My Thoughts on the use of the word "Oriental"

Submitted by Tlahtoki Xochimeh, Diversity Commission Student Representative.

I have to admit that I was stunned when I first sat down to fill out my paper application to apply to the acupuncture and herbal medicine college at NWHSU.  I was taken aback because I saw the word “Oriental” used multiple times on the application, including in the name MCAOM (the Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine).  Put simply, I am quite surprised that there is still a segment of the U.S. population that openly uses “Oriental” to describe people of Asian descent, or to label fields of study that are Asian in origin.  I say this because many within Middle Eastern and Asian communities, as well as many outside these communities, know the traumatic history and use of this word.

Actually, many educational institutions in the U.S. and around the world regularly employ a well-known text on the subject in numerous undergraduate and graduate disciplines.  The book is titled Orientalism and was written by Edward Said in 1978.  Said’s Orientalism outlines the origins of the word “Oriental,” including the ways in which colonial Europeans heavily relied on the term to describe and denigrate “those people” living in the East (i.e. the Orient).  And colonial Europeans believed that “Orientals,” with their “backward” and “savage” customs, needed to be “civilized” by European cultures.  In other words, during European colonization of Middle Eastern and Asian nations, territories, and peoples, colonial Europeans thought that “the Oriental” was inferior in every way to the superior Western (Occidental) European.  Thus, colonial European empires operating in the Middle East and Asia created Western assimilation programs for “Orientals” in order to instill Western European cultural values, ideas, and languages. 

And these Westernization programs were inherently violent, which is why this history is significant.  Simply stated, the word “Oriental” has long been associated with European ethnocentrism and European colonial genocide against Middle Eastern and Asian peoples.  Therefore, it is quite difficult to argue for continued use of the term given its history—the word has been widely used to exoticize and disparage Middle Eastern and Asian peoples for hundreds of years.

I need to point out that I am not Asian, but I am from Mexico.  Numerous slurs have been created by non-Mexicans to demean and oppress Mexican peoples.  One slur that I sometimes hear is “beaner.”  What if I came upon a university in the future that had a Masters in Beaner Studies knowing that the word “beaner” has been used historically to dehumanize Mexican peoples?  Similarly, I have witnessed the word “cracker” used to harass White peoples in the U.S.  What if a school created a Masters in Cracker Studies? 

I mention my analogy because at the root of the issue (of using the term “Oriental”) is power, representation, and self-identification.  “Beaner studies” does not exist in U.S. educational institutions because Mexican descent peoples have their own names for themselves—Chicanos, Latinos, and Mexicanos.  And they have mobilized historically in the U.S. to create, maintain, and grow Chicano studies, Latino studies, and Mexican studies.  The same holds true for members of African-descent communities.  Many of those from these communities have insured that “Negro studies” does not exist.  Instead, African-American, Afro-American, and Black studies are tied to many U.S. colleges and universities.  And in numerous Asian-descent communities, many have worked together to create Asian studies and Asian American studies, not “Oriental studies.”  Opposition to the term “Oriental” was in fact one of the first issues of the Asian American movement during the formation of Asian American studies.  And Asian American studies, for example, now exists (since 2003) at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities—a rather recent addition reflecting the growing national commitment to this field of study. 

I personally know many of those who struggled to create Asian American studies at the U of M and I also know many other people who are Asian because of my academic, community, and related work.  And many of those who I know cringe upon hearing the term “Oriental” and vehemently argue for its demise because many of them know the genealogy of the word.  We have seen this situation before for other racial and ethnic slurs, such as “squaw” and “injun” (for American Indians), “wetbacks” and “illegals” (for Mexicans), and the notorious n-word (for Blacks). 

However, I think that a panel of people of Asian descent should be constructed to hear their perspectives about this word.  I would be interested to know what they think individually and collectively.  I wonder if they would ask the following question: why are some people still using the word “Oriental”?

And what if NWHSU discarded “Oriental” from its vocabulary?  What word would the university use to illustrate the paradigm of medical knowledge within MCAOM?  Students and faculty in MCAOM can easily say that the college almost exclusively uses holistic medical theories, ideas, and practices from China.  Hence, a Masters in Chinese Medicine seems more appropriate and more ethical than a Masters in Oriental Medicine. 

I hope this article generates more discussions about this topic at this university.