"negro" and "oriental" to be banned from federal law

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SC kid

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The words "Negro" and "Oriental" are finally going to be stripped from federal law soon.

The U.S. Senate approved H.R.4238 on Tuesday night, which stipulates that outdated and offensive terms such as "Negro" and "Oriental" that refer to marginalized ethnic and racial groups must be removed from federal law and replaced with terms like "Asian American" and "African American."

The bill was first introduced in December 2015 by Democratic New York Representative Grace Meng, and specifically targets theDepartment of Energy Organization Act and the Local Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976.

The former contains the phrase, "a Negro, Puerto Rican, American Indian, Eskimo, Oriental, or Aleut or is a Spanish speaking individual of Spanish descent." The latter has a line that reads, "Negroes, Spanish-speaking, Orientals, Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts." Both will be updated with "modernized" language, according to the text of the bill.


Meng released a statement on Tuesdayexplaining why she feels the bill is so important:

The word 'Oriental' is a derogatory and antiquated term and the passage of this legislation will soon force the United States government to finally stop using it. I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for understanding that the time has come for our government to no longer refer to Asian Americans, or any ethnicity, in such an insulting manner. Repealing this term is long overdue. 'Oriental' no longer deserves a place in federal law, and very shortly it will finally be a thing of the past.

The bill is now on its way to U.S. President Barack Obama for approval.
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Wait, so years ago when all of the old people made a fuss about adding the word negro in the black/African American category they forced it on us which was ridiculous and now it's banned from federal law?

Ha.
 
I've never heard of the term "oriental". I do think negro sounds somewhat offensive so I don't use that term.
 
Banning words does not get rid of the underlying problem. This is crap. This is some Voldemort you cant say it BS. This is a pie in the sky wishful thinking feel good legislation so you can say "we did something." You haven't stopped people from thinking it and feeling it.

Whatever happened to "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me"? In fact you add more power the word by telling people it has this crazy power when its largely irrelevant...how many people ACTUALLY read federal law to give a damn...especially given the time period it was written.
 
Colombia said:
I've never heard of the term "oriental". I do think negro sounds somewhat offensive so I don't use that term.
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Because you not in contact with entitled white folks, house cat ... I've heard it countless times coming up. 
 
757bred said:
It might just be me, but i've never found the term Negro to be offensive.
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I didn't either. I remember watching Rush Hour on TNT when I was a kid and they censored the n word by replacing it with negro and it cracked me up. 
 
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RIP sleazyy said:
My fam has been callin me negro since I was a kid
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DOPENESS said:
Because you not in contact with entitled white folks, house cat ... I've heard it countless times coming up. 
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I'm not American. I've never really come across the word oriental online. The Dutch equivalent of negro is considered offensive here so I'm not comfortable using that term.
We don't really have a literal translation of the n-word so negro is treated as the n-word here.
 
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Oriental is a seasoning in the first place, it irked me hearing people equate that to race/nationality :lol:
 
I rarely hear anyone using the term Negro to identify Black or African-American persons. Didn't know it was offensive (I don't consider it). Definitely an outdated term.

Now that I think about it, if I was in a convo with an old white person and they said something like "my Negro neighbors" I'd feel some type of way lol. Not necessarily offended, but uncomfortable.
 
Colombia said:
I've never heard of the term "oriental". I do think negro sounds somewhat offensive so I don't use that term.
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60-70's era blaxploiton movies got those in spades, and so does da OG green hornet.

Oriental still sounds distinguished to me thou..im too young to associate a stigma on it.
 
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