re: Do you say "Black" or "African American"?

Old terms: Oriental

The Orient (from Turkey, Middle East to Far East Asia) and the Occident (Western Europe to America). Eastern world vs. Western world.

But the West never really referred to themselves as Occidental - "A native or inhabitant of an Occidental country; a westerner."

So by labeling all Asians (among others - Middle Easterners) as simply Orientals - it was a blanket term for the often prejudicial misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of the Middle East and Far East.

In the nineteenth century, "Oriental Studies" was an area of academic study. But the West had to create the East in order for this study to take place. Said asserts that according to the Occidentals, the Orientals had no history or culture independent of their colonial masters. Orientalism is more an indicator of the power the West holds over the Orient, than about the Orient itself. Creating an image of the Orient and a body of knowledge about the Orient and subjecting it to systematic study became the prototype for taking control of the Orient. By taking control of the scholarship, the West also took political and economic control.