(no subject)
Earlier I posted these tweets:
I love @ladygaga, but hate her new lyrics calling people "Orient-made" and "cholas." RT if u agree #WTF #thatsracistgaga
I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking it, but some of us gotta start saying it.
A lot of people tweeted back asking why "Oriental" is racist (nobody asked about "chola," so I'm guessing you aren't going to argue THAT) so I'm making this post as a general reply.
In contemporary English, Oriental usually refers to goods from the parts of East Asia traditionally occupied by East Asians and most Central Asians and Southeast Asians racially categorized as "Mongoloid". This excludes Indians, Arabs, most other West Asian peoples. Because of historical discrimination against Chinese and Japanese, in some parts of the United States, the term is considered derogatory; for example, Washington state prohibits use of the word "Oriental" in legislation and governent documentation, preferring the word "Asian" instead.
"Oriental" is also associated with European colonialism in China. Especially a British image of China as once great race, but declined and vulnerable to colonization and subjugation. Negro, Coon, and Mic share similar connotations.
tl;dr: The word Oriental is offensive because it is dehumanizing - a rug is Oriental, a person is not. Caling a human being "Oriental" is antiquated and it connotes a white imperialist history.
And that's why it's not ok for a rich white person to flout these racial slurs, particularly not in the main song of her highly anticipated new album, which is going to debut at the Grammys in less than 10 days. Surely SOMEONE must have told her by now. It's really uncomfortable when someone you admire comes out with something like this- but if her fans speak up about it, she'll listen.
I love @ladygaga, but hate her new lyrics calling people "Orient-made" and "cholas." RT if u agree #WTF #thatsracistgaga
I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking it, but some of us gotta start saying it.
A lot of people tweeted back asking why "Oriental" is racist (nobody asked about "chola," so I'm guessing you aren't going to argue THAT) so I'm making this post as a general reply.
In contemporary English, Oriental usually refers to goods from the parts of East Asia traditionally occupied by East Asians and most Central Asians and Southeast Asians racially categorized as "Mongoloid". This excludes Indians, Arabs, most other West Asian peoples. Because of historical discrimination against Chinese and Japanese, in some parts of the United States, the term is considered derogatory; for example, Washington state prohibits use of the word "Oriental" in legislation and governent documentation, preferring the word "Asian" instead.
"Oriental" is also associated with European colonialism in China. Especially a British image of China as once great race, but declined and vulnerable to colonization and subjugation. Negro, Coon, and Mic share similar connotations.
tl;dr: The word Oriental is offensive because it is dehumanizing - a rug is Oriental, a person is not. Caling a human being "Oriental" is antiquated and it connotes a white imperialist history.
And that's why it's not ok for a rich white person to flout these racial slurs, particularly not in the main song of her highly anticipated new album, which is going to debut at the Grammys in less than 10 days. Surely SOMEONE must have told her by now. It's really uncomfortable when someone you admire comes out with something like this- but if her fans speak up about it, she'll listen.