is seen as eurocentric. "East" of what? But the same could be said with referring to The West.
I've never referred to people as an orientals. I just grew up always saying asian. I'm not sure why. It could be a mil-brat thing. It would take me some effort to not use asian.
It also occurs to me that the word oriental might have some negative connotation of mystery which some people feel may feed into a stereotype. I've argued with several of my friends on this one - with mixed results - that asians in america at least are reaping the fruit of seeds planted not just by whites, but also by asians in history. But even if the argument is correct, I'm not sure why asian would be a preferred term.
OTOH, It would be enough for me that someone ask me not to call them an oriental. I would try to avoid the term in their presence. OTOOH, I tend to forget things pretty easily.
