President Obama Signs Bill Eliminating 'Oriental' From Federal Law

[Landon Caeli]

For those of you who oppose this, what is gained from using the word Oriental in legal documents? What is lost by using more accurate terms?

Accurate as in what? National origin?

 

[Arcangl86]

I would like to point out that the law that was amended by this bill also included the term "Negro", so it was quite a bit dated.

 

[Mountain_Girl406]

Accurate as in what? National origin?

How is Oriental currently used in Federal law? Is it in those cases the most accurate term?

 

[Glass*Soul]

How is Oriental currently used in Federal law? Is it in those cases the most accurate term?

Here is an example from Title 42: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/6705

For the purposes of the preceding sentence, minority group members are citizens of the United States who are Negroes, Spanish-speaking, Orientals, Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts.

It will now read:

an Asian American, Native Hawaiian, a Pacific Islander, African American, Hispanic, Puerto Rican, Native American, or an Alaska Native.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Here is an example from Title 42: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/6705



It will now read:

This is actually quite different from what it seemed. This was not the gratuitous removal of an 'offensive' term. The new definitions are not the equivalent of the old ones, adding native Hawaiian for instance and Asian Americans would imply more than Oriental which just meant any East Asian.
Thanks for the clarity.

 

[Rick Otto]

I AM OFFENDED!

(lol)

 

[TLK Valentine]

I would like to point out that the law that was amended by this bill also included the term "Negro", so it was quite a bit dated.

I'm sure there are people mourning the loss of that term, as well...

 

[JCFantasy23]

What's wrong with 'Oriental?' I always thought it was a pretty word, not seeing it as more discriminatory than other terms like 'Asian'

 

[brinny]

President Obama Signs Bill Eliminating 'Oriental' From Federal Law

.....jus' wonderin'......

has President Obama ever gone into an "Oriental" restaurant or any establishment with the word in it, etc?

...when you dig a hole or a pit fer others, you fall in it yerself....

does he really wanna go there?

LOL!

jus' sayin'

 

[brinny]

It basically means East or from the East.

I don't think any of us can explain why oriental suddenly came to be considered an offensive word.

perhaps a symptom indicative of some more issues surfacing?

LOL!

popcorn?

 

[Arcangl86]

So I wonder how people would have reacted if President Obama for some nameless reason decided to veto this veto proof bill.

 

[brinny]

So I wonder how people would have reacted if President Obama for some nameless reason decided to veto this veto proof bill.

LOL! Wut?

 

[Arcangl86]

LOL! Wut?

Every single person in Congress voted for this law, yet it is President Obama who is being criticized for signing a bill that would have become law anyway.

 

[brinny]

Every single person in Congress voted for this law, yet it is President Obama who is being criticized for signing a bill that would have become law anyway.

LOL!

Well he DID sign it, didn't he?

 

[Arcangl86]

LOL!

Well he DID sign it, didn't he?

My point is that people probably would have criticized him for not signing it if he didn't.

 

[brinny]

My point is that people probably would have criticized him for not signing it if he didn't.

i sincerely doubt that....

of course i can't speak all people, just meself.....

 

[Mountain_Girl406]

President Obama Signs Bill Eliminating 'Oriental' From Federal Law

.....jus' wonderin'......

has President Obama ever gone into an "Oriental" restaurant or any establishment with the word in it, etc?

...when you dig a hole or a pit fer others, you fall in it yerself....

does he really wanna go there?

LOL!

jus' sayin'

Do you think the law made more sense when Oriental was used?
This isn't about banning a word, it's about clarifying federal law. Do you think that's a bad call. or do you just look for reasons to poke fun at Obama?

 

[brinny]

Do you think the law made more sense when Oriental was used?
This isn't about banning a word, it's about clarifying federal law. Do you think that's a bad call. or do you just look for reasons to poke fun at Obama?

Yet the word and all it's connected to in the names of businesses, etc. will be demonized?

Brilliant.

Talk about rabbit holes.....

LOL!

 

[Chesterton]

My example was meant to provide a lighthearted illustration of the meaning of equivocation, not to act as a one-to-one comparison with the the subject of the topic.

...which has nothing to do with whether you were equivocating, which you were.

I'm not sure you're using "equivocation" right. I just noted that if the word has any connotations, they're positive ones. Whereas you equated the word with a wholly negative word.

What is the actual thing it tells us about someone?

Exactly what the word means: they are "of the East". And that could apply to someone born in New York or London, given a basic knowledge of human sexual reproduction.

 

[Mountain_Girl406]

Yet the word and all it's connected to in the names of businesses, etc. will be demonized?

Brilliant.

Talk about rabbit holes.....

LOL!

Who is demonizing it ? This is about federal legal language, not restaurants. Do you think the law should have stood as written, or is the new language clearer?