is this comment racist or unkind?

[tonyboy]

I was talking to the guy that is the the manager of our IT division at work.

Just was saying how when I'd been to one of our offices (on the west coast) how I found the, what I called oriential women so very fine... ( I'd have said the guys too but I didn't want to out myself)... anyway our company had many people Japan, and generally Asia working for us. Just seemed to me that some of the girls and guys from that part of the world that were working for us just seemed so very fine, and naturally beautiful.

When I used the word 'oriential' he said to me that I should not use that word... I asked why. He said it was not the way we speak of people from there any longer.

Wow.... I did not know that using Oriential was a word that could be misconstrued.

What on earth could be wrong with that? I questioned him on it and he said, well it's not a big deal.
Is that a term that people take offense too?... and if so, why?

It's not racsist.... its just a generic term for that part of the world. At least I always thought so.

Please tell me if that is something that is no longer correct to use.

 

[belamy]

Well, having read and heard American people comment about that term, it surely is perceived, if not as racist, at least as a very close cousin of racist.
However, I'm still not sure if it depends on what American people are you talking to, like with the soda/pop/coke thing.

 

[Narcissism is fun]

Just use Asian instead, for some reason the PC people would get more upset about you using "oriental" to describe someone than " a colossal prick"

Dosen't make sense to me but whatever.

 

[LilBit]

It's a bit like the word "Negro." It was once considered the appropriate term for peopel from East Asia, but because of the ways in which the word has been used, it's no longer considered appropriate. Etymologically, it just means "Eastern." However, it's come to be associated with negative stereotypes, as well as the false homogenization of East Asian cultures.

The most appropriate way to refer to people from this region (if you need to make a distinction) would be to identify them by national or ethnic origin. If you're unsure, then "Asian" is the most commonly accepted term (though it's not entirely unproblematic).

 

[voyager1994]

I think the label "oriental" is used to describe people/race/culture from the Orient, or more generally countries from the Far East (as opposed to the Middle East) including Japan, China, the Philippines, Thailand, etc. I don't think the term is offensive, but seldom is it used nowadays to describe a general race of people. "Asian" will do just fine.

 

[Telstra]

i wasn't a wear oriental is a rude word.

 

[blackbeltninja]

Just use Asian instead, for some reason the PC people would get more upset about you using "oriental" to describe someone than " a colossal prick"

Dosen't make sense to me but whatever.

According to the two Taiwanese and one Chinese girls I share an office with, it is highly offensive. They prefer Asian; they prefer Chinese or Taiwanese even more.

I also used Oriental to distinguish Far Easterners from Indians, Arabs and other middle-East peoples. But apparently it is offensive, and they prefer Asian, even though that term makes the entire population of the continent more homogenous than Oriental does.

-d-

 

[Ram]

Asian is now strongly preferred in place of Oriental for persons native to Asia or descended from an Asian people. The usual objection to Oriental—meaning "eastern"—is that it identifies Asian countries and peoples in terms of their location relative to Europe. However, this objection is not generally made of other Eurocentric terms such as Near and Middle Eastern. The real problem with Oriental is more likely its connotations stemming from an earlier era when Europeans viewed the regions east of the Mediterranean as exotic lands full of romance and intrigue, the home of despotic empires and inscrutable customs. At the least these associations can give Oriental a dated feel, and as a noun in contemporary contexts (as in the first Oriental to be elected from the district) it is now widely taken to be offensive. However, Oriental should not be thought of as an ethnic slur to be avoided in all situations. As with Asiatic, its use other than as an ethnonym, in phrases such as Oriental cuisine or Oriental medicine, is not usually considered objectionable.

....................

 

[Eternaldarkness]

I see what everyone is talking about. To me, Oriental describes a person's lifestyle, their interests, ways of thinking. Like, an American can adapt and live an oriental lifestyle.

The term Asian indicates they are from Asia.

Either or, personally, I do not think Oriental can be offending or racists at all.

It is funny that most of the time, people who taken offense to these similar descriptive words like Orientals, are not the Asians themselves but more so other ethnicity.

 

[versatastic]

I know a lot of asians who don't even know that "oriental" means. There's also a lot of asians who are very offended by the term. It's the same as calling someone a "chink" or a "gook", but it's a little worse because it also refers to colonial/imperial times when many asian countries were occupied by european countries and the locals were thought of as exotic, savage, stupid, and/or lesser human beings.

 

[giorgiobaby]

did not know that word was offensive, thanks. Learn something new all the time.

 

[Lukeee]

There will always be someone who is offended no matter what you say. Next time it happens just say you weren't aware and ask for the correct words you should be using.

I only recently found out that "dwarf" is considered offensive and they prefer to be called little people

You learn something new every day

 

[theworldwithout]

It was a few years ago I was told "Oriental" was offensive...which I thought odd since their are quite a few Asian restaurants around here that have that in their title.

Also, my parents taught my siblings and me that "Asian" was considered the offensive term and not to use it, even though we used it anyway since that's what everyone called Asians...

 

[Lukeee]

Yes Oriental is used to describe things not people.

What about animals? Is it an oriental hamster or an Asian hamster?

 

[biguy732]

Rugs are "orientental," people from are Asian.

That is the best example I have ever heard! And coming from a big bad corporation where PC is the rule - this is spot on!

 

[hermanding]

can one say japanese or south korean or thai or etc. and be OK?
ding

 

[RationalLunacy]

So, then, how does one now refer to the Orient Express?

The Asian Fast Train?

 

[theworldwithout]

So, then, how does one now refer to the Orient Express?

The Asian Fast Train?

Asian Chu Chu?

 

[RationalLunacy]

Asian Chu Chu?

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

I can't imagine why people would take "oriental" as offensive.

That's because you rarely look at things outside your own perspective, your own little bubble.

Now we are told that the word "Oriental" is derogatory? What nonsense!

Of course, if it doesn't make sense to Hark it's nonsense. It's amazing that, as connected as people are, we can still be so culturally dense.