After a three-month long vacation, staff here at the Zany Zany World returned to the bump and grind of the blogosphere.

Our inboxes were packed to the brim with mail, both fan and hate. It took a few hours to answer them all with the automatic response system. And while the computers were doing the dirty work, one e-mail happened to catch our eyes.



One of our readers took time out of his/her day to bring to our attention something that we had some how missed. It was article published in the Toronto Star. Please read on.


Email lands Texas district attorney in hot water
Brett Popplewell
STAFF REPORTER

Is "Canadian" the new black? Perhaps – that is if you're a racist speaking in code.
Recent revelations that the term "Canadian" is being used to replace racist names for black people have got a Texas assistant district attorney into trouble and have left others wondering what exactly it means to be labelled a Canadian in the American south.

Long derogated as weak-kneed liberals with lax laws and funny monopoly money, Canadians have carried a negative connotation in certain regions of America – but not as a replacement for the N-word.

Earlier this week a columnist with the Houston Chronicle uncovered an email from Harris County assistant district attorney Mike Trent who, in a congratulatory note to a junior prosecutor, used the word "Canadians" to describe blacks on a jury.

Trent wrote of the prosecutor in a 2003 email: "He overcame a subversively good defence by Matt Hennessey that had some Canadians on the jury feeling sorry for the defendant and forced them to do the right thing."

Trent's email remained unchallenged by colleagues who received the email, despite there being no actual Canadians on the jury.

But when Trent's office came under scrutiny this month over an unrelated incident, the email was unearthed, leaving Trent open to accusations of bigotry.

Those accusations are grounded in allegations that the use of "Canadians" was in keeping with the definition listed on an online racial slurs database that defines "Canadian" as a masked replacement for the N-word.

In his own defence, Trent said he honestly thought there had been Canadians on the jury and did not understand the negative connotation of the word.


We here at the Zany Zany World love to use slang. Terms like “the camel crush” and “Dizzy Trout” have come to take on new meanings. When we first heard about the word “Canadians” being used in a derogatory racial context, we immediately considered the implications.

Arguably, the n-word is used most frequently in rap music (at least in its exposure to the general public). To illustrate how this will affect rap, we’ve taken the lyrics of Earl Simmons A.K.A ‘DMX’ and replaced the n-word with “Canadians”.



Here’s Simmons’ smah hit “fuckin’ wit D” off his 1998 album It’s Dark and Hell is Hot.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...........
What's on y'all [Canadians] minds
fuckin' wit' me, y'all know somebody has
told you about fuckin' wit' D, stuck in
a tree is what you will be, like a cat
and I'm the dog at the bottom, lookin' up
what's that.
Your worst nightmare is I take it right there,
you got [Canadians] comin' where they at, right
where? I make 'em like air, floatin' away, wouldn't
tell what he was thinkin' so I opened a way,
Went from broken away, you know he hurt before he died,
makes you wonder if he lost his shirt before he died, only
two knew the answer and one of us is dead, so anyone who
seeks the truth can get it straight to head!
Than you andf him can discuss what I did, yeah it was
wrong dog but I slid, i'll repent one day, just not right
now, you hear my shit all on the street i'm kinda hot
right now!

Come on!

[ (Chorus):]

I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT
CH'YALL [CANADIANS] CAUSE Y'ALL
AIN'T KILLIN' NUTTIN'!!!

[Verse two:]

I wanna break bread wit' da' katz
that I starve with, wanna hit the
malls with the same dogz I rob wit',
wanna be able to laugh with the [Canadians]
that I cried with, when it's over be like
these is tha [Canadians] that I died wit'.
What do you do when you find out in the
hall there's a rat, what do you do when
you find out that your dog is a cat,
Shit, on [Canadians] back, can't hold but two
so while you gettin' more gatz i'm puttin wholes
in you, snubnose will do, break 'em off real
proppa', need to keep it' spittin' but I ain't gonna stoppa', cocka,
unlocka, let
'em go, give it to his man just to let him know,
All things considered it was real for' a minute,
got what was yourz and tried to steal sometin' wit
it, now feel sometin' hit it, your chest that is,
the best that is, is probaly the best that slid,
yo stress that kid!

[ (Chorus):]

I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT
CH'YALL [CANADIANS] CAUSE Y'ALL
AIN'T KILLIN' NUTTIN'!!!

[Verse 3:]

When [Canadians] hear that dog bark,
they betta run, when police hear
that dog bark they betta come, they
expect tha same thing that's live,
and they lives will be lost, there
is a price to pay, how many lives
will be lost, COME ON!
Since I run with the devil i'm one
with the devil, I stay doin' dirt so
I'm gonna come with the shovel,
Hit chyou on a level of a madman who's mind's
twisted, Made [Canadians] dreams caught the last
train, mines missed it, Listed as a manic
depressin' with extreme paranoya! and dog
I got sometin' for ya! hear my name, feel my pain,
[Canadians] wanna steal my fame, but first feel
my reign, know what it's like to suffer, never
have enough of shit, startin' off hard than
only gettin' rougher! tougher, but than came
the greese, so if you wanna say peace, tame the beast!


Kids these days are already confused enough, what with the mixed messages society sends them and all. If the term “Canadians” picks up, then there will be a whole generation of Americans, who based off the teachings of Earl Simmons, thinks Canadians are hyper-violent. And that would be bad.