One of the issues I've had in the past with being in meetings with 'elitists' is their propensity to distinguish between classes, sometimes regardless of race and sometimes 'irregardless' .

When I hear the term "white trash" coming from anyone's mouth, my usual first comment back is "would you care to substitute the color "black", "yellow" or "red" in there and use it to describe the similar *demographic...

... how widespread a word is used often "softens the blow" just as one groups' ability to make fun of themselves helps. Sensitivity, my ass! Get over it!

'Oriental', as a description, is referring to the "far east", and still does to the *Orientals. Go ahead and call a Russian an "Asian", and see what their response is...