Editing Gook (section)

==Historical use==
The origin of gook is unclear, but it may have originated among U.S. Marines during the [[Philippine–American War]] (1899–1913), where the similar term ''goo-goo'' was also used to refer to Filipinos.<ref name=roegook/><ref>{{Dictionary.com|gook|accessdate=2021-12-19}}</ref> The Marines who occupied [[Nicaragua]] in 1912 took to calling the natives gooks. In 1920, it was reported that U.S. Marines in Haiti used the term to refer to [[Haitians]].<ref name="natgoo" /> Historically, U.S. military personnel used the word to refer to non-Americans of various ethnicities.<ref name=das/>

During [[World War II]], U.S. troops fighting on the [[Pacific Front]] occasionally referred to the natives of Pacific Islands as gooks. The term appears in the 1943 film ''[[Guadalcanal Diary (film)|Guadalcanal Diary]]'', when one of the characters of the film refers to the titular setting as "gook island".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tregaskis |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTotDwAAQBAJ&dq=guadalcanal+diary+gook+island&pg=PT100 |title=Eyewitness to World War II: Guadalcanal Diary, Invasion Diary, and John F. Kennedy and PT-109 |date=2017-08-08 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=978-1-5040-4753-1 |language=en}}</ref>

When U.S. troops were stationed on the [[Korean Peninsula]] at the outbreak of the [[Korean War]], so prevalent was the use of the word gook during the first few months of the war that U.S. General [[Douglas MacArthur]] banned its use, for fear that Asians would become alienated to the [[United Nations Command]] because of the insult. In spite of MacArthur’s early prohibition, the term was nonetheless used by U.S. troops during the conflict, and U.S. postwar occupation troops in South Korea continued to call the Koreans "gooks".<ref name="pearson">{{cite web|url=http://kpearson.faculty.tcnj.edu/Dictionary/gook.htm |title=Gook |work=Rhetoric of Race |date=2003 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224090837/http://kpearson.faculty.tcnj.edu/Dictionary/gook.htm |archivedate=February 24, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="roegook" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/166121693 |title=Soldiers revive "gook" as name for Korea reds |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=6 August 1950 |page=6 |access-date=6 July 2017 |archive-date=26 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826031400/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/doc/166121693.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Aug+6%2C+1950&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+%281923-Current+File%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=SOLDIERS+REVIVE+%27GOOK%27+AS+NAME+FOR+KOREA+REDS |id={{ProQuest|166121693}} |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="kanmac">{{cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/56230634/ |title=Use of Word "Gook" Is Opposed by MacArthur |work=[[The Kansas City Star]] |date=12 September 1950}}</ref> 

The term was also used by non-American troops during the Korean War as well. The posthumous [[Victoria Cross]] citation for [[British Army]] major [[Kenneth Muir (British Army officer)|Kenneth Muir]], who was [[killed in action]] at the [[Battle of Hill 282]], stated that his [[last words]] were "The Gooks will never drive the [[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders|Argylls]] off this hill."<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39115 |date=5 January 1951 |pages=133–134 |supp=y|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39115/supplement/133}}</ref> 

In modern U.S. usage, "gook" refers particularly to [[Communism|communist]] soldiers during the [[Vietnam War]] and has also been used towards all Vietnamese and at other times to all Southeast Asians in general.  It is considered to be highly offensive. In a highly publicized incident, Senator [[John McCain]] used the word during the [[John McCain 2000 presidential campaign|2000 presidential campaign]] to refer to his [[North Vietnam|North Vietnamese]] captors when he was a [[John McCain#Prisoner of war|prisoner of war]]: "I hate the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live… I was referring to my [[prison guard]]s and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend." A few days later, however, he apologized to the Vietnamese community at large.<ref name=awapol>{{cite web|url=http://www.asianweek.com/2000_02_24/feature_mccainapology.html |title=McCain Apologizes for 'Gook' Comment |work=[[Asiaweek]] |date=24 February 2000 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001102101856/http://www.asianweek.com/2000_02_24/feature_mccainapology.html |archivedate=November 2, 2000 }}</ref>