Beaner


Beaner is derogatory slang for Mexicans or people of Mexican descent. The term originates from the prevalence of pinto beans and other beans in Mexican cuisine.

Background

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.

Controversies

In 2007, regional coffee chain Biggby Coffee, having been called "Beaner's Coffee" since its founding in 1997, 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."
In 2019, the use of the word "beaner" in the New York Times crossword, clued as , generated controversy. New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz claimed he knew that the term had a pejorative meaning, but he had never personally heard it used as a slur before and argued that "any benign meaning of a word" ought to be "fair game" for inclusion in the crossword. Shortz ultimately apologized for including the slur.
In 2019, Duluth MN 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 by Jeff Bridges in The Morning After. The slur also titles the 2013 movie Beaner, a fictional retelling of the true story of an undocumented Hispanic worker who was brutally stabbed in Long Island.