable that this word is xenophobic and offensive to many".
Use in film
The word has been used by
Tommy Chong in
Cheech and Chong's Next Movie,
by
Clint Eastwood in
Gran Torino and
The Mule, by
Hank Schrader in
Breaking Bad, by
Al Pacino in
Donnie Brasco and by
Jeff Bridges in
The Morning After,
and in the movies
30 Minutes or Less by
Fred Ward and
Lone Star State of Mind by
David Semel.
See also
External links
