Why do so many colleges think it’s their job to police speech? This happens all the time.
Campus Reform reports:
Brandeis quietly removes ‘Oppressive Language’ guide from website after backlashAfter Campus Reform revealed that Brandies University in Massachusetts had published an “Oppressive Language List,” asking students to avoid common terms like “ladies and gentlemen,” the school has now removed the content from its website.The list, which included phrases and terms like “policeman,” “picnic,” “people of color,” “rule of thumb,” was previously posted by the university’s Prevention, Advocacy and Resource Center (PARC).The now-defunct list was overseen by students involved with the center, according to the archive of the web page.“Suggestions are brought forth by students who have been impacted by violence and students who have sought out advanced training for intervening in potentially violent situations,” the website read.“As a community, we can strive to remove language that may hurt those who have experienced violence from our everyday use,” it added.The list was previously titled, “Oppressive Language List,” but was revised in August 2021 after the group decided “to center the suggested alternatives rather than the words and phrases that may cause harm.”Following Campus Reform’s initial reporting on the list, a disclaimer was added to clarify that the terminology that the web page recommends “is not a university expectation, requirement or reflection of policy.”The suggestions were broken into various categories, including: “Violent Language,” “Identity-Based Language,” “Language That Doesn’t Say What We Mean,” “Culturally Appropriative Language,” and “Person-First & Identity-First.”Discouraged phrases in the Violent Language category featured: “Take a stab at it,” “Trigger warning,” and “Beating a dead horse.”The Identity-Based Language category advised against the use of “African-American,” “Long time no see,” and “Handicapped space.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY