On Friday, President Obama signed a bill that would eliminate the words “Oriental” and “Negro” from federal laws. The bill was sponsored by New York Rep. Grace Meng who championed similar legislation when she served in the New York state legislature. In a press release, Meng stated:
“The term ‘Oriental’ has no place in federal law and at long last this insulting and outdated term will be gone for good. No longer will any law of the United States refer to Asian Americans in such an offensive way, and I applaud and thank President Obama for signing my bill to get rid of this antiquated term. Many Americans may not be aware that the word ‘Oriental’ is derogatory. But it is an insulting term that needed to be removed from the books, and I am extremely pleased that my legislation to do that is now the law of the land.”
Though it may seem like a small measure, I think this bill is a step in the right direction. If federal documents are supposed to be the benchmark for what is and is not acceptable, it only makes sense for the language used in them to reflect that. Granted, replacing a few words is not the “end all, be all” to removing systemic barriers and ending discrimination; but, it does reinforce the notion that we must be accountable for the words we use and cognizant of the impact our words can have versus what our intent may be.
A few months back, the Inclusion Solution published a series of posts on “Words and Phrases that Sting.” For me, it encouraged additional self-reflection on how some of the seemingly innocent words I use could potentially resonate negatively with others. It’s made me think twice and even challenge some of the phrases my close friends and family have become comfortable using.
From my point of view, this bill is another inch towards progress. Who knows—perhaps a certain professional football team will finally follow suit?
In the words of the late, great Prince, “like books and black lives,” the language and words we use matter.
And still the one ethnicity whose name is still used as a term for criminality and thievery in statutes and slang is still in use and the people who want to eliminate “oriental” in favor of “Asian” are completely blind to. Even the Jews have less than sympathetic attitudes toward their WW2 experiences.
I am referring of course to the Gypsies. Statutes still refer to “Gypsy cabs” and other criminal activities, and people still regularly refer to a bad deal as “a gyp.”
Other phrases are gone, including “a Chinaman’s chance”, “Dutch Courage” (drunkenness to be brave), and others I don’t want to laboriously type into this phone.