Does anybody else dislike the general term "Asian"?

Question

Asia is a huge geographic area encompassing many widely different groups of people.  You get Arabs, Indians, Chinese, Russians, Vietnamese, Bangladesh, Japanese, etc.
To refer to them as all the same is worse than just referring them by their country of origin.  Do we refer to people from the USA or Honduras as just North American?

User · Accepted Answer

Yes.
Often-misused term. Often-misunderstood term.

Alternate terminology tends to be more precise, less ambiguous.

John · Answer

No, just like i dont mind words like whites or blacks. Its a perfectly innocent word.

Anonymous · Answer

I just call them humans or earthlings like the rest of us.

? · Answer

I think Honduras is in Central America.
Maybe saying someone nationality is preferable.

@Mark: Okay. In my country we follow the six-continent combined-America model. So, for us America is one continent.

tentofield · Answer

Yes, and I have been arguing against its use for years. Israelis, Iranians, Iraqis, Indians and Indonesians are all Asians as are Turks, Tajiks, Thais, Turkmenis and Timorese, and the inhabitants of another thirty eight countries. Calling someone "Asian" tells us nothing at all about them apart from the general geographic position of their nation - which is entirely human artefact anyway.

? · Answer

Yes. I also l take being politically correct to the next level with African. Egyptians are from Africa and therefore are African.

Does anybody else dislike the general term "Asian"?

6 Answers