As our culture evolves, so does our language. I have noticed that very much of the change in our communications has to do with political correctness, changing the name of something or somebody to reflect a 'new reality'. For example, I have numerous times in the last few months, heard references made to 'South Asians'. At first I was confused, but then realised that this is the new name for what we have been calling East Indians for decades. Let me see. There are East Indies, and West Indies. People from India are called Indians as people from Canada are called Canadians. It is a derivative of the name of the country. Americans are from America, Moroccans are from Morocco. Austrians are from Austria. So why are now East Indians now called 'South Asians'. The country as well as the compass point has changed. I think it is because the old name has somehow taken on a derogatory connotation. I am not sure how this happened, but I know it has happened in the past with other ethnic peoples. Take our own North American Indians for example. How many name changes have they gone through? There seems to be a test in society today, to see who is politically correct and who is not. The one who is on top of the latest ethnic label is definitely the more sensitive and politically correct. Besides confusion, what is this really producing?
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