Greaser was a derogatory term for a Mexican in what is now the U.S. Southwest 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 (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

. The term was actually incorporated into an early

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

statute, the Greaser Act (1855), an expression of a virulent form of anti-Mexican sentiment among many

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from 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 people of British d ...

Californians. ''Greaser'' persisted in use through the

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

era, as evidenced by movies such as ''Ah Sing and the Greasers'' (1910), '' The Greaser's Gauntlet'' (1908),''Tony, the Greaser'' (1911), ''The Greaser and the Weakling'' (1912), '' The Girl and the Greaser'' (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 Madison Grant (November 19, 1865 – May 30, 1937) was an American lawyer, zoologist, anthropologist, and writer known for his work as a conservation movement, conservationist, eugenics, eugenicist, and advocate of scientific racism. Grant i ...

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 the Human, human species is divided into biologically distinct taxa called "race (human categorization), races", and that empirical evi ...

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, anthropologist, and proponent of eugenics Madison Grant (1865–1937). Grant expounds a theory of Nordi ...

''.

Other uses

* The term is not generally considered derogatory when referring to greaser culture, as prominently featured in S.E. Hinton'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 Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

Greek people Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Anatolia, parts of Italy and Egypt, and to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. They also f ...

, and Southern Europeans generally, 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 Anti-Hispanic and Latin American sentiment Persecution of Greeks in North America Stereotypes of Hispanic and Latino Americans