If there has been no U.S. military in the Philippines for 20 years, why are white men still called Joe?

For you Filipinos reading this: Put all the words you can think of that mean black person on your answer block and see which ones are not filtered out. Naked Under My Clothes nailed it. Did you notice that one of his words was filtered out? That should tell you something, guys!

The majority of Filipinos are stuck in the pre-1969 twentieth century. Never use a word beginning with N to describe a black person (rule one). Schools and other businesses should never have a "directress". Use the non-gender term, director. And there should be no such thing as a job for men or a job for women.

Join with the rest of the world in the 21st century. Understand that American doesn't mean white and white doesn't mean American. The Europeans hate the Filipinos for this. (At least the ones I've met do.)

EDIT: The white racists of the Old South were also quite innocent in knowing that what they were doing was wrong. Have you ever been a victim of racism? Most Filipinos living in the Philippines have not faced this (even the poor ones). If you are a victim of racial discrimination, it doesn't really matter to you whether or not the people are nice. It's still rude. And my question is, who teaches them to say these things?

By the way, the roots of "Joe" are interesting: During World War II, U.S. military personnel were called Joe for "G.I. Joe." This was forgotten about until the Vietnam War. Then the call girls in Manila and Saigon would ask G.I.s their name. The answer always came back, "Joe." So Joe actually means the customer of a call girl. Not a G.I. Good to know!

Do you really have a problem with that in Belfast? I've never heard of a Norwegian man doing that. Must be a cultural thing. Aggressive, strong women are highly prized in Scandinavian culture. Are passive women more prized in Celtic cultures? Would explain a lot since Asian women tend to be very passive from what I've seen while women from "first world" nations are growing more aggressive. *shrug* Edit: LOL! Just because they're standing in a Scandinavian country doesn't mean they're Scandinavian by birth. Remember, Poland is to Norway as Mexico is to the US. We need the Polish immigrants for the berry harvest so we don't much enforce our immigration laws (which are quite lax anyway). We'd rather just complain about them while eating our berries. (With certain notable exceptions.)

I could answer this question with a question: Why do they use dictionaries that are over 40 years old that use words like n-e-g-r-o, stewardess, Mohammedan, and other words which other English speakers for more than 35 years?

They are stuck in the past and don't realize it.

EDIT: In many cultures outside the Philippines, teasing with strangers is considered very rude and could reflect on a lack of tourists returning to your country. They call white men Joe. Black men are called something that would get them fired from a job in the United States. Friendly? In an ignorant way, maybe.

Teasing is very much a part of Filipino culture. Unlike western cultures, where teasing is done to degrade or belittle a person, nicknaming a person in the Philippines is the equivalent of socializing them, showing them that they belong. I suspect this is something the Filipinos got from the Spaniards, because in many Latino cultures, calling a stranger "Whitey" or "Fatty" is a way of making friends with them, rather than insulting them.

So yes, originally, Joe was a military nickname. Today its used jovially to socialize with foreign visitors and tourists, and I've never heard it used as a pejorative.

A side comment to the person who criticized Filipino English - there are plenty of terms that Americans use which are extremely incorrect politically, but they use them in an ignorant way. Take for example, the term "Pork barrel spending" which has been all over the news and refers to government funds being allocated to local projects. Originally, pork barrels were put out for the African American slaves as food. Today, the elbowing and rushing of senators to spend common money on their pet projects is compared to the struggle of an oppressed people to feed themselves and not starve to death in dehumanizing conditions of slavery. To me, the use of the term "pork barrel" is far more insulting, than the use of the term "*****" which has been used respectfully by many desegregationists and most Harlem Rennaissance authors.

Americans are called Joe in half the world. Some say it is a hold over from WW.2, Others say it is because we use to refer to Coffee as Joe, And were are great Coffee lovers. + as I travel I have hear other reasons, Such as all Americans in a room will look if some one says Hey Joe.

Joe can be taken as a term of fondness, friendship and familiarity, something that GI Joes earned back in WW2 .. you can go to the US military cemetary in Manila and elsewhere and thank the guys that earned this, they are still there, tens of thousands of them, resting peacefully, along side thier filipino brothers, who together died in the battles to liberate the philippines and to keep the world free from tryanny. let's hope they are not soon forgotten.

i've been called 'joe' a few times, and never heard of it used as a perjorative, but some of the YAP answers here about 'gigolo joe' gave me a good laugh..

The word G.I Joe came from the 1945 movie "The story of G.I Joe, its a story of American fighting man during W.W 2. Since then it became common nick name to all American fighting force (Navy,Marine, Air Force, Army) in the Philippines.

Some common praised to the American in Philippines before are.

Hey Joe

Hey Victory Joe

Hey G.I Joe

Hey G.I (G.I means Government Issue)

I am a FilAm served in the U.S Navy for 21 yrs. but never been called a Joe before before. I guess, its only for the white American armed forces

There were no Japanese Military men in the Philippines for more than 60 years, but our neighbour supposedly a son of Japanese tycoon to a Filipina bar girl is being called 'Hoy! Hapon' by his peers. He don't mind at all.

I think it is done because they do not know your name & want to be friendly. No harm meant by it.

Illegal? Why?

Don't worry about people calling you Joe.

Once a word becomes part of any language, it's origin is of very little consequence. I suspect that is the case here.