Perker

The word “Perker” stems from back around the 60s & 70s Denmark. Around that time, Denmark was in dire need of workforce & manpower to build the country’s infrastructure. The state then invited what they called “Gæstearbejdere” or “Fremmedarbejdere” which translates to “Guest Worker” or “Foreign Worker”, mainly from the countries of Turkey, Pakistan, Yugoslavia & Iran. In Danish, when referring to an Iranian person, you can refer to them as an “Perser” which translates to “Persian”. (Notice the “Per” in “Pers-er”.) In Danish, when referring to a Turkish person or a Pakistani person, you can refer to them as a “Tyrker” & “Pakistaner” which translates to “Turk” & “Pakistani”. (Notice the “er” in “Tyrk-er” & “Pakistan-er”.) Someone then decided to combine the words to generalize people of foreign muslim descent. Hence “Per-ker”. It is generally considered hate speech, racially motivated & degrading, when a person of white descent says “Perker”. Much like the N-word in the Western Hemisphere is considered racially motivated & hate speech when said towards people of color, “Perker” is also considered that, when uttered towards people of muslim descent. Racism is generally alive & thriving in Denmark, with it not being as acknowledged as it rightfully should be, & at times actually considered taboo & rolled eyes upon, when pointed out. Many politicians in the Danish Parliament even claiming that racism simply doesn’t exist within it’s borders. Pronunciation: (Paer’kar)