The words to avoid when speaking if you want to be politically correct are constantly evolving, and the lexicon continues to get larger every week.
For Colorado State University, some fresh new words joined the list. These included “America” and “American,” and other similar words. According to Breitbart, the public university has begun urging its students to eliminate these offensive terms from their language and writing in order to avoid offending others.
The school recently released a guide to language, defining terms that were offensive in some way and that should be avoided. “America” scored high on the list, as did “American.” The full list can be seen here.
This “inclusive language guide” says that these words exclude “other cultures” and can be uncomfortable for some listeners and readers. Since “American” is too dominating and scary for students to hear, the college suggests using other terms that were less triggering instead. Instead of calling someone an “American,” they should instead be called “a person from the U.S” or a “U.S. citizen” to ensure that no one is scared or offended. How long until the word “citizen” is added to the list?
The language guide continues to explain that the use of the term “straight” to identify someone as a heterosexual is also offensive — not to the person that is straight, but because it implies that anyone else is “crooked”.
Once Campus Reform highlighted some of the more bizarre language demands, the school backpedaled furiously. They released a statement detailing that the language guide was not official policy — yet:
“This is not an official policy or required practice. This document is intended as a resource to help our campus community reflect our Principles of Community particularly inclusion, respect, and social justice. The language in the guide may not apply to every individual and it is critical to take personal preference into account. The guide is not about political-correctness or policing grammar, but rather helping communicators practice inclusive language and helping everyone on our campus feel welcomed, respected, and valued.”
According to Breitbart, “inclusive language” has already caused problems when used as a guide for student speech and writing. The news outlet reported on other schools that developed guidelines that swiftly turned into requirements. Students failing to walk the line and comply faced academic and campus sanctions for using the outlawed terms. At Hull College, the school highlighted by Breitbart, using terms like “man made” landed students in hot water — and exposed them to suspension, expulsion and a direct impact on grades.
The university was swift to speak out once news outlets picked up the story, and have since declared that the words “American” and “America” are not banned, but that other, better terms should be used instead.
