Каджун этносының «кунасс» аталысы және оның тарихы

Epithet used in reference to a person of Cajun ethnicity

Coonass, or Coon ass, is a term for a person of Cajun ethnicity. Some view it as derogatory, however many Cajuns embrace the name. The term is believed to originate from the French word conasse, meaning a fool.

Socioeconomic factors appear to influence how Cajuns are likely to view the term: working class Cajuns tend to regard the word "coonass" as a badge of ethnic pride, whereas middle and upper class Cajuns are more likely to regard the term as insulting or degrading, even when used by fellow Cajuns in reference to themselves. (In sociolinguistics, this type of behavior is termed covert prestige.) Despite an effort by Cajun activists to stamp out the term, it can be found on T shirts, hats, and bumper stickers throughout Acadiana, the 22 parish Cajun homeland in south Louisiana. According to the French Wiktionary, the French Larousse dictionary, and the French Wikipedia, connasse entered the French language at the beginning of the 19th century and the term translates loosely to "dirty prostitute". Domengeaux asserted that Frenchmen used the term in reference to Cajun soldiers serving in France during World War II, and that Anglo American soldiers overheard the term, transformed it into "coonass" and brought it back to the US as a disparaging term for Cajuns. Citing Domengeaux's etymology, Louisiana legislators passed a concurrent resolution in the 1980s condemning the word. Contrary to popular belief, the lawmakers did not ban the term. In July 2014, Texas House of Representatives member Dennis Bonnen made a remark on the House floor referring to the language spoken by children displaced from Hurricane Katrina as "coonass". Media reports characterized his use of the term as "derogatory", "offensive", and a "vulgar slang term".