Asian Is Not Oriental

Asian
      is not
      Oriental.
      head bowed, submissive, industrious
      model minority
      hard working, studious
      quiet.

Asian
      is not being
      Oriental
      Lotus blossom, exotic passion flower
      inscrutable

Asian
      is no talking
      Oriental
      ahh so, ching chong chinaman
      no tickee, no washee

Oriental
      is a white man's word

Oriental is a jap, flip, chink, gook
      it's "how about a backrub Mama-San"
      it's "you people could teach them niggers
      and mexicans a thing or two.
      you're good people
      none of that hollerin' and protesting"

Oriental is slanty eyes, glasses, and buck teeth.
      Charlie Chan, Tokyo Rose, Madam Butterfly
      it's "a half hour after eating Chinese
      you're hungry again"
      it's houseboys, gardeners, and laundrymen
      Oriental is a fad: yin-yang, kung fu
      "say one of them funny words for  me"
      Oriental is downcast eyes, china doll
      "they all look alike"
      Oriental is sneaky
      Oriental is a white man's word

We
      are not Oriental
      we have heard the word all our lives
      we have learned to be Oriental
      we have learned to live it, speak it
      play the role,
      and to survive in a white world
      becoming the role
      The time has come
      to look
      at who gave us the name

-Author Unknown