BEYOND WINTER: The Irrelevant Confusions of an Old Man—GETTING THE NAME RIGHT [R, 11-21-24]
I’ve never quite understood why Oriental is a bad word. I have no problem using Asian instead of Oriental, but I grew up thinking they were the same thing. Looking it up on line, one distinction is that Oriental should be used for objects, like rugs, but not people. I get that. Persons and objects are not the same thing. But aren’t people in the Orient Orientals, like people in America are Americans?
Don’t get me wrong. I think people should be called what they wish. However, I’ve never had an Oriental person tell me to call them Asian, but I’ve had quite a few American people tell me to call Oriental people Asians.
Am I sounding like an old crank yet? No, “crank” is impolite. You should call me a person of crankiness. You can call a person anything if you put “person of…” first.
Another explanation for Asian instead of Oriental is that it’s just outmoded. We no longer say Negro for instance, even though that was once the preferred, or “polite” term for folks of African descent. But Negro is a term from the days of slavery and segregation.
Well, yes, I understand outmoded. Descriptive words, especially where race and gender categories are concerned, change so rapidly, and no one quite understands why. I suspect it’s because young people always want to say that the words they inherit are outmoded, so that they can create their own generational language. That’s okay. Maybe necessary.
When I was the Methodist campus minister at Illinois State University in the 1960s-70s, that university hired its first black professor, Charles Morris, in mathematics. I was the host of a late-night program on WGLT, the campus radio program. I invited Charles for an interview. In the course of our conversation, I referred to Black folks. He gently corrected me. “The proper word is Negro.”
No, it wasn’t. It had been, but the Black kids I hung around with on campus thought Negro was an Uncle Tom term. They wanted to be called Black precisely because it was wrong. So, in that way, it became right. No one is called Negro anymore, just as no one is called Oriental.
Well, I’m glad that’s settled. Next, I’m going to tackle the difference between Hispanic and Latino and Latinx, and which one is outmoded and which one is “correct.” Be patient with me, though. I may not live long enough to get that one right!
And please don’t ask me about homosexual and queer and gay and…
The point is…even though we are old, and it’s hard to transition from one correct word to the new correct word, we need to work at it. It’s not that hard to be respectful. People will appreciate the effort. Asians and Blacks and… oh, wait a minute… I think they’re Colored now… no, that’s not right… People Of Color… is that it… well, at least I understand the people part, regardless of the category.
Be patient with me! And with yourself!
John Robert McFarland
I think your struggle with correctness in addressing race and gender has something to do with wokishness. I think, but I am not sure. What is woke? I think it is what we used to call "with it", or "hip". I agree with you. It is hard to be woke, or with it, of hip at our age. On the other hand, choosing the right words has always been a problem for me. When I was about six years old my older brother and my father talked about a "colored man". For much of my elementary years living in Kansas, I kept looking for some man who was colored (like a rainbow). I was sort of disappointed to never find one. When I was a young "unhip" pastor, I was in a group of male and female pastors. I addressed the group as "you guys". That was not woke for sure, and the women clergy let me know it pretty good. Westlake UMC was ahead of "with it" when it came to inclusive language, so I got corrected frequently in the foyer after a sermon if I called God "He". Sierra Vista UMC in San Angelo had never heard of inclusive language and didn't like it when they did. It wasn't a time difference but geography...urban verses rural. Urban people (generally Democrats) are more with it than rural people. Is that what it means to be urbane (cultured, smooth).
ReplyDeleteWorking deep into the GLBTQ world one quickly learns to pick the right words. Homosexual should never be used in polite company. Transgendered persons should be addressed as He/She...I think, but am not sure. I am not hip in that world any more. My daughter is not gay, she is a lesbian and her partner is bi-sexual (or just bi).
I think Republican politicians fake being anti-woke because they get most of their voters from the un-woke world of country folk. "Country folk" ! There is another address that may be off-putting to people who live in rural areas.
Whatever! I ain't changin nothin. Y'all.