"Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees" is a racist playground chant used to mock children of Asian origin.

One rendering of the chant gives it as "Chinese/Japanese/Dirty Knees/Look at these Chinese Japanese/Dirty Knees".[1] A 2005 Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century, mentioning it among "fifty well-known jingles, jump-rope rhymes, and singsong parodies that we kids chanted", lists it as "'Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees / Look at these.' (Point to your tits.)"[2]

Many Asian Americans recalled being taunted or bullied with this chant in their youth in the 20th century.[3][4] Children who sang it would sometimes pull their eyes into slits.[5] Gregory B. Lee, writing that "many a Chinese immigrant child over the past 100 years has had to endure" the chant, notes that "[t]he allusion to dirt in this ditty is not aleatory", linking it to the stereotype of unclean "Orientals".[6]

In 2020, the film Monster Hunter caused controversy on Chinese social media because of a pun that some critics said was a reference to the chant: In a scene, MC Jin's character jokingly says: "Look at my knees!", and to the question "What kind of knees are these?" replies "Chi-knees!". Although the filmmakers and actors denied that the line had anything to do with the chant, the film was removed from circulation, and Chinese authorities censored references to it online.[7]

References

  1. ^ Xing, Jun (1998). Asian America Through the Lens: History, Representations, and Identities. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. p. 162. ISBN 0-7619-9175-1. OCLC 39051806.
  2. ^ Mansour, David (2005). From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-7407-9307-3. OCLC 776997651.
  3. ^ Zaloom, Shafia (2003). "Dirty Knees". In Kane, Pearl Rock; Orsini, Alfonso J. (eds.). The Colors of Excellence: Hiring and Keeping Teachers of Color in Independent Schools. New York: Teachers College Press. p. 26. ISBN 0-8077-4282-1. OCLC 53093570.
  4. ^ Pusey, Shirley Budd (2005). "Emily". Adoption Reunion Stories. Phoenix, AZ: Acacia Publishing. p. 143. ISBN 0-9762224-5-0. OCLC 61362752.
  5. ^ Rhee, Michelle (2013). "Chapter 1". Radical: Fighting to Put Students First. New York: Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-220400-4. OCLC 825116527.
  6. ^ Lee, Gregory B. (2003). Chinas Unlimited: Making the Imaginaries of China and Chineseness. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. p. 45. ISBN 0-8248-2680-9. OCLC 51722034.
  7. ^ Davis, Rebecca (December 5, 2020). "'Monster Hunter' Pulled From Chinese Cinemas Over Scene Said to Be Racial Slur". Variety. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
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