The word “tonk” does not have a clear origin. Some say it’s an acronym for some variation of “Traveler, Origin Not Known” or “Traveler Outside Native Country.”
The broadest consensus among those familiar with it, however, is that the slur comes from the sound made by slamming a heavy-duty flashlight or baton over a migrant’s head.
Though no one can say for sure, the flashlight definition has adherents within the agency. In an email with the subject line “Tonk,” a Border Patrol agent in the Spokane, Washington, region asked whether someone ”‘found’ that head wound with his maglite.” (The names in the documents released to HuffPost were redacted.)
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Presumably the diet Nazis will be out to scoff, ‘Can you believe people think that’s hateful? Ha ha ha, it’s an injoke from this thing I just googled, and always has been, now. Imagine thinking ad-hoc right-wing dehumanization is offensive. We secretly love this group. Actually it is you who are the bigots for thinking they need defending from mere words, which can never cause harm. Drown them all, though.’
The government obsessed with getting you to fill “race” and “ethnicity” on their forms does this? Say it isn’t so.
