Chink is a racial slur for a person of Chinese [1] descent. Chink may also mean a small crevice or opening, often referring to a weakness such as a "chink in the armor", but also in purely descriptive contexts such as a chink between two bricks. The latter term is uncontroversial, since it predates the ethnic slur, though the slur may have origins from the original meaning
The word "chinky"'s first usage appeared in 1878. Chinky is still used in Britain as a nickname for Chinese food.
"Chink"'s first usage is recorded from about 1890
During the turn of the 20th century, Chinese immigration was perceived as a threat to whites in North America. Chinese were seen as invasive, culminating into Yellow Peril hysteria. In the United States, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, banning Chinese immigration, within a few years after the first recorded use of chink. The dehumanizing use of the word is argued by one author to be a racist justifier for the passage of the Exclusion Act.[10]
However, labor shortage on the west coast still required Chinese. Alaskan fish canneries were so short on workers, appeals to Congress to amend the Exclusion Act went forward. The Iron Chink, created by Edmund A. Smith, an early 1900s fish preparation machine, was marketed during the shortage as a mechanical means and replacement (hence the name) to keep Chinese population low,[citation needed] utilizing anti-Chinese fears as selling point to the product.
The 1969 top 3 UK hit single for Blue Mink, Melting Pot, which talks of how the world would be happier if everybody was coffee-coloured, sings "Take a pinch of white man, Wrap him up in black skin. […] Mixed with yellow Chinkees. You know you lump it all together And you got a recipe for a get along scene Oh what a beautiful dream If It could only come true". The lyric was also included on the 2003 reissue of 1983 multi-platinum Culture Club album Colour by Numbers, which included a cover of the song as a bonus track. The 1994 Boyzone album, A Different Beat, omitted the lyric however.