THIS WEEKEND: More Dia de los Muertos Fun

October 31, 2008 by missheather
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg

Once I recovered from the initial shock (the word “beaner” has a distinctly negative connotation where I come from) I realized that this is yet another event celebrating Dia de los Muertos this weekend. Things kicks off at noon on November 2 and include free drip coffee, a raffle and live jazz. They will also be serving up a $5.00 “Mexican plate” which includes a tamale, rice and beans and a sugar skull. All in all this sounds pretty interesting.

Dia de los Muertos
November 2, 2008 starting at noon
Beaner* Bar
447 Graham Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11222

I also have word Huitzilli will be celebrating the Day of the Dead this weekend as well. Once I get all the details I will pass them along to you!

Miss Heather

*Do you know how much it pains me to type this? Seriously. It’s almost up there with “coon”, “kike”, “wop”, “chink”, “gook” and of course the almighty “n-bomb”.

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Comments

7 Comments on THIS WEEKEND: More Dia de los Muertos Fun

Citizen Skein on Fri, 31st Oct 2008 2:49 pm

Beaner is an extremely insensitive, racially charged name. Where is the ACLU? Rev. Al?

From Wikipedia:

“Beaner is a slang term, widely regarded as derogatory, that refers to people of Mexican descent or, more broadly, Mestizos.[1][2][3] The term originates from the prevalence of frijoles pintos and other beans in Mexican food.[3][4]

According to The Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the word was first seen in print in 1965, although the term has reportedly been in use at least since the 1940s (perhaps having evolved from previous slurs such as “bean-eater” and “bean-bandit” that were in use since as far back as the 1910s.) [1]

Although the word is generally considered pejorative, its usage is not always overtly offensive and can be fairly benign depending on the context (similar to the term “frog” for a French person.) Though perhaps once considered strictly offensive, it appears that the term may be going through a phase of melioration, where the negative connotation of an ethnic slur is “reclaimed” by those it is directed against and used in a neutral or even positive manner. [1]

Other ethnics slurs based on food include “Curry-muncher” (East Indians) and “Frog” (French).”

bitchcakes on Fri, 31st Oct 2008 3:12 pm

I’m friends with the 2 Mexican women that opened this place. I thought it was a reference to coffee beans. I never heard that term used that way before.

Thanks for posting this Miss Heather, I’ve been meaning to mention it to you all week!

PS The coffee is A.MA.ZING. They carry Vegan Treats. And there’s free wifi. Yippee!

missheather on Fri, 31st Oct 2008 3:18 pm

Bitchcakes: I imagine they meant it in reference to coffee beans. Nonetheless it took me by surprise. I am not surprised you have never heard of this term either; it’s pretty much a sunbelt/southwest U.S. thing.

d on Fri, 31st Oct 2008 6:55 pm

I’m from the northeast and I’ve heard “beaner” used as a slur. I was a bit shocked when I heard the name of this place too.

missheather on Sat, 1st Nov 2008 1:12 am

The countdown to the NY Post reporting about this (without giving me credit) is 10… 9… 8… 7… 6…

dont_be_an_idiot on Sat, 1st Nov 2008 11:38 am

The Beaner bar was opened by Mexican Americans. They are making a play on words with coffee beans and yes, they are aware of what people call them.

Being called that all their lives, I think they’re allowed to make fun of it.

Yvonne on Sat, 1st Nov 2008 12:27 pm

Haha, when i saw the word ‘beaner’ I was thinking of people who wear beanies. It just looks like the type of place where people wearing beanies would really fit in.

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