Greaser was a derogatory term for a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

in what is now the

U.S. Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

in the 19th century. The slur likely derived from what was considered one of the lowliest occupations typically held by Mexicans, the greasing of the axles of wagons; they also greased animal hides that were taken to California where Mexicans loaded them onto clipper ships (a greaser). It was in common usage among U.S. troops during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...

. The term was actually incorporated into an early

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

statute, the

Greaser Act The Anti-Vagrancy Act, also known as the Greaser Act, was enacted in 1855 in California, by legalizing the arrest of those perceived as violating its anti-vagrancy statute. The law is sometimes referred to as the Greaser Act because the law uses th ...

(1855), an expression of a virulent form of

anti-Mexican sentiment Anti-Mexican sentiment is an attitude toward people of Mexican descent, Mexican culture and/or Mexican Spanish and is most commonly found in the United States. Its origins in the United States date back to the Mexican and American Wars ...

among many

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to peopl ...

Californians. Greaser persisted in use through the

silent movie ''Silent Movie'' is a 1976 American satirical comedy film co-written, directed by and starring Mel Brooks, released by 20th Century Fox in the summer of 1976. The ensemble cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters, and Sid ...

era, as evidenced by movies such as ''Ah Sing and the Greasers'' (1910), ''

The Greaser's Gauntlet ''The Greaser's Gauntlet'' is a 1908 American silent short adventure film directed by D. W. Griffith. It was released by the Biograph Company and copyrighted on August 6, 1908. The film introduced the first extended use of parallel editing in ...

'' (1908),''Tony, the Greaser'' (1911), ''The Greaser and the Weakling'' (1912), ''

The Girl and the Greaser ''The Girl and the Greaser'' is a 1913 American silent short film directed by Allan Dwan starring Charlotte Burton, J. Warren Kerrigan, Louise Lester, George Periolat, Jack Richardson and Vivian Rich Vivian Rich (May 26, 1893 – November ...

'' (1913), ''The Greaser's Revenge'' (1914), and ''Bronco Billy and the Greaser'' (1914). Subsequently, however, Hollywood began to cut its usage of this particular derogatory term to improve its distribution in Mexican and Latin American markets. The eugenicist Madison Grant made mention of the term with respect to Mexicans of mixed ancestry in his 1916 work of

scientific racism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscience, pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism (racial discrimination), racial inferiority, or racial superiority.. "Few tragedies ...

The Passing of the Great Race ''The Passing of the Great Race: Or, The Racial Basis of European History'' is a 1916 racist and pseudoscientific book by American lawyer, self-styled anthropologist, and proponent of eugenics, Madison Grant (1865–1937). Grant expounds a theo ...

''.

Other use

* The term is not generally considered derogatory when referring to greaser culture, as prominently featured in

S.E. Hinton Susan Eloise Hinton (born July 22, 1948) is an American writer best known for her young-adult novels (YA) set in Oklahoma, especially '' The Outsiders'' (1967), which she wrote during high school. Hinton is credited with introducing the YA ge ...

's '' The Outsiders''. * In British English, the term was used in the 1960s–70s to describe the Rocker subculture. * "Greaser" can also be used as a shortened form of greaseball, an insult against

Italian people , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

and

Greek people The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, othe ...

, in reference to the greased styles often sported in their hair, supposed lack of hygiene, or supposed naturally greasy hair.

References

{{Ethnic slurs Anti-Italian sentiment Anti-Mexican sentiment Class-related slurs Ethnic and religious slurs Hispanophobia Persecution of Greeks in North America Stereotypes of Hispanic and Latino people