As is often the case with these "political correctness is out of control!" thinkpieces, it doesn't even get its basic facts right. Here's a news article from 2016 about the law in question. Here's...
It is now politically incorrect to use the word “Oriental,” and the admonition has the force of law: President Obama recently signed a bill prohibiting use of the term in all federal documents.
As is often the case with these "political correctness is out of control!" thinkpieces, it doesn't even get its basic facts right.
Here's a news article from 2016 about the law in question.
To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act and the Local Public
Works Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976 to modernize terms
relating to minorities. <<NOTE: May 20, 2016 - [H.R. 4238]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. MODERNIZATION OF TERMS RELATING TO MINORITIES.
(a) Office of Minority Economic Impact.--Section 211(f)(1) of the
Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7141(f)(1)) is amended
by striking ``a Negro, Puerto Rican, American Indian, Eskimo, Oriental,
or Aleut or is a Spanish speaking individual of Spanish descent'' and
inserting ``Asian American, Native Hawaiian, a Pacific Islander, African
American, Hispanic, Puerto Rican, Native American, or an Alaska
Native''.
(b) Minority Business Enterprises.--Section 106(f)(2) of the Local
Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C.
6705(f)(2)) is amended by striking ``Negroes, Spanish-speaking,
Orientals, Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts'' and inserting ``Asian
American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders, African American,
Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Natives''.
It did not ban a word across the entire federal government. It amended two existing laws to remove mention of "Negroes", and at the same time also updated "Oriental" and a few other outdated terms.
Jayne Tsuchiyama is a doctor of acupuncture and Oriental medicine.
Very interesting that the author is a practitioner of a pseudoscience whose appeal relies in part on the idea of "the Orient" being a strange and foreign place with mysteries and secrets not understood by the western world.
Thank you for the input. The reason I posted this 2016 article was that I found it odd that "oriental" was being considered racist (not saying it actually is or not, nor if it should be. But a...
Thank you for the input. The reason I posted this 2016 article was that I found it odd that "oriental" was being considered racist (not saying it actually is or not, nor if it should be. But a character in the TV show The Boys was criticized for using the term, and this stroke me as odd).
I'm not sure if the fact the author is a practitioner of acupuncture has any relevance here.
Furthermore, the law is not something that I'm particularly concerned about, but the use. Since I'm not in America, I'd really like to know if the term "oriental" was ever a cause for concern over there.
I would be very surprised to hear someone under the age of 70 use the word oriental in conversation or writing in the US. I would agree that it exoticizes an entire class of people, and implies...
I would be very surprised to hear someone under the age of 70 use the word oriental in conversation or writing in the US. I would agree that it exoticizes an entire class of people, and implies their "race" is the most important thing about them, so I don't use it. If somebody wants to use it to describe themselves, that's probably fine, use whatever label you want.
I don't think it is or ever was a malicious slur, but it's an unnecessary word with connotations of a time when, frankly, most people were racist. It is not really a cause for concern, though, it's simply never used. This article is the first time I've seen it discussed.
dry needling is the same thing and is confirmed to have health benefits
Confirmed?
Dry needling, also known as myofascial trigger point dry needling,[1][2] is an alternative medicine technique similar to acupuncture. [...]
The efficacy of dry needling as a treatment for muscle pain is still not ascertained and there remains no scientific consensus whether it is effective.
As for whether or not it's racist, I don't know. I'm not qualified to answer that since I'm not Asian. It's one of those things where I think people outside of a group need to listen to what the...
As for whether or not it's racist, I don't know. I'm not qualified to answer that since I'm not Asian. It's one of those things where I think people outside of a group need to listen to what the people inside say. The author is saying it is, but I don't think a sample size of one is good enough to represent a whole class of people.
What I do know is that it's one of those words you hear someone say and it causes you to cringe a little bit inside. Like when an older person says "the Jews" or "the Blacks" with that certain tone.
It's always been super weird to me because in French the word "Oriental" is used as a very formal synonym to "Asian" or rather "Asiatic", the latter being rather impolite.
It's always been super weird to me because in French the word "Oriental" is used as a very formal synonym to "Asian" or rather "Asiatic", the latter being rather impolite.
I don't know if that's weird, there's plenty of words whose meaning change quite a bit as they move across languages. One of my favorites being British quite, vs American quite having literally...
I don't know if that's weird, there's plenty of words whose meaning change quite a bit as they move across languages. One of my favorites being British quite, vs American quite having literally opposite meanings and that's arguably the same language with different dialects.
As is often the case with these "political correctness is out of control!" thinkpieces, it doesn't even get its basic facts right.
Here's a news article from 2016 about the law in question.
Here's the actual bill. It's one page long. Here it is in its entirety:
It did not ban a word across the entire federal government. It amended two existing laws to remove mention of "Negroes", and at the same time also updated "Oriental" and a few other outdated terms.
Very interesting that the author is a practitioner of a pseudoscience whose appeal relies in part on the idea of "the Orient" being a strange and foreign place with mysteries and secrets not understood by the western world.
Thank you for the input. The reason I posted this 2016 article was that I found it odd that "oriental" was being considered racist (not saying it actually is or not, nor if it should be. But a character in the TV show The Boys was criticized for using the term, and this stroke me as odd).
I'm not sure if the fact the author is a practitioner of acupuncture has any relevance here.
Furthermore, the law is not something that I'm particularly concerned about, but the use. Since I'm not in America, I'd really like to know if the term "oriental" was ever a cause for concern over there.
I would be very surprised to hear someone under the age of 70 use the word oriental in conversation or writing in the US. I would agree that it exoticizes an entire class of people, and implies their "race" is the most important thing about them, so I don't use it. If somebody wants to use it to describe themselves, that's probably fine, use whatever label you want.
I don't think it is or ever was a malicious slur, but it's an unnecessary word with connotations of a time when, frankly, most people were racist. It is not really a cause for concern, though, it's simply never used. This article is the first time I've seen it discussed.
I understand. Your take on the issue is both reasonable and persuasive. Thank you.
So what? Now it would be racist to be called a westerner?
I don't think that's a particularly strong argument. Descriptors can and have been used as tools for racist agendas.
Just wanted to note: you criticize acupuncture as pseudoscience, yet dry needling is the same thing and is confirmed to have health benefits
Confirmed?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling
As for whether or not it's racist, I don't know. I'm not qualified to answer that since I'm not Asian. It's one of those things where I think people outside of a group need to listen to what the people inside say. The author is saying it is, but I don't think a sample size of one is good enough to represent a whole class of people.
What I do know is that it's one of those words you hear someone say and it causes you to cringe a little bit inside. Like when an older person says "the Jews" or "the Blacks" with that certain tone.
It's always been super weird to me because in French the word "Oriental" is used as a very formal synonym to "Asian" or rather "Asiatic", the latter being rather impolite.
I don't know if that's weird, there's plenty of words whose meaning change quite a bit as they move across languages. One of my favorites being British quite, vs American quite having literally opposite meanings and that's arguably the same language with different dialects.