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Usage Note: Asian is now strongly preferred in place of Oriental for persons native to Asia or descended from an Asian people. The usual objection to Orientalmeaning “eastern”is that it identifies Asian countries and peoples in terms of their location relative to Europe. However, this objection is not generally made of other Eurocentric terms such as Near and Middle Eastern. The real problem with Oriental is more likely its connotations stemming from an earlier era when Europeans viewed the regions east of the Mediterranean as exotic lands full of romance and intrigue, the home of despotic empires and inscrutable customs. At the least these associations can give Oriental a dated feel, and as a noun in contemporary contexts (as in the first Oriental to be elected from the district) it is now widely taken to be offensive. However, Oriental should not be thought of as an ethnic slur to be avoided in all situations. As with Asiatic, its use other than as an ethnonym, in phrases such as Oriental cuisine or Oriental medicine, is not usually considered objectionable.
Jailbreak's giving you a hard time?
I don't understand why some people need to refer to one's ethnicity when it's not relevant to the story.
"I went to report the accident and a black police officer took down my statement"
You would never hear someone say, a white police officer.
You can call me a white, honky, cracker. You can call me a bitc* because I am female. You could even call me a Nazi because I'm German. I could care less. :D
Just don't TOUCH my car!
__________________ ~ If you ever catch on fire, try to avoid looking in a mirror, because I bet that will really throw you into a panic. ~
-Jack Handy
Originally posted by Meowloud You can call me a white, honky, cracker. You can call me a bitc* because I am female. You could even call me a Nazi because I'm German. I could care less. :D
Just don't TOUCH my car!
No doubt, let's make that the bottom line in this conversation, just don't touch my car. ha ha! nice.
Originally posted by hotpot You would never hear someone say, a white police officer.
Sure you would - just ask Rodney King. Would it have been as big a deal if he'd been beaten by black (sorry, African-American) police officers?
Regards,
Gordon
__________________
Life is too short to drive boring cars!
___________________________________ 2004 Ti Gray RX-8 - Canadian GT, 6 speed, no moonroof, delivered July 22, 2003 1996 Miata leather package, soon to be faster than the RX-8...
2002 Audi allroad wagon - 2.7 twin turbo, 6 speed manual trans
The problem with using "Asian" vs "Oriental" is that "Oriental" is more descriptive than "Asian".
Asia is huge, the Orient is not nerely as big. "
"Officer, I just saw a car accident and I saw an Asian man leaving the scene."
"Asian man, do you mean Russian, Indian, Chineese, Iranian, ...?"
"No, I mean from the Orient."
"Oh, You mean Oriental."
"Officer, you really shouldn't say that word."
The term Asian-decent simply means Oriental-decent these days and is thus a stupid substitute phrase - the same way African-American is a substitute for Black which is a substitute for Negro.
I knew a few Eqyptians at my high school who got African-American scholarships who of coarse looked more Indian (or do a mean Asian) than black.
Oooops...
[quote]The usual objection to Orientalmeaning “eastern”is that it identifies Asian countries and peoples in terms of their location relative to Europe. However, this objection is not generally made of other Eurocentric terms such as Near and Middle Eastern. [/b]
I am sorry but the English language was develope in Europe. Terms are going to be Eurocentric by definition. I am not offended when someone says I live at 90W Longitude, that value is also relative to Europe. Why do they get the Prime Meridian?
Anyone who is offended by the term Oriental is easilly offended or stupid.
-Mr. Wigggles
Last edited by MrWigggles; 05-27-2004 at 11:11 AM.
Tough call....maybe not as bad, i dunno..just guessing. There was defintiely some predjudice on that police force back then. He deserved some of it but not the last 5 minutes of the beating. Uncalled for.
I'm of chinese descent and I don't have a problem with oriental or asian. I just get irritated when people refer to one's ethnicity when it is irrelevant to the story. I would think that it would tend to show some kind of prejudice against the subject. I've done it unconciously myself, I'm sure.
Originally posted by hotpot I'm of chinese descent and I don't have a problem with oriental or asian. I just get irritated when people refer to one's ethnicity when it is irrelevant to the story. I would think that it would tend to show some kind of prejudice against the subject. I've done it unconciously myself, I'm sure.
y'know i never understood the big deal with being called Oriental but then again i'm half Chinese and i've always pictured the Orient as China and Japan regions...i do prefer Asian, however, cuz then i can have screennames with *aZn* somewhere in it aNd TYpE LykE tHis, aCtiNG a FoOl...
The effort to avoid referring to ethnicity can be carried too far the other way, too. Just this morning I was watching the news and the entertainment report came on. The big story was, of course, the American Idol winner. They showed a clip of the two finalist girls singing side by side and the entertainment reporter says something like, "Coming up next -- the new American Idol is crowned -- it's the tall girl!"
__________________ "I don't know much about asphyxiation. I'm a boob man, myself." -- N.M.O.
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