The word Asian, as a group of people, has both a racial and an ethnic connotatio
ID: 119647 • Letter: T
Question
The word Asian, as a group of people, has both a racial and an ethnic connotation. The word Asian, the way it’s used today, usually refers to peoples of East Asia (i.e., China, Japan, etc.) and of Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, etc.). Here’s the thing, however: There are just as many peoples who are geographically Asian (i.e., peoples who live on the Asian continent) yet they are not “politically Asian”. Example 1: Saudi Arabia lies on the continent of Asia yet Saudis are not called “Asian”. Example 2: India lies on the continent of Asia yet Indians (and we’re not referring to American Indians) are not called “Asian”. Example 3: Israel lies on the continent of Asia yet Israelis are not called “Asian”. Why is this?
PS: The word “Asian” has replaced the word “oriental” because such was deemed derogatory. Here’s the thing, however: The word oriental literally means eastern (i.e., orient = east), just as the word occidental literally means western (i.e., occident = west). Why is it that “westerners” were/are never thus called “occidentals”?
Explanation / Answer
When it comes to peoples of East Asia (i.e., China, Japan, etc.) and of Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Thailand, etc.) calling them Asian is equivalent to showing a critical or disrespectful attitude and hence in oder to remove this mentality of geographic biasing a new word oriental is used instead of asian to refer the above mentioned communities. While the racial and ethnic makeup of the American people is in flux. New immigrants from Asia and Latin America have added a large measure of cultural and phenotypic diversity to the American population in recent decades, just as waves of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe did a century ago. Moreover, the boundaries between racial and ethnic groups are becoming blurred by high rates of intermarriage and the growing number of persons with mixed ancestry and hence they don't feel discriminated when they were referred to as “westerners” and hence no new term is needed for them.
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