Inclusive Language Guide

In My Humble Opinion
1

I came across an Inclusive Language Guide course, and I thought I’d share a table from the Race section and get your thoughts on the recommendations. Since I couldn’t reproduce in table format here, I organized the text as best as possible.

I don’t know if this course is in official use anywhere. It comes from an Articulate course design forum as an example of Rise’s software features. There are also sections for gender identities, sexualities, and disabilities. The original article comes from [here].

Instead of: Oriental
Try: This term should only be used to describe inanimate objects, like rugs.
When referring to people, use Asian or be more specific when possible.
Why: Misnomer

Instead of: Mixed raced
Try: Biracial or multiracial.
Why: Offensive

Instead of: Aliens, foreigners, or “those people”
Try: Immigrants, visitors, or travelers.
Why: Offensive

Instead of: Indian
Try: This term should only be used in reference to people from India.
For those descending from the original peoples of a given land, use Indigenous person or the appropriate regionally-specific name. For example, Aboriginal, Native American, American Indian, First Nation, Alaska Native, etc.
When no umbrella term exists or more specificity is required, it’s best to use ethnic or tribal names such as: the Xavante People of Brazil or the Manobo tribe of Southern Philippines.
Why: Misnomer

Instead of: Ethnic, urban, or colored
Try: People or persons of color, multiracial.
Why: Offensive

Instead of: Gypsy
Try: Romani
Why: Offensive

Instead of: Eskimo
Try: Indigenous person
Why: Offensive

Instead of: Master (bedroom, suite, list, etc)
Try: Main, primary, priority, or centralized.
Why: Rooted in racism

Instead of: Blacklist or whitelist; black label or white label; white glove
Try: Blocked list, unblocked list, allowed list, private label, or high quality
Why: Rooted in racism

Instead of: Pow wow
Try: Meeting or gathering
Why: Cultural appropriation

Instead of: Spirit animal or guide
Try: Patronus, kindred spirit, inspiration, icon, or doppelganger
Why: Cultural appropriation

Instead of: Brown bag
Try: Paper bag
Why: Rooted in racism

Instead of: Tribe
Try: Family, friends, or group
Why: Cultural appropriation

Instead of: Bottom of the totem pole
Try: Bottom of the ladder or scale, lower level, or low end
Why: Cultural appropriation

Instead of: Ninja
Try: Expert, warrior, or whiz
Why: Cultural appropriation

Instead of: Sherpa
Try: Commander, guide, coach, or mastermind
Why: Cultural appropriation|

2

My wife recently told me about being on a Zoom conference and someone using the term “pow wow” for a meeting. My wife corrected him but I admitted that I wouldn’t have thought of it as offensive either. Really, I was more surprised that someone said “pow wow” which I view as rather dated and akin to saying “Let’s have a rap session about this”.

So I’ll admit to my ignorance but I wasn’t in much danger of using it either.

Brown bag strikes me as the most (though not exclusively) “Huh?” off the list. It’s literally a brown colored paper bag. Yes, you can buy a paper bag in other colors but brown is still the standard and, at that point, you could say “what if someone brings a cloth reusable bag?”

3

Ditto about “brown bag”. I’d like to see an explanation of how it is “rooted in racism.” I have always presumed that the phrase is based on the brown paper that those bags were made from.

4

Same for me. I carried my lunch to school for 12 years, always in a brown paper bag. This strikes me as someone looking to be offended.

5

Agree about brown bag. I used a lot of cheap, unbleached brown paper bags as a kid, and still get my groceries in large ones. (Although i call those grocery bags.)

I’m not sold on many of the “cultural appropriation” ones, although i don’t use most of them. But the history of the human race is to share words and concepts, and I’m struggling to see how it’s offensive to use the word “tribe” to describe a close-knit group I’m involved with.

6

I don’t think "master bedroom"is rooted in racism, either. I think it’s rooted in class. But i think it’s problematic in a variety of ways, because that’s not how most of us live these days. We don’t live in groups that have a master and a bunch of servants. Many adults live as equals, sharing space, and it’s awkward to even HAVE one oversized bedroom and a bunch of “kids rooms”.

7

I didn’t get Ninja or Sherpa either. I don’t understand how their use can damage their root cultures.

8

Master Suite/Bedroom is also sexist. The racial part seems like a red herring. I think it is minor and I won’t worry much about it, but at least there are reasons for it being phased out.

Who uses Sherpa? Is that really a phrase in the US?
Ninja is common but the cultural appropriation stuff is often dumb as hell.

While we’re at it, Tribe makes even less sense. It is a English word with a long history for almost all cultures. Who was is appropriated from I want to know?

9

Note: icon and doppelganger are also cultural appropriation. Patronus is a trademark.

10

Basically, it is a dumb list with a few legit entries.

11

Brown paper bag gets a bad rap because of the brown paper bag test. If your skin tone was lighter than a brown paper bag you were more likely allowed into high society’s clubs and and gatherings. If not, chances were you would not.

12

Hmm, I’ve heard of that, but I’m certain that’s not the origin of the phrase, nor is it how it’s usually used.

“I’ll brown bag it” means, “I’ll bring a simple lunch i made at home”. And I’d be shocked to learn that usage referred to anything other than the actual bag.

13

My brother-in-law and I use it to describe being requested/required to haul things around or carry things for our spouses. But, outside of our family, I don’t generally hear it used in that way.

14

Oh, I agree. I didn’t even know about the test thing until recently.

15

I haven’t heard a human being referred to as “Oriental” in so long I don’t recall the last time I heard it. (Outside of a movie or something.)

This sounds very much like an urban legend. I struggle to believe there was ever a posh gathering where racialized people walked up and the guy at the door whipped out a paper bag to perform a test. Racists have never needed such things to be racist.

16

I looked it up, it might have been specific to New Orleans.

I had never heard of it before.

17

I never heard of blacklist or white glove being racist.

A week or 2 ago I had the opportunity to gently correct a neighbor who referred to oriental people.

18

Sorry–but I didn’t mean a posh gathering when I said clubs and gatherings. I meant club as in an association of like-minded people. The brown paper bag test involved clubs like that or even universities. With that, I don’t believe the doorman at a gala had a brown paper bag at the ready, either.

19

Is “sherpa” cultural appropriation? I don’t know, but I imagine it is similar to whether or not “guru” (as in “a programming guru”) is cultural appropriation.

20

Was such a test ever actually in use? I’ve seen it referred to by people pointing out discrimination, but it always looked like sarcasm to me. And in practice, a lot of people whose skin is lighter than such bags got identified as Black, and discriminated against on that basis.