I don't want to argue with anyone, but I thought maybe some of the words
being used might have different meanings to different posters. Here's
what I understand them to mean and maybe it might be a starting point to
clearing up the disagreements? Only hoping to clarify - not wanting to
hop into the debate, OK?

The continent of Asia is very large. It stretches from the Far East to
Europe and from the Arctic circle to to tip of the Malay Peninsula. It
comprises many ethnic groups and is the most diverse of all the
continents. There are the mongoloid peoples of the Far East, for
example. These people have uniformly black hair and pronounced
epicanthic folds which make their eyes appear 'slanted' as folk
literature used to say. (I have to add here that my daughter also has
pronounced epicanthic folds - no one knows why - but she's of 100%
Celtic ethnicity. Go figger!) Anyway, the term 'mongoloid' does *not*
refer to someone who has Down Syndrome, it's an anthropological term
that groups the people whose descent is from the tribes of central Asia
- Genghis Khan and his mob.

Asia also contains people of caucasian ethnicity. That means, their
distant ancestors are thought to have originated in the Caucasus
mountains in Russia. These folk have fair skin and their hair colour
varies widely. Rudolf Nureyev was a Tatar - a race that shares common
features with the people of Mongolia and Manchuria. That's why he had
that *scrumptious* exotic look! (Well... *I* liked it very much: may he
rest in peace!)

There are other peoples in Asia as well. The semitic people of the
Middle East, the turkic peoples, the malay folk and the people who
originated in the Indus valley, whose racial origins are so old and so
diverse. I don't know nearly as much about all this as I want to, but
the point is that the word 'Asian' covers a vast number of people and,
by *far* the vastest number of people on the globe.

Lumping the mongoloid races together and calling them 'Asian' as an
umbrella term isn't really polite. I'm sure their vastly different views
of themselves, their cultures and philosophies should allow them the
dignity of seeing themselves as separate peoples in this modern age.
Likewise, divorcing the caucasian and other races from their proper
asiatic status isn't very polite either. While it may not fit a western
person's *idea* of what's Asian and what's not, the people in question
certainly view themselves as being Asian and have been viewed as such by
the rest of the world since before Galileo!

The status of the peoples from Central America confuses me as (not
living in that part of the world), I have little to go on. All I do know
is that the two continents, North and South America, comprise yet
another diversity of cultures. I assume the Central Americans would
count themselves as South American, but have really no idea. Can anyone
enlighten me please?

Oh, one last thing. AFAIK, the term 'oriental' is exactly the one that
refers to the people of the mongoloid races. I've never heard of it
being offensive in any way and have Chinese and Malaysian friends who
use it in reference to themselves (as in: 'that's just me going all
oriental again!') I'd be interested to hear from any oriental person who
does find it offensive so I can learn why. IME, 'oriental' is simply the
opposite of 'occidental' and carries no other slur...?

If anything I've written here is incorrect, then please do correct me!
I'm always interested in getting it right! LOL!

HTH,

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia