I probably shouldn't have followed the link.

[innerbrat]

You see, people? This is why I just don't do fandom.*

But the refusal of a bunch of LJ-community mods to take responsibility for their use of loaded terminology is not the most racist thing I've seen today.

Nor is this story of racism in a Louisiana small town

This is.

That's right, ladies, and gents, Far East Asians** are like Downs Sufferers.

Comments

[innerbrat]

I've never used the term ever, nor heard it outisde of my sketchy Americon legal history knowledge, but I believe that, although my instinct before reading around would be to assume it meant 'forbidden love' - like muggle/wizard, or werewolf/witch or something else taboo in wizarding society. But if it was pointed out to me "oh hai, that's offensive," I'dnot use it anymore, yanno.

I will try and remember to use Rishasthra more. I think it's a Niven term. But the only Pournelle I've read was co-authored with Niven anyway, so.

I think it was Marcus Brigstoke who siad that since the death of Bernard Manning, Prince Philip has taken the place as the nation's favourite comedy racist.

[innerbrat]

Fantasy makes everything complicated. Not just because our (or perhaps my) squick filters kick in before they possibly would for an occupant of worlds in which sentient species co-exist.

Human/mermaid, for example, squicks the hell out of me.

[gao]

Oriental has fallen out of favor and is generally seen as okay for objects, "Oriental rug," but not for people. I don't think there's a concrete reason--just the linguistic treadmill again.

You're right that the alternatives suck.

[minnesattva]

Andrew just told me last night, because I had to ask, that the difference between Scotch and Scottish is that Scotch is only okay for "legacy" things like whisky and eggs, which are sort of grandfathered in because they've been called that for a long time and so that's their name now, but the rule these days is that it's not something you want to call a person. I get the same idea about Oriental, at least in America. In America they're called Asians, but that gets confusing in the UK, for the same reason that "jumper" and "pants" do: the word's already taken up for something completely different.

[furikku]

Oh dear sweet Lord, they did NOT seriously use "miscegenation." They did NOT.

How- Why- Who thought this was a good term to use?!

PS: Regarding "Oriental," I think it's the same general reason why "Negro" is frowned upon- it's got too much precedent of being used in a shitty way. (It's also a sort of catchall term for anything east of, say, Britain, that isn't Russia, so it's not terribly useful.)

[innerbrat]

Both of which terms are original anthropological terms. 'Negro' has evolved into 'black' in everyday speech to describe someone of recent African descent, but when people say 'Asian', I think subcontinental, mostly because that's the ancestry of most of the kids where I grew up.

I kind of understand, it's just a shame.

[gao]

Oh! I just remember part of it. *is sleepy*

Part of it, at least, is that while there are Europeans and there are Asians, the opposite of Oriental is not really Occidental so much as "normal." As in, "the Orient" is ---> over there, where those weirdos live. White people don't live in the Occident, they live in the center of the world. Hence the term orientalism, as well.

[innerbrat]

Ah. Etymology. OK, that didn't even occur to me, truth be told.

[eevee]

Re 'miscegenation': Maybe I'm just an insensitive Internet jerk, but it always seemed to me that causing maximal amounts of drama over old racist connotations of words only serves to reinforce those connotations and is thus entirely unproductive. So... whatever, really.

Using the same term for both interracial and interspecies boinking is certainly tasteless, though, and I wonder which was the primary intent; in fact, it occurs to me that the wizarding world would be likely to have only a vague awareness of race, surrounded as they are by such a stronger contrast both with the non-magical and with various other sentient species.

Re Louisiana: lol louisiana. Ugh.

Re.. whatever the hell that is: wow. I'm not sure that's racism; I think it might just be insanity.

[jezrana]

Re Louisiana: lol louisiana. Ugh.

Sorry in advance if this comes across as wanky, but for the record? I've lived in Louisiana all my life. I'm still shocked and disgusted by the Jena thing.

[eevee]

I've lived there and have some fond memories, but it's still the sort of thing that seems much more likely to happen in the south :/

[jezrana]

*nod* I have a sore spot about statements that strike me as generalizing/dismissive, but...yeah. :/

[davegodfrey]

Interestinglyt in Japan Down's Syndrome is/was known as "Englishism".