B A R R Y wrote:
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.


What will offend a Japanese is to be referred to as Chinese, Korean or Thai.
You can call them Japanese. You can call them Asian. You can call them
Oriental. Nobody gets upset. Call them by the wrong country and trust me,
everybody's nose get out of joint.

Getting back to the European example I listed before, Germans, Swiss,
Norwegians, Danes, etc. don't mind being called Europeans. They do object to
being called French.

If you're going to be specific as to country of origin you damn well better get
it right.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com