Op oriental is offensive. It's for rugs. Never has that word been used in a non condescending way.
It's on both Europe and Asia. And the vast majority of the russian population is on the Europe side.
Then why not call them what they are? Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Afghans, Thais, etc. Seems odd to use a continent's name to label such a diverse group of people.Asians should be anyone from the continent of Asia technically (Japanese, east Russians, Iranians, Israelis, Indians, etc.) but I think because it's such a vast and diverse continent, things got broken down more.
Then why not call them what they are? Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Afghans, Thais, etc. Seems odd to use a continent's name to label such a diverse group of people.
Then why not call them what they are? Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Afghans, Thais, etc. Seems odd to use a continent's name to label such a diverse group of people.
When I hear "Asian" today, it seems to mean people of East Asia and Southeast Asia. But Asia is a big continent with lots of different countries and cultures.
Somewhere along the line, the term "Oriental" became offensive for describing people from East Asia and Southeast Asia, and it seems they hijacked "Asian" for their own use. I seem to remember referring to those people as Orientals in school and nobody complained.
Doesn't it seem kid of racist to lump people from those regions with a general "Asian" label? We'd probably get all kinds of heat calling a black person "African" and rightly so IMHO.
Well I think it helps eliminate the possibility of mistakenly calling someone who's "x" as a "y". Asian people tend to be get very offended by that faux-pas.
Lol, I grew up in a time and place and amongst a populace for whom the terms "Oriental" and "Jap" were not thought of as offensive. But they are now.
Lol, I grew up in a time and place and amongst a populace for whom the terms "Oriental" and "Jap" were not thought of as offensive. But they are now.
For anyone who's confused, here's the simple key: You call people what they wish to be called, and you don't refer to people by a term that they consider offensive.
It's really that simple.
I think most Americans can't tell the difference between Japanese, Korean or Chinese. Same with Indian and the various Stans and Bangladesh. So rather than guess or assume we use the safer, more general label.
Lol, I grew up in a time and place and amongst a populace for whom the terms "Oriental" and "Jap" were not thought of as offensive. But they are now.
For anyone who's confused, here's the simple key: You call people what they wish to be called, and you don't refer to people by a term that they consider offensive.
It's really that simple.
When I hear "Asian" today, it seems to mean people of East Asia and Southeast Asia. But Asia is a big continent with lots of different countries and cultures.
Somewhere along the line, the term "Oriental" became offensive for describing people from East Asia and Southeast Asia, and it seems they hijacked "Asian" for their own use. I seem to remember referring to those people as Orientals in school and nobody complained.
Doesn't it seem kid of racist to lump people from those regions with a general "Asian" label? We'd probably get all kinds of heat calling a black person "African" and rightly so IMHO.
The general label can be offensive in itself, though, as it leads to a group mentality. Similar to residents of central or south America, people of Asia get grouped together as "Asian", which causes the unique cultural aspects between them to get shoved under the rug and ignored.
It can be especially harmful in American politics, when minorities are forced to ignore their own distinctions and group under some umbrella term to have any political influence.