And the absurdity just keeps coming. The latest organization to act as the speech police for its employees is the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s employees are reportedly being trained to “avoid bias” in their language, including avoidance of terms like “Founding Fathers” and “grandfathered.”
The Federal Reserve has instructed employees to adopt “bias-free language” and avoid using biased terms like “Founding Fathers,” according to an internal webpage obtained by Fox News.The Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors issued the guidance for all employees nationwide on April 29, a former Fed staffer with knowledge of the matter told Fox News.”Bias-free language recognizes diversity and avoids stereotyping, demeaning, or excluding people on the basis of gender, race, ethnic group, religion, age, ability/disability, or sexual orientation,” the guidance states.”Try to avoid words and phrases that may be considered offensive, pejorative, or prejudiced (whether consciously or unconsciously), as these can distract your audience from the ideas/information you’re trying to convey,” it continues.The guidance contains a list of “biased terms” to avoid, including “blacklist,” “grandfathered,” and “Founding Fathers.” Employees are instructed to use terms like “denied,” “legacy,” and “Founders” instead.The Fed also said the terms “whitelisted, “manpower,” “manmade,” and “singular generic pronouns” – such as “he,” she,” “his,” and “hers” – should be replaced with more “bias-free” alternatives like “allowed,” “artificial,” and pronouns such as “they,” “their” and “theirs.”
According to Fox News, a Federal Reserve spokesman claims that “The Federal Reserve has no language directives for employees.”
The Federal Reserve’s .gov website has a page devoted to “Diversity and Inclusion” (archive link) that links to the Fed’s “Diversity and Inclusion Plan 2016-19” (archive link).
Part of that plan includes forcing employees to endure workshops and training in such topics as “unconscious bias, generational and cultural differences, and the employment of persons with disabilities.”
Strengthen understanding of the interrelationship between diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity through education and training.Actions
- Sponsor D&I and EEO workshops, forums, and symposiums to educate and promote discussion on topics that impact today’s workplace, such as unconscious bias, generational and cultural differences, and the employment of persons with disabilities.
- Partner with the Board’s Organizational Development and Learning office (OD&L) to integrate D&I education and training into the Board’s course offerings and leadership-development activities.
- Strengthen D&I and EEO knowledge, understanding, and awareness by making available e-books/articles, videos, case studies, e-learning, and other tools on ODI’s internal web page.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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