*from the notepad of Mike North


"Who can make an egg roll?"
" A Tasty Crab Rangoon........"
"Can run a sweat shop.
and own a grocery store or two"

"THE CHINAMAN..........
OH THE CHINAMAN CAN"

I know I know but I couldnt resist.


http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/candyman.htm

In a really odd convergence, I sat down at a table of people I did not know at a fundraiser last night. A woman and her husband used the word Chinamen several times in a conversation I overheard. They did not use the word in a derogatory way, it was simply there way to describe a person of Asian heritage. These people were around Mike's age and from the general area in which he was raised. Maybe there is something to North's claim of ignorance.

I have recently read that the term "Chinaman" is used in Chicago political circles to describe someone who may not even be of Chinese descent. Is this accurate?

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I believe the term as you use it there stones is used to describe a political patron. I believe it refers back to the chinese civil service system that has been in place for thousands of years.

Yes, in political parlance, Chinaman is a political mentor or heavyweight working behind the scenes to sponsor a rising politician or city worker. Jim Peraica used the term during the race for County Board President, but apparently it was not a big deal since he is not as famous as Mike Nort.

Yup, that's it--think of the way New York cops refer to a colleague's having a "rabbi" looking out for him (or her). Weirdly enough, "chinaman" is also a term for a particular kind of delivery of the ball in cricket.