In today’s crazy world, the success of many young Americans depends on using the right language. No one wants to be blackballed for saying something stupid or tone deaf. However, based on a newly released document from Stanford University, many of the words just used in the previous sentences are enough to get a person blacklisted.
The Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative is a multi-phase project by Stanford’s IT Department. According to its website, the Initiative is geared toward helping individuals “recognize and address potentially harmful language.”
This week, a 13-page list surfaced containing more than 150 of the now verboten words or phrases. Stanford breaks down the bad words into categories like ableist, ageism, colonialism, gender and others.
Instead of saying things like “blind review” or “blind study”, which furthers ableist culture, “anonymous review” or “masked study” are preferred. A person should never go somewhere for a “walk-in” appointment, again, because of ableist culture propagation. Stanford’s index indicates it’s a “drop-in” appointment.
For readers feeling as if they might never master this subject, that’s good. “Master” is also a bad word since historically masters owned slaves. Instead, readers should look to become adept at choosing the right word.
If this all sounds a bit uppity, that is still wrong according to Stanford. “Uppity” was used by both white supremacists and members of the Black community to describe someone who was acting unexpectedly. Instead it should be said this all sounds arrogant or stuck up.
Stanford said the Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative is made up of IT leaders at the university. Stanford said a team of stakeholders met for 18 months to compile the list, which is now password protected on Stanford’s website.
