Nineteenth-century newspapers often referred to members of ethnic or racial
minorities by an epithet, thereby replacing individual identity with a generic
term. Black male slaves were called "Pompey" or "Caesar,"
German men were "Hans," while Irish men were "Pat" and Irish
women were "Bridget." Epithets were used frequently in combination
with visual and linguistic stereotypes (e.g., physical appearance and accent) to
emphasize the differences between minorities and the dominant culture, implying
the alleged inferiority of the former. Common labels for Chinese immigrants were
"Ah Sing," "John Chinaman," and variations of "Yellow
Jack."
Source consulted:
Elaine Kim, "Asian Americans and American Popular
Culture,"
in Dictionary of Asian American History, ed. Hyung-Chan Kim (New York: Greenwood
Press, 1986), pp. 99-114