Was Oriental always considered an offensive term?
It certainly wasn't meant to be offensive by most people who used it (and probably by most who still do).
What people are included by the term Asian?
People from the entire continent?
If so, that doesn't seem like an adequate replacement term for Oriental.
Kind of like using the term North American. That would include people from Canada, the US, Mexico, and all of the Central American (and maybe Caribbean?) countries.
That would be way too broad of a term when trying to refer to someones place of origin.
(Imagine describing someone to the police - "He looked like he was North American, officer.")
Or is it meant to refer to someone in the region that many used to call the Orient, which is intended to exclude Russia, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.?
Is the real problem people from those countries don't like to be lumped together?
To me, the team Oriental refers to a region of the world more specific than "Asia", and when I have used it in the past, I have not done so with any ill intent whatsoever.
Is there a more acceptable way to describe this portion of the world in a more specific way than Asian?
I am sure many people who aren't from what we used to call Oriental countries cannot easily identify if someone is from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, etc., and thus have used the term Oriental to try and narrow things down a bit.
Is there a better term than Oriental or Asian to do this?
Or is Asian the best we can do, and someone from Russia and India, etc. is not really Asian?
