Shortpacked! by David Willis
Toys are serious business.
Convention appearances:
Calgary Expo Calgary, AB: April 26-28
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Multiplex
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
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Girl Genius
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Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
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Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
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Overcompensating
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Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
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Maybe Leslie has some Asian heritage?
Weren’t the Jews from a part of Asia??
Oh, wait. Europe. Ah, screw it, I bet Galasso doesn’t know geography, either.
Judaism did originate in Asia.
Middle East good sir, between Europe and Asia.
And parts of Northern Africa.
But the part that Judaism originated from is in Asia.
No0ne, there are seven continents on the planet and “the middle east” is not one of them. That region resides in Asia, making it “Asian.”
Go get an Atlas, Israel is located in the section under Middle East.
CIA World Fact Book Says so too.
Don’t argue with the CIA man, they will kidnap you and 3 years later people will find your naked corpse in Tibet.
A region and a continent are not the same thing
The Theory of Evolution is true. You have but to look in nature, present day, to see this. Human beings are primates, we are members of the lines of great apes. If you don’t believe the theory, at least believe what your eyes tell you when you compare apes and humans. As for the Native Americans, and other natives in the Americas, I am not sure where they originated exactly, but they are thought to have come across the Bearing Straits, from Asia and Asia Minor/Russian area. I think
Sorry I replied up here, i was replying to your post on evolution, which is a couple posts down, and i accidently replied here. Then again, there was no reply thing by your name in the comment i was responding to.
We’re talking about ethnicity, not continents. He’s white.
No. If you use the term “Asian” you are NOT talking about ethnicity. You are specifically referring to that which resides in, or is exported from the … wait for it … CONTINENT of Asia.
But, then couldn’t people who prescribe to the theory of evolution make the argument that we are all Asians? Or from where ever they say we evolved from, I can’t keep track it changes on what seems to be a weekly basis…
I say people who prescribe because I do not.
You should probably learn a bit more about the theory then because at no point have we been said to originate in Asia. At heart we’re all Africans.
The believed location where the human race has been birthed certainly hasn’t changed from Africa in a number of decades. I wonder exactly where you get your information from, if not just the strawman in your mind.
Web comics are where I get my information from! No, not really…
And I wrote last year a paper on how early man got to the Americas, the people who wrote the various books and magazine articles (Some written even in 2008) I read had way too many theories on how the Native Americans got there. Some said that Cro-Magnon evolved in Europe separately and fought the Neanderthal who had evolved in Africa. Then the surviving Neanderthal traveled across the sea in wooden rafts and became the Native Americans. Another said that The Neanderthals came from Mongolia but didn’t bury their dead until they reached Africa and even bones don’t tend to last long when they sit on the surface exposed to the elements. So you can see on how I became confused on where the accepted evolution point for man is.
Of course my favorite one is that we evolved on Atlantis and when it sank half of the human race went east to South America and the other half ended up in Africa, or the theory about the Aztecs being the lost tribes of Israel who carried the Ark of the Covenant across the land bridge between North America and Russia and settled in South America.
The other hilarious theory is that the Mohave Desert was really the Garden of Eden and God turned it into a waste land after he kicked Adam and Eve out. I think the guy who wrote that one either has never visited the Mohave or he forgot about the whole Angel with a flaming sword stopping people from entering the garden thing. Or maybe the Angel got bored and left…
Err expect for instead of east they went west… stupid lack of edit button…
I was going to point out that Neanderthal man was from Europe, not Africa, and therefore question your research, but then I saw that, while writing a paper on the early migration of man, and you did research on The Garden of Eden and Atlantis?
I am scared to ask what school this is, and what crazy-ass library you were using.
I don’t see why they’d embrace it. Firing people because they’re white and hiring because they’re asian is just as much discrimination as the opposite.
You, of course, do not have Galasso’s tunnel vision.
Also, is Ultra-car a honkey? The pun immediately suggested itself to me.
Unless you believed that there was an intentional bias in the original hiring. Then some sort of affirmative action might at least make sense. (Even then, it’d still be pointless unless Shortpacked was a major economic force in the community.)
But there doesn’t seem to be much bias in Shortpacked’s hiring policy. They seem to just hire anyone who comes in the door.
To answer your question. yes it’s just as much discrimination to higher someone based on race as to not hire them based on race.
I know that, what I don’t get is why Ethan is considering not fighting it.
Because sometimes liberal guilt is irrational.
They could try saying amber is asian since she could be related to Faz, Galasso could buy that xD
OR, they could just reveal that Faz is only half asian, have him fired and hire another asian instead. One that’s not Korean, just to err on the side of caution. >_>
One thats not Korean and not from the USA, just to be double sure. With a DNA test to be tripple sure. Oh and one thats at least as old as Amber’s dad to be really, really sure.
Comic of the year, all years. For saying Honkey\ Honkies.
I thought Jewish people fell into their own demographic…
Also I can’t help but wonder what that city’s homosexual demographic is since at least at least a third of the store is also like that… Gah! This whole thing is making my brain hurt.
30% may be about right. If it’s above average, Robin is a convert. If it’s below, just make Ninja Rick a gay asian (gaysian?) (he needs the attention).
well I don’t know any demographic studies which could point who is really straight or not. LGB still tend to hide from publicy, so the percentage shown will always be lower than reality.
Common misconception. The Jewish are as much a subset of the scientific definition of the human race as the Muslim or the Catholic are.
Jewish is the term for followers of Judaism.
Hebrew is the name of an ethnicity that makes up most/all (depending on who you ask) of the followers of Judaism.
Had this conversation while working on the 2000 Census.
Zorian is right, technically. But that’s not how the average Joe would classify himself.
Speaking as one of both Jewish descent and religion, usually the distinction is whether you refer to yourself as “Jewish” or “A Jew”. “Jewish” denotes ancestry. while “A Jew” indicates religion.
I’m not sure when this distinction popped up, since they used to make the same thing, but it does. It’s interesting, and I wish I knew more about when and why the distinction became pronounced.
I’m pretty sure Ultracar counts as handicapped on account of his wheels and need for ramp access.
Excellent point. She also gets to stay because although she’s white she’s one of the very few females working there, and if you’re gonna follow “demographics”, then shouldn’t 50% of the work force be female? XD
And then, of course, there’s the age demographics…
Are there really that few Hispanics in San Francisco? Huh.
There are more Hispanics in Southern California. Northern California had more Asian immigrants during the building of the railroads and the gold rush.
So is this Willis’ way of introducing a new character?
More likely than not, this will result in humorous blackface.
Seriously, probably just another dig at Amber and Faz.
Clearly there’s a sampling problem with Faz’s demographic survey, since virtually all of Shortpacked customers are white.
Depends on which neighborhood it’s located in.
Wait, when did California get around to recognizing Jews as “White”? Next thing you know they’ll count the Irish.
You, sir, win the internet.
“Asian” is a very generic term. It could refer to Indians, Iranians, or any Orthadox Russian. I think the term you meant is “ORIENTAL.” This term is specific to the folks you are profiling here. It means someone from the regions south and southeast of the Himalayas and the Malay Archipelago west of Wallace’s line. When you refer to Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, and other smaller communities, “Oriental” is the proper term.
In the world of super-political-correctness, “Oriental” is considered offensive.
Or, you know, the regular world, post 1970.
This world post 1970 is the world of super-political-correctness. Not necessarily a bad thing, although it can get quite annoying when people get ridiculous about it.
However, in this instance I totally agree that the term is offensive.
People don’t like the term “oriental” because it “conjures up images of exoticness,” but that isn’t even remotely the same thing as “offensive”. At worst, it’s as offensive as referring to Americans as cowboys. That’s not offensive, that’s fucking badass. You can mistakenly think that all Americans are Chuck Norris any day, we ain’t gonna complain.
I always got the idea that in the US, “oriental” was, if not an out-and-out racist term, at least one that was considered a bit… suspect.
(This doesn’t seem to apply to the UK though, where “asian” usually, but not always, referers to Indian/Pakistani/etc type people.)
There’s nothing racist about it. Look it up in the dictionary. There is no shame attached to the word–anymore than calling myself “occidental” (from the west).
But if we are worried about stepping on people’s toes, the term, “Asian,” is far more offensive. I don’t know many Iraqis or Russians who wish to be lumped together in a generic term. The Orientals I know don’t mind one way or the other but it is offensive to non-orientals (at least one Russian I know, anyway). So, you will offend (aprox) 50% of Asian people by using the term “Asian” to describe Orientals, specifically.
I think it’s best to use specific language to avoid hurt feelings. “Asian” is not specific. It is bigotted because it slams together many diverse and disparate cultures into an all-purpose term.
The term is absolutely racist; I don’t know why you seem to feel like you can speak for East Asians in this regard. The whole idea of an “Orient” where “Oriental” people come from is a function of Eurocentric imperialism. Calling yourself “Occidental” is not comparable considering how East Asia did not colonize Europe, exporting its cultural artifacts and heritage while Othering the people and importing drugs to get the population trapped in this one-sided economic relationship.
This also ignores the fact that “Oriental” has referred to different regions over the course of history, as Europeans went further east. West Asia or, more commonly now, the Middle East used to be “the Orient”. Then India, and now it’s the furthest East of Asia.
If you want to talk about the region of Asia that is Japan, Korea, and China, then just say “East Asian”.
“West Asia or, more commonly now, the Middle East used to be “the Orient”. Then India, and now it’s the furthest East of Asia.”
This. The term “Oriental” is meaningless to most people because “the Orient” keeps changing. And it just sounds xenophobic, like East Asians are mystical and exotic.
East Asian is actually the same term as Oriental. They mean the same thing. One is Latin and the other is English, but they’re the same thing. People who think one is offensive all think the other is offensive too. So basically you’re retarded.
The only real difference is, Oriental is in a language none of us speak, so it is actually LESS misleading, and thus less offensive. The area in question doesn’t include Russia, which is the easternmost country in Asia, so in theory a term without the word “east” in it would be ideal. But no such term exists, so we just use what the English language gives us.
Rugs are Oriental. People are Asian.
While you are correct in that Asian is less acceptable than Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc. it is far more acceptable (at least, in the US) than the term Oriental.
Theno
“Brian, buddy, where ya been? The term is ‘Asian-American!’”
“I know you are no intending to be…but calling me ‘Oriental’ offensive to me!”
-“Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist Sometimes,” Avenue Q. Complete with R’s and L’s switched. Ah, Broadway.
Totally what I had in mind.
Even though that song is so racist.
I find the amusingness of the song and its complete promotion stereotypes to be very morally conflicting.
Evelyone’s a ritter bit lacist!
Man, you are a riot.
Yikes. As a person of Japanese descent, I request that you never, ever, ever refer to me or my family as an ‘Oriental’. Yes, that is offensive. If you’re going to use an umbrella term, ‘Asian’ is much better. As others have noted, ‘Oriental’ is only the proper term as considered by elderly people and racists.
Oriental is offensive, it makes me sound like a damn ramen flavor! Asian is fine. Oriental is incredibly insulting! Seriously people, incorrect PC bs, is more insulting than racism. At least racism is honest. Insulting people in the process of trying to “protect their feelings” is worse, because it comes off like not only are we [those being insulted] incapable of standing up for ourselves, but also YOU COULDN’T EVEN BE BOTHERED TO GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT!
Being politically incorrect is more offensive than racism? Jesus H. Christ. You’re the problem with the world today. Go shoot yourself in the face with one of those buzzsaw launchers from Mega Man games.
Yes it is a pretty suspect term in the US at least. Only people who use it are racists and reaaaallly old people.
Or perfectly ordinary people who didn’t get the memo that it was suddenly bad – or at least, any worse than the term “asian”.
(I may have spent too much time reading *books* from before 1970. I personally can’t think of an instance where I’ve seen the term “oriental” *be* racist, beyond the fact that it describes a particular category of people.)
Well, every person of Asian decent that I know (and I know a lot of ‘em, living & growing up in San Francisco) “oriental” is akin to “colored”. Hey, you didn’t know any better, no big deal. Now you do!
“Suddenly” bad? It’s been considered inappropriate for quite a while…
It became inappropriate sometime in the ’70s, I believe. Which is about when white people started to realize that terms that didn’t apply to black people might also be racist.
Or, you know, non-Americans.
I’m from England. I got the memo that ‘Oriental’ was offensive, so made an effort not to use it any more – at which point I realized that most people this side of the pond hadn’t gotten that memo and now thought I didn’t know what part of the world I was talking about. I’d rather not risk offending someone than look geographically challenged, but that really does appear to be the choice over here.
I’m also from England. I never got any memo that Oriental was a rascist term. Considering that I only know one person of Japanese descent (It may be a long phrase, but it’s as PC as it’s possible to get). I’ll have to ask her if she considers it offensive. (Unless she’s actually of Chinese descent. Or Thai, or Korean or something else I haven’t thought of).
As far as I know, the only truly offensive words are Nigger and Paki, since there are no circumstances where they’re either appropriate or accidental. As long as you stay away from those, most people won’t give a ****. And if they do, apologise, explain and don’t do it again.
Well, technically Glasso has nothing to worry about, aside from ‘doing the right thing’. I doubt he’s a federal contractor, and he certainly doesn’t have 50 or more employees, so he would not require to establish Affirmative Action plans (which is where all this demographic and representation mumbo-jumbo would come into play.) Sorry for geeking out there….this is what I do for a living.
they could get Billie now that she’s half Asian
Doubt it, since she’s already an accomplished journalist and IW! characters other than Mike, Robin and Ultra Car only make cameos in this comic. Besides, she’s getting plenty of attention over in Dumbing of Age, so I really don’t see why we’d need to bring her over here.
And besides, Billie is only half-Asian in the “Dumbing of Age” universe — here in the regular Walkyverse, she’s English. Similarly, in “Dumbing of Age” Ruth has a different name: it’s Lessick, rather than Lesse.
Well, Robin’s DNA has some Martian mixed in, so she isn’t 100% white. And who knows what Mike’s DNA would show?
Possible solutions:
All employees go on a genealogy website and finds that they all have some asian ancestry and their combined asain percentage ends up being greater than 30% making Faz’s employment redundant.
Robin gets a bill passed in congress forcing 2/3 of the asians to move.
Robin is Hispanic, at least in large part.
Robin’s still got that Martian DNA, which makes her an uber minority. According to the logic of Galasso no doubt that would mean he would have to fire her. I mean come on how many people have Martian DNA who are A: Still alive and B: Living around Shortpacked? Yea, I’m counting 2. Mike and Robin. Although some other former SEMME agents could live in the area I’m betting it’s still not enough to make hiring one of them fit the demographics, much less two. Thank goodness for government secrets right?
Doesn’t Agatha or someone live in the area and work at the increasingly-sinister McAwesome’s?
I am curious where they live that has such a high Asian population in the United States. Maybe there are communities like that on the West Coast, I am not sure.
As I recall, they live in San Francisco, which is full of inscrutable Chinamen.
I’m still allowed to say that, right?
No, the word “of” is racist nowadays.
Speaking of Ultra Car, where is he? It seems like we haven’t seen him in months, where’s he gone?
The Aliens got him! Wait… no… He’s busy being Spider Car and making Robin think he is actually some other person who makes no sense… Because we all know spider car is really PRESIDENT OBAMA! Which would explain why nothing is getting done in DC…
Which talking car works at McAwesomes anyway?
Well, Ultra Car was a Jeep, wasn’t he? So I’d say he definitely doesn’t qualify as Asian, but then, since he’s a hybrid now, there’s a chance Joe gutted a Prius and used some of it’s parts.
I thought talking cars were everywhere now. Is Shortpacked really still overrepresented?
(Perhaps Ethan is basing his statement on speciesist polls that exclude them.)
UltraCar isn’t a biological organism. Could talking cars be considered a “Species”?
What would robotic racism be? Technism? Autoism? No, wait: Mechanism!
…That sounded funnier in my head.
Don’t worry, it was perfectly funny in mine, too.
The Toyota Camry is one of the best-selling cars in the United States, and they sold 350,000 cars in 2009. The United States has 310,000,000 people. Over a small number of years of people buying Camrys, those sales are going to accumulate to probably over one percent?
Lots of people own Rosenthal Zoomers in fictional San Francisco, but certainly not approaching TEN percent, which would be the number required to justify one talking car employee based on Galasso’s criteria.
“Overhonkied” is my new favorite word.
The use of the term “oriental” is interesting to me, because I know for a fact there are many people who have no idea that’s considered racist by some. It seems for whatever the reason, it’s not as known as say, some very special terms for black folks. Not to excuse it, but it’s not an obvious, hateful kind of name as some terms may be to people.
The vague vague impression I’m getting here is that “oriental” is within one or two orders of offensiveness-magnitude as, say, “colored” (which I gather is not appropriate anymore). If it’s anywhere in the same solar system as n****r, then I really missed the memo.
Oh, “colored” is quite racist. Mostly because it ignores the fact that light peach is, surprise surprise, a color. Everybody‘s colored…and before you mention albinos, white’s a color too.
DC Talk had a song about this!
That was a good song. I miss DC Talk!
I’ve been known to joke that I don’t have a color, I have an albedo.
I miss the time when people were divided into two distinct categories of Oriental and Occidental.
That DID happen, right?
Yes, but only in formal contexts; “wogs” and “us” was a lot more common. :p
So what does it matter if Shortpacked!‘s employees are a little occident-prone?
(It’s not like the store provides health insurance.)
I’ve always wondered if the confusion didn’t have something to do with the fact that the word still seems to be a fairly commonplace, and seemingly accepted, descriptor for foods. It *can’t* be unspeakable if it’s printed right on a box in the supermarket, right? Not that I ever expended too much thought on it, but it’s struck me as odd before.
You had to know what kind of conversation this storyline would generate, Mr. Willis…thumbs-up for bravery.
From what I gathered, “Oriental” is only racist if you call a person that.
If you’re talking bout an oriental rug, its okay.
Talking about the China-man down the street you are being a honky.
China man is also kinda on the “Do NOT use” list
I’m guessing that’s also why the food is still called “Peking Duck”, when the actual place is now called “Bejing”.
AIUI that’s really due to switching from one type of romanization of Mandarin to another.
So Galasso won’t fire Jacob because he’s black, but he’ll fire anyone except Ethan because they’re white? Yeah, that matches the definition of Racism.
This just in: Galasso is not a good person, and also kind of crazy
I DON’T BELIVE IT!
Theres no way he can’t be a nice guy!
I recommend firing everyone and then rehiring with the appropriate racial and social mix.
Its about time Ninja Rick got some love in this strip. Even if he’s a punchline. Willis, have I pitched you my Ninja Rick spin-off idea?
don’t worry, he’ll be the only character left by 2015.
I wonder what the demographics are in Conquest’s stores? Surely Galasso would consider those part of his empire.
I clicked the comic a few times before I realized I finished reading through all the archives.
…What will I do whith my spare time now?
Read Dumbing Of Age silly.
Silly humans.
Dividing your little pebble of a planet into itty bitty chunks and then calling each other names over it.
Looks like a small speck inside your local planetary system.
Can’t even find your star without a guide.
Probably just as well you can’t figure out how to get out.
I can find my star pretty well most days – I go outside and look for the big yellow thing in the sky.
(Mind you, with fall coming on, that’s going to get a bit harder..)
It’s Yellow? No wonder Earthlings are so ugly, aqua marine stars are much prettier…
Why worry about who’s going to be fired? The obvious answer is to hire 2-4 more employees without firing anyone.
Oh, “cutting into profits,” you say? Nonsense. If this demographic calibration is as important as you’re saying, you need all the current employees to help train the recruits.
I hope you plan on redrawing those hands in the second panel.
Great. Now I can’t stop looking at them.
I, too, feel “overhonkied” is a fun new word the whole family can enjoy.
-Cavan
Also, Cyclops getting crapped upon is very appropriate for my life, particularly in the last few months.
I tried to give her a ring, all right?
-Cavan, who could really use a “Do Over.”
…
Am I missing the other side of this conversation?
I dare say this comic has come up 9 times out of 10 when I go random.
@No0ne
“But, then couldn’t people who prescribe to the theory of evolution make the argument that we are all Asians? Or from where ever they say we evolved from, I can’t keep track it changes on what seems to be a weekly basis…
I say people who prescribe because I do not.”
I’m not sure if you’re just trying to fan flames, but…
Homo Sapients most likely evolved out of Africa some 200,000 years ago. This has been the theory for…oooh, decades. Saying “It seems to change every time I look” reminds me of old people saying “I used to be able to call them ‘coloured’, but NOW it’s suddenly changed. They keep changing the names every time I check”.
Of course, if you don’t believe in evolution, you could just say that a wizard is to blame. Or the Unicron singularity.
(You don’t “perscribe” to the theory of evolution. Anymore than you “perscribe” to the theory of gravity.)
Well, remember that “African-American” came about because someone was offended by “Black”. And “Black” was because someone was offended by “Colored”. And “Colored” replaced “Negro”. And so on…
The same is true of many other “sensitive” terms: “idiot” and “moron” used to be actual descriptors of a given level of intellect or social station, not insults. There came “slow”, followed by “retarded”, then “special needs”, and so on — each “sensitive” term being used to replace its predecessor because the new one had come to be used in the same insulting manner in general usage.
Chasing the verbage doesn’t address the issue.
True. Once the public has lept on a scientific term and started using it as an insult (like “Mongoloid” or “idiot”), then it’s not surprising that the scientific community then moves away from those terms.
I was more picking on the “they keep changing the terms so I can’t keep up” excuse, normally used to explain why someone is using the term “coloured” even though that hasn’t been acceptable for decaded. I’ve just never seen it used to argue against evolution before.
True story: my girlfriend is a pathologist, and on her autopsy’s she has to write the person’s race. She has a colleague who will cross out where she writes “black/white/etc” and put in “Negroid/Caucasoid/Mongoloid”, arguing that it’s the correct scientific term.
This is a 35 year old guy, born in the UK, working in the UK as a doctor who thinks that it’s perfectly fine to write “mongoloid” on a patients notes. Thank god he doesn’t work on the wards.
(Also, is “black” actually offensive in the US? I thought it was decided that avoid that was being oversensitive? It’s fine in the UK. Well, saying someone is black is. Referring to “the blacks” isn’t, but it took me 15 years to get my family to stop saying “coloured”, so one step at a time.)
“Black” can indeed be offensive, entirely as a matter of who’s decided to be insulted by it. Mainly because within the Black community, there continues to be a heated internal race-mixing war where the “depth” of one’s “blackness” is used as a means of striation, the blacker the “better”.
Persons who are lighter-skinned, because one or more of their ancestors were white or Asian, are often ostracised…so, there are elitists who are insulted that someone who’s not as black as they are get called black, and some folks with lighter skin who feel insulted because they’re reminded of the false stigma.
There’s actually a term for that in philology: “the euphemism treadmill”.
But that’s not really what LiamKav was talking about.
FYI, note the word THEORY in front of both, and the fact that many physicists believe gravity is a myth.
Oh, by the way, the proper term is Mongoloid.
Oriental=/=offensive in the UK – I mean, I cheerfully refer to myself as a ‘westerner’ near-daily, and it’s etymologically exactly the same thing.
I don’t think shared etymology is what makes words offensive. It’s like saying that because you can call yourself a cracker that it’s okay to use the N-word.
Or that it’s okay to use the C-word if you’re black and can call yourself the N-word.
It’s all about marginalizing people in order to feel superior, regardless of race.
I suppose that’s the difference, that since “oriental” isn’t used as an offensive term in the UK, then it’s not offensive. Maybe. I’d check, but the only Chinese people I know are from Malaysia and are pretty much more racist than anyone else I know, so they’re not the best people to ask.
(I think it’s also more common to just say “Chinese” or “Japanese” or whatever over here, so it doesn’t really come up.)
Thinking about if further, I suppose the closest UK equivalent would be those people who say that calling people “Pakis” is fine because they are from “Pakistan”. As has been pointed out, it doesn’t matter if the word has scientific basis. If it’s offensive, it’s offensive.
The correct term would be Pakistani, but only if they’re actually from Pakistan and not Bangladesh or Iraq, etc.
Yep. That’s stupid liberal guilt.
Pretty much the same thing as stupid conservative guilt over a public statue that shows a boob poking out.
Anyone else find it hilarious that the word of Faz sparked off multiple conversations where people shared their learned opinions about race,racism,demographic surveys etc?Especially seen as,being Faz,he probably made those numbers up.
AIUI that’s really due to switching from one type of romanization of Mandarin to another.
Dammit, that was supposed to be a reply.
I must find a way to use the phrase OverHonkied in real life.