Queens Assemblywoman Grace Meng (pictured) has penned a bill that will rid the State from using the term Oriental from documents used by the state, public and city agencies. The term Oriental is usually used to refer to objects, such as rugs and porcelain, not to people. Instead Asian will be used when referring to those with an Asian or Pacific Islander heritage. Of course, the assumption is that this is a term to be used when referring to those from the Far East (Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan) and not all Asians since that would mean referring to most Russians, Indians, Pakistanis, etc. as Asian as well. See, this labeling thing gets complicated fast! Our big question though is how this escaped the watchful eye of Queens City Councilmember John Liu, the man who is always quick to point out any offensive Asian slur or slight. Don't worry, John, there's sure to be another issue to take up during this election year.
