THE CRUX OF IT: Updating the terms and references to describe people enriches us all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President Barack Obama signed a bill into law Friday that that would eliminate the offensive terms “Oriental” and “Negro”

from federal laws. The out-dated terms will be replaced with “Asian American” and “African American”.

Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) sponsored the bill with the intent to modernize the language in the U.S. Code. Somewhat surprisingly, the legislation passed unanimously in the House and Senate.

The word Oriental literally means “Eastern” and some have argued that it portrays the Orient as an exotic distant place, but it is only distant if you live in the west. That in effect makes Europe the center or in other words, the seat of culture.

The history and interpretation behind the term “Negro” has varied over time but has currently become an undesirable reference. It has only been since 2013 that the U.S. Census has discontinued using the descriptor.

Other terms that are affected by the law include “Spanish-speaking,” which will become “Hispanic” (which is still dubious); “Indian,” which will become “Native American”; and “Eskimo” and “Aleut,” which will become “Alaska Natives.”

The President signed the bill shortly before leaving for his trip to Vietnam and Japan, where he will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima.

Now, there are some that would still question the modifiers that proceed American, but, I would submit that the vast majority of people concerned would prefer those to the previous references.