On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 05:27:59 -0500, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com wrote:

WTH? My sister in law was a Japanese national (now US citizen) and I asked her
about this one time. She seemed a little confused at the notion that "Oriental"
was somehow offensive. Frankly, so am I. All it refers to is someone from the
Orient. We call people from Europe Europeans and nobody's ass gets chapped.

That one always confused me, as well.

If I were Japanese, Thai, Tibetan, Korean, or Chinese, I think I'd
want to be called Japanese, Thai, Tibetan, Korean, or Chinese. "Asian"
is really no different than "Oriental" as it lumps them all together
based on similar geographic origin. How does "Oriental" offend, but
not "Asian"? It seems to me that if one offends, so should the other,
or neither. I've never referred to the folks I know locally as
Oriental or Asian, because I happen to know they are Thai, Tibetan,
Korean, and Chinese.

Here in New England, we have "Oriental Markets" and stores that sell
"Oriental rugs" and "Oriental antiques". We also have Thai, Tibetan,
Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and even Korean restaurants.

I never even heard the term "Asian" until I went to California for the
first time. That's also the first time I saw an "Asian Restaurant".
Apparently politically correct people on the west coast can't tell the
difference between Chinese, Thai, and Tibetan food? G