The O-bomb
Although I long ago gave up any serious objections to this, it has bugged me that we now use the word "asian" to describe people who we used to call "oriental." Not only because I've never once in my life used or heard the term "oriental" used in a racist way, but because "asian" is even more meaningless than "oriental".
"Asian" could literally describe almost anyone from Asia, which happens to be the largest land-mass in the world. It includes India, Pakistan, Siberia, Russia, Mongolia, China, and more. In other words, true "Asians" include everyone from pale pasty blue-eyed people to dark mahogony-skinned people, and every point in between--including very white people with thick lips and curly hair, to black people with thin lips and sharp noses and straight hair.
Yet here in America, we use the word "Asian" to describe one particular type of person: someone with medium-tan and slightly yellowish skin, straight dark brown or black hair, black or brown eyes, and eyelids that are thicker-than-average and have an extra fold in them, giving them a slighly "slanted" cast.
In other words, "asian" now means "oriental" to most Americans, and the only difference is that if you say "oriental" they think you're a racist. I've used "oriental" in conversations before. When its with whites I get this "Oriental? What are you, racist?" but with Asians, they tend to mostly let it go.
So, when did "oriental" become a bad word and why? Was it just the quest for the coveted hyphen that did it? Its like a Mr. Han joke: "We not orientals! We're Asian-Americans! Get that straight, rednecks! HA!"
-Thos. Zinn
"Children, never fuss or fret
Nor let unreason'd tempers rise
Your little hands were never meant
To pluck out one anothers eyes"
-McGuffey's Reader
“We are at a crossroads. One path leads to despair and the other to total extinction. I pray I have the wisdom to choose wisely.”
ستّة أيّام يا كلب