no.no.no...how about african? afro- american?afro- canadian? afro-carribean?black is still cool...what race are you Viggo?
Is "oriental" truly offensive?
- Thread starter Viggo Rasmussen
- Start date
If I'm calling out a group, that implies a tone - that's the disrespectful aspect of it.
agreed...i like my national background to describe me...orientals is used by asians because it's what we think will be best understood by the white man...offensive?..like i said,not really but personally i like asian
No,simply means Far East in origin as Asian in UK means Indian,Pakistani,Bangladeshi etc-hence the distinction although now we tend to say South Asian,East Asian etc but not offensive.
In my view there are two issues here:
1. Racial identifications are best avoided; nobody enjoys being profiled on basis of race.
2. It is a bit impolite to group nationalities together. Most canadians consider themselves different from americans and prefer to be canadians instead of north americans. Danes prefer not to be pooled with swedes, and french prefer not to be confused with germans. It is sort of laziness to call someone asian instead of Japanese, chinese or taiwanese.
Charlize Theron is African and still cool too. All people are beautiful, unless they aren't.
Danes are fine with being called Scandinavians or Europeans, it isn't offensive at all.
I'm not sure that it is if you don't know more if, however, I know that John Ho's family are from China and his ethnicity comes up is it not better to describe him as being either Chinese or Chinese-Canadian than Asian or Oriental?
Needless to say unless it does come up, Mr. Ho or John Ho should be perfectly enough.
I agree it is not a big deal for danes, however, I find it more polite when people bother to use the nationality. How many times have you been called dutch?
I agree with you that generally race should play no role when you can get away with it.
But the other day at was at my doctor's office and told him I had given a form to one of his staff. He asked which one and I, not knowing her name, said "the nice oriental lady." I don't think that was inappropriate.
Or if I am at a social event and somebody says who is X. I don't think it would be wrong for me to say "the tall oriental guy in the blue jacket over there."
use it..not a problem.....but if you knew he was Vietnamese,would you say he was vietnamese? or just oriental?..i guess being non-asian makes it difficult for those who can't differentiate between a Japanese girl, chinese girl or korean...unless you are Don Draper...he knows those "orientals inside and out"...lol
Agreed, unless there are two tall guys in blue blazers over there. There is polite and there is P.C. run amok.
Likewise if I was tying to point out John Ho whom I know, to someone who didn't know him and there were two tall men in blue blazers I might say he's the tall Chinese man or the tall Chinese Gentleman in the blue blazer rather than he's the tall Asian man. . . .
I find it fucked up when people constantly use Asian when they mean oriental. Oh dude I really dig oriental chicks. Really, everything from Turkish and Israeli to Japanese and all chicks in between. Fuck dude, you might as well say you are a hetrosexual.
When you use the term Asian when you really and obviously mean oriental, it shows a gross geographic ignorance.
To me it is about as offensive as the use of Little People [I mean really should I pet them on the head and pinch the cheeks of midgets now?]
Or BCE instead of BC. Before Christ is offensive you must use Before Common Era. But wait, what year is used as the divider. Why the traditional year of the birth of our lord and savior. And the difference is what now?
Hot Asian chick
When you use the term Asian when you really and obviously mean oriental, it shows a gross geographic ignorance.
To me it is about as offensive as the use of Little People [I mean really should I pet them on the head and pinch the cheeks of midgets now?]
Or BCE instead of BC. Before Christ is offensive you must use Before Common Era. But wait, what year is used as the divider. Why the traditional year of the birth of our lord and savior. And the difference is what now?
Hot Asian chick
