There are a lot of other collective expressions for groups of people along that line too, like:

the White man
the Red man
the Mohammedan
the westerm woman
the Christian
the Hindu
the Scot
the Frenchman
the Mason
etc...

They aren't necessarily derogatory or condescending in use or intention...it depends on the context in which they are used, but they can sometimes sound a bit odd to anyone in the group indicated.