Well this puts you in an impossible situation.
You can't tell where someone is from by looking, but if you ask an Asian looking person from US/Europe they take offence, however if you fail to ask someone from Asia and incorrectly guess the region in Asia they are from they take offence, so it would be better to ask, but then you offend someone if they turn out to be from US/Europe.
Can we just agree if you ask someone where they are from it isn't offence, but if you then say "No, where are you really/originally from?" it is.
sounds like the solution here is, unless you have a very good reason, to not ask people where they're from.
I don't want to get pulled into another discussion on OA and the current culture war... but a quick comment on #1:
I live in a rural area near a small town of about 3,500, serving as the hub for a greater area of about 15,000 people. "Where are you from?" is a legit conversation topic that will come up in the first 5 minutes of conversations with anybody new, at church, at a game, or anywhere else. It doesn't matter what your skin color is. We have a solid mix of "grew up here," "moved here to escape the big city," and "grew up here, moved away for 20 years, moved back." No social repercussions or anything. It's just small talk and part of getting to know someone. We've found at least 3 people who used to live in the same suburb we moved from 3 years ago.
yo, context. you're talking about a small town where as you said a lot of people themselves aren't from. OP is talking about how a lot of Asian people will get asked where they're from apropos of nothing other than the fact they look Asian. I personally haven't dealt with this, I'm only half Asian and people tend to get very confused when on the subject of what my ethnic background might be, but it's not hard to understand how this might make others feel alienated.
I would like to note that two can play the "take elements from another culture to fulfill their own desires" game!
speaking of garbo fantasy anime, while I never did watch the whole thing I did appreciate Breakout Company and how the main protagonist, hamfisted as it was, used the petty discrimination he received for being a nerd to become angry over systemic racism.
In the case of OA why should they not have access? It is currently available, WOTC is happy to publish it. Why should everyone suddenly not have access, because others have decided it is too immoral for them to see?
so, they should be able to read it... just because? we're 35 years detached from when it was first published, nowadays you can go on the DM's Guild or any number of websites and find better setting books themed around Asian cultures. they might not even be written by Asian authors, but at least now there's an increased likelihood they used better, more balanced resources than anything that was available in 1985.
also going to the store page I see comments like this:
tell me, who is it that will be served if they decide to keep selling the book?
"We recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website, does not reflect the values of the Dungeon & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end."
WoTC labeled all their old material like this on DMsGuild. We should be done now.
mmmmm, no, they really should stop selling it.
also they just slapped that paragraph at the bottom of the description. most people won't even see that disclaimer when they come to buy the book. how is that effective?
