By Madina Toure
Legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing) to remove the term “Oriental” from federal law has been included in a Senate bill that eliminates offensive terms from all governmental documents.
The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to include a provision authored by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) that removes objectionable terms such as “Oriental” from federal law.
The amendment was added to the Energy Policy and Modernization Act, which is currently being debated by the Senate.
Meng’s bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December.
“It is way past time for the U.S. government to stop using this offensive and antiquated term and including my legislation in this Senate bill brings us one step closer to making that happen,” Meng said.
Hirono said the use of demeaning terms to refer to different ethnicities and races does not have any place in federal law.
“I am pleased to partner with Representative Meng in this effort,” she said. “It’s long past time that this language was updated to reflect the diversity of our country, and I thank my colleagues for unanimously supporting language that is inclusive of all Americans.”
The bill takes out all derogatory terms that refer to racial groups, such as “Oriental,” in federal law and replaces them with terms like “Asian Americans.”
The House legislation is included in the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act. The Senate measure would be approved with the passage of the bipartisan Energy Policy and Modernization Act.
In 2009, Meng, who was a member of the state Legislature at the time, sponsored legislation that eliminated the use of “Oriental” in all official New York State documents.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
