Why do Americans not consider Indian subcontinent people as Asian?
Americans did at one time call East Asians “Oriental”, and those in India, just “Indians”, but then I was told that “Oriental” referred to things, not people and thus disrespectful. Russia is on the Asian continent, but the people are not referred to as Asians either, and I believe it’s like that in Europe too. So, except for the Far East (Orient), those others on the continent of Asia, west of the Orient, are most likely called by their country’s name. Many Americans believe “Asian” is a race, which includes the peoples of certain physical, mostly facial, characteristics (such as epicanthic folds – the eyes) as those of China, Korea, Japan, etc. (It’s difficult to tell what country many of these people are from, so they use the race name instead, Asian, to refer to those of the Far East. American’s, those in the US, do not refer to Canadians or Mexicans as “North Americans”, but by their country’s name.
