Lee,
Saipan, MP.
Oceania is the proper geographical name of a defined region, as are North America, Europe, Asia, etc. People are Native American, European, Asian… I am, among other things, Oceanic or Oceanian; a person descended from ancestors from Oceania. Specifically, Micronesia. The term “pacific islander” as a racial category is an oddity that exists outside the logic of geographical nomenclature. But it’s the prevalent term, and there are people who actually balk at my referring to myself not as “pacific islander”, but as Oceanic. It seems clear to me that Oceanic is the preferential term for myself and others from Oceania, yet it’s been met with indignation. It seems that others, specifically those without ancestry from this region, are apparently more comfortable with the standard term “pacific islander”. But as someone who is actually of here, from here, “pacific islander” is not my term for myself, and I reject it.
