> No, we do that with that term as well. And even the term "Asian" by itself is rather hopelessly ambiguous except to describe geographical origin. The idea that a term to define a race is inherently politically incorrect and that race-defining terms should be abandoned in favor of geographic terms that make implications about race is a remarkably silly sabotaging of the precision of language.

Referring to someone as African-American may be accurate when tracing their roots back. But if it goes back a ways, we might not be able to identify a *country* of origin. So, it seems that, for the most part, using the term "black" is still acceptable for race.

However, most Asians in America know exactly what countries their roots go to, so they can be referred to as Korean or Laotian or Chinese, etc. But, when referring to a racial makeup, Asian is the term that covers more and seems equivalent to black. And in reference to another part of your post, using the term "Yellow" has seemed to take on that encompassing negative connotation, so Asian is used instead. Where that starts and ends, I'm not sure. Also, Asian does not equal Oriental, so that term is frowned upon by my Asian friends.

Fer"pale"rick