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Asians are not just Korean, Chinese and Japanese people
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
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I think "Asian" evolved to replace "Oriental" since that is no longer an accepted word to use.
While I understand why we're trying to get away from such labels as they have historically been used in a derogatory way, it is useful when describing a person. If my white friend told me to look for his friend John in a crowd, and he described him without mentioning he's "Asian", I'd probably expect another white guy, since we're both white. It's the difference between looking for John Mulaney and John Cho.
While I hate to divide and label people based on how they look, it is a useful way to describe what someone looks like without having to teach the term "epicanthic folds" to everyone.
Wouldn't you agree that describing John Cho as an average height guy in his early 40s with Asian characteristics is no different than describing John Boyega as a black guy of average height in his early 30s?
Give me a better term to use and I'll use it.
Just to be "that guy", oriental isn't a bad word in British English. It's used very commonly in the names of Cantonese restaurants for example. It's less commonly used to describe people, but if you did need to specify that the person was east-asian, it wouldn't raise any eyebrows.
That's more of a US thing. The orient express for example ran all the way up to 2009. It's an old and unused word, but not really seen as offensive. Some places in Asia even still use that term today.
I never even heard it used in a derogatory way. It seems like one day SJW decided it was racist, campaigned against it, and that was that. But they seem to think adjectives in general are offensive, so it's not surprising.
This isn't Voat.
What's Voat?
I guess the new shit for you guys is "Truth Social".
You guys?
Oh, you think I'm a trumper? Do you know many trumpers who's usernames indicate their opposition to the corporatist establishment?
You are right.
If not for the mannerism, expression , and fashion I can't even place an educated guess with confidence on East Asians as an East Asian. Let alone ethnicities even more different that I didn't inherited the depths on. Of course it will be problematic if that person informed their ethnicity and their boundaries yet that information is disregarded and disrespected by the receiver. Ignorant but with a will to learn is always good in my book.
P.S. For a general term you are looking for, I vote East Asian in place outdated "oriental".
P.P.S. I am not a representative of anyone and my bad take is my own.