Zone1 Being racist is not a crime

[John Edgar Slow Horses]

It is now politically incorrect to use the word “Oriental,” and the admonition has the force of law: President Obama recently signed a bill prohibiting use of the term in all federal documents. Rep. Grace Meng, the New York congresswoman who sponsored the legislation, exulted that “at long last this insulting and outdated term will be gone for good.” The term ‘Oriental’ is outdated, but is it racist?

 

[Hector12]

It is now politically incorrect to use the word “Oriental,” and the admonition has the force of law: President Obama recently signed a bill prohibiting use of the term in all federal documents. Rep. Grace Meng, the New York congresswoman who sponsored the legislation, exulted that “at long last this insulting and outdated term will be gone for good.” The term ‘Oriental’ is outdated, but is it racist?

President Obama, who I voted for, had more important things to do than police the English language. I like Orientals. I will continue to use the word "Oriental," thank you very much.

 

[Concerned American]

I use "Oriental" to mean China and nations that learned civilization from China. These are Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. I do not use it in a derogatory way. I like Orientals, and Oriental culture.

I have never heard Oriental used in a derogatory fashion. I believe that the Orient extends from the eastern edge of the middle east-- the *****stans to the Pacific Ocean.

 

[TheParser]

We all want to be as polite as possible.

For example, I am wary of certain young folks of ethnicity X because some of them have subjected me to violence or the thread thereof.

But when discussing them, I always use respectful language.

*****

This is 2023. It is now preferable to use "Asian" in this country.

President Obama's government ordered the word "Asian" to be used in place of "Oriental."

"Oriental" had taken on sinister meanings, such as the "inscrutable Oriental."

To the best of my knowledge, today "oriental" is only acceptable when referring to rugs.

 

[Unkotare]

I use "Oriental" to mean China and nations that learned civilization from China. These are Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. I do not use it in a derogatory way. I like Orientals, and Oriental culture.

People from Asia are Asian.

 

[Concerned American]

It is now politically incorrect to use the word “Oriental,” and the admonition has the force of law: President Obama recently signed a bill prohibiting use of the term in all federal documents. Rep. Grace Meng, the New York congresswoman who sponsored the legislation, exulted that “at long last this insulting and outdated term will be gone for good.” The term ‘Oriental’ is outdated, but is it racist?

Maybe you should read the rest of the article, moron.
As an Oriental, I am bemused. Apparently Asians are supposed to feel demeaned if someone refers to us as Orientals. But good luck finding a single Asian American who has ever had the word spat at them in anger. Most Asian Americans have had racist epithets hurled at them at one time or another: Chink, slant eye, gook, Nip, zipperhead. But Oriental isn’t in the canon.

And why should it be? Literally, it means of the Orient or of the East, as opposed to of the Occident or of the West. Last I checked, geographic origin is not a slur. If it were, it would be wrong to label people from Mississippi as Southerners.


Of course I understand that some insults have benign origins. “Jap,” for example, is simply a shortening of the word Japanese, but that one stings. As 127,000 Japanese Americans were carted off to internment camps during World War II, they were repeatedly referred to by their fellow citizens and the media as Japs. It was meant as an insult and understood as such. Clearly context is important.

The problem with “Oriental,” San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jeff Yang told NPR, is that “When you think about it, the term … feels freighted with luggage. You know, it’s a term which you can’t think of without having that sort of the smell of incense and the sound of a gong kind of in your head.” In other words it makes Asians sound exotic because it was in circulation at a time when exoticizing stereotypes were prevalent.

A funny thing I noticed is that my Caucasian colleagues, not my Asian colleagues, are most eager to remove Oriental from public discourse.

 

[Unkotare]

Consider that the OP is one of those arrested development racists who incessantly posts "negro," like some giggling little dimwitted child shouting "chicken BREAST!" in the grocery store then putting his little hands on his little hips and declaring "I can say that if I WANT to!" It's fucking pathetic.

 

[Concerned American]

"Oriental" had taken on sinister meanings, such as the "inscrutable Oriental."

The operative term here, "inscrutable" is the demeaning aspect and can be applied to ANYONE.

 

[Concerned American]

I use "Oriental" to mean China and nations that learned civilization from China. These are Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. I do not use it in a derogatory way. I like Orientals, and Oriental culture.

I was born in Tokyo and I have never had a problem with the use of the term.

 

[miketx]

A person from Asia is Asian.

Asian, as in Oriental? I have an Oriental rug.

 

[Unkotare]

I was born in Tokyo ....

Are you Japanese?

 

[Concerned American]

Asian, as in Oriental? I have an Oriental rug.

LOL, are you sure it is Oriental? Most of those style rugs come from Turkey--which I guess, technically---was considered the Orient as recently as 1883 with the construction of the Orient Express.

 

[Lisa558]

I think Oriental is a very attractive-sounding word, personally. JMO.

 

[Rye Catcher]

STATEMENT: "Being racist is not a crime"

RESPONSE: It is and it is not.

Racism and Sexism are not in the Penal Code when denied a job based on their color or gender. In some states it is a civil matter and can be put forth in a civil suit.

When a woman is jailed for an abortion, this is sexism in some states.
When a black man commits a Petty Theft and is taken to the jail and not cited, it's a racism.

 

[Unkotare]

...

When a woman is jailed for an abortion,....

And where does this happen?

 

[SweetSue92]

Got to disagree with this ^^^. It is more useless PC crap semantics. There is no difference between calling a person from Asia Oriental or Asian. That portion of the world has been known as the Orient for centuries. So it stands to reason that someone from there could be reasonably called Oriental or Asian interchangeably. I have never heard of any logical reason for the change. PC police.

That is probably true and fair....seemed a lot though paired with the poster using "Negros".

If some are white, others are black and brown and let's just leave it at that.

 

[Meister]

Zone 1 rules are in effect in this sub forum.

 

[MarathonMike]

You are in part the company you keep.

Tucker Carlson writer resigns after racist posts revealed

There are more Black Racists in America per capita than White Racists. And it is their right to hate White people if they want to.

 

[pknopp]

There are more Black Racists in America per capita than White Racists. And it is their right to hate White people if they want to.

Always with the excuses and justifications.

 

[MarathonMike]

Always with the excuses and justifications.

Do you have comprehension problem? Nothing that I said was an excuse or a justification.