<p>Alright, so I'm South Asian and I was talking to my East Asian friend and he said that I'm not Asian and Asian only refers to East Asians like Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, etc,. </p>
<p>Of course I didn't bother arguing with him because I knew I couldn't change his opinion, but it got me thinking about what people in general considered Asian to be.</p>
<p>Do you guys automatically think Asian as only East Asians?</p>
<p>Quick note: In the UK, when someone says Asian, they think of South Asians and they refer to East Asians as orientals or by "Chinese" while it's the opposite here.</p>
<p>Hmmm, probably should have posted this in HSL as the topics on here seem to be very college related while the topics there are all over the place haha.</p>
<p>I’m of Vietnamese heritage, and think anyone who comes from or has family heritage from any Asian country is considered an Asian. Your friend is just ignorant. </p>
<p>BTW, Vietnamese is actually Southeast Asian (along with Thai, Cambodians, Laotians, etc), not East Asian.</p>
<p>As you’ve pointed out, in the US “Asian” generally means East Asian, and “South Asian” means Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi. That’s just the terminology we use conventionally.</p>
<p>Calling people that are Indian or Russian “Asians” is like calling Mexicans “Americans.” Even though it’s technically true (same continent), it seems nowadays that colloquially, Asians means Chinese, Korean, etc.</p>
<p>This is funny because I just brought this up at Christmas Eve dinner.</p>
<p>When I hear “Asian” I think of Southeast Asia. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, you name it. I don’t think of, say, Afghanis or Pakistanis or Indians or Russians.</p>
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<p>Yup I know this feeling. I don’t quite “look Hispanic” and I have the most anglo-sounding name ever, but I’m half Chilean.</p>
<p>Ignore brownskinned Asians? How is me stating that most people see Asians as belonging to the east ignoring brownskinned Asians? One of the Spanish words for people from the US is “norteamericano” which goes to show that even “North American” for many people simply means American. If somebody is Indian, maybe calling them “South Asian” or “Indian Asian” would be understood better. Just saying “Asian” really does tend to refer to Chinese, Korean, etc. Not that that can’t change, but that’s what the understanding is nowadays.</p>
<p>“South Asian” is a subset of “Asian”, although some people mistakenly use “Asian” to describe only “East Asian”. (Don’t forget that there are other parts of Asia as well.)</p>
<p>There are 48 countries in Asia, so “Asian” solely meaning East Asian is incredibly ignorant. South Asians are Asian. Just like Kazakhs/Mongolians/Uzbeks/Tajiks/Pashtuns are Asian - Central Asian. I consider everyone from the Asian continent Asian - except those from the Middle East, who I consider as such, Middle-Eastern. </p>
<p>To say Indians, for example, are not Asian, doesn’t take into account the influence of Indian culture/Hindu religion on the cultures of Southeast Asia. Asia as a continent and “Asian” as a classification are not monoliths. Asians are incredibly diverse people and that should be acknowledged.</p>
<p>Okay, Indians/Pakistanis aren’t Asian. They obviously look a lot different than Southeast/Central/East Asians, and they definitely don’t use chopsticks. /thread</p>
<p>I’m Filipino and at least here in Southern California, we actually distinguish between Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipino, Cambodian, etc. All Asians are Asians, bar Indians who have their own subcontinent and Pacific Islanders such as Samoans.</p>