What is wrong with describing someone as Asian?

[ProudAS]

It's what the person is and not being used in a derogatory manner. My colleague felt he had to whisper though when describing another colleague to me.

I fail to see how describing someone by their ethnicity is any different to describing them by their gender.

[curlew]

Funny how there are always so many people with multi ethnic families and friendship circles on threads like this..........

[LyraSilvertongue]

Goodtouch, no I wouldn't say it was racist at all. Just a minor error. I'm sure no-one was offended.

[tedmundo]

Funny in a nice way or a mean way?

[curlew]

Funny meaning..interesting......

[applepieinthesky]

Funny how curlew?

[tedmundo]

stopgap .. Ahh, I see what you mean there.

[HarderToKidnap]

I think the vast majority of people have multi ethnic groups of family and friends don't they?

[GoodTouchBadTouch]

stopgap - my mum used to say things like "Indians are ever so intelligent"

and "gay people are very creative"

even "people with downs syndrome always seem to be so happy"

She was just trying to be pc...

My Granma still says nigger in the woodpile.

[LyraSilvertongue]

Curlew, funny how?

I've never used 'dual heritage' and never will. Far too PC.

[BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability]

Ted - Darn!

Curlew, do you only know white people?
Where do you live?

[HarderToKidnap]

I don't think curlew knows many non white people. That's why when she meets one she desperately scrambles round trying not to mention their race but instead their lovely cardigan, and marvelling at us all knowing lots of Asian, black and Chinese people!

[moogy1a]

Funny how there are always so many people with multi ethnic families and friendship circles on threads like this..........
maybe because we live in a very multi ethnic country? I don't understand what you mean

[tedmundo]

It is interesting that people have lived abroad, met partners abroad and had children?

Is it funny? Just normal for me. I know a lot of people who have lived and worked overseas.

[BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability]

Curlew, if you dont believe me, I have pictures!

[Talkinpeace]

Asians have been told to aim for lower BMI that whites ....
Asians includes China, South East Asia, Indian Subcontinent

[BeyondTheLimitsOfAcceptability]

Tell you what I find funny, how many people assume everyone they talk to online is white. Saw it happen the other day, one poster kept pointing out she was black, yet being lumped in with all those racist white people by the person she was arguing with!

[HarderToKidnap]

My nan is a bit racist too - "a man helped me on the bus today, he was Asian but he was so lovely!"

[frogspoon]

moogy, whilst most major cities are ethnically very diverse, some rural areas have very few ethnic minorities.

So if curlew lives in a very rural village she may not have met many people of other ethnicities.

[Jefferson]

I agree appleinthesky. Interested to see what other non-white mumsnetters think?

[applepieinthesky]

It's completely normal when you live in a multi cultural country. I would find it more unusual if someone didn't have any Black or Asian family or friends.

[stopgap]

Goodtouchbadtouch, my mum once laughed and said, "Isn't it funny how they wear those big black hats indoors?" when referring to a group of Hasidic Jews. I wanted the ground to swallow me up (and I wouldn't mind, but I'm married to a Jewish man!).

My family is all white and prone to similar faux pas; having lived in London or NYC for the last fifteen years, more than half of my friends are non-white. Speaking as a white person (who, incidentally, has been called umpteen racist names by strangers over the years, owing to South Italian heritage and dark olive skin) I can't imagine living in an urban area for a long period of time and only coming into contact with and making friends with other white people.

[Jefferson]

Oops sorry. Read Beyond's post. I don't mean that I think all the people who have posted are white.

[curlew]

"That's why when she meets one she desperately scrambles round trying not to mention their race but instead their lovely cardigan"

As I said, I try to avoid using personal physical characteristics to describe people of any race if there is an easy way to avoid it. Apart from anything else, it helps to avoid one's children describing someone as "the man with the enormous tummy". And I would probably not use Asian, because, considering the wide range of "types" who would fit the description it probably wouldn't be very helpful.

[GoodTouchBadTouch]

See stopgap - where I grew up the only non-white people were tourists. The only time I heard I foreign language was when I was on holiday.

Its completely different for my children

[applepieinthesky]

Why avoid it though curlew? Being Black or Asian is nothing to be ashamed of. It's not a dirty word