University Of New Hampshire Declares The Word “American” Offensive

Alex Buscemi10 years ago

Do you identify as an “American?” If you do, then stop it. Stop it right now. According to the University of New Hampshire, you are an ignorant bigot.

Last week, I wrote about the ridiculously long list of trigger warnings plaguing higher education. Just when I thought the “Inclusionary Language” shit-storm had already reached category five, UNH decided to take things to a whole new level.

In a “Bias-Free Language Guide” posted by the university, the word American is deemed offensive because it fails to recognize South America.

From The College Fix:

“North Americans often use ‘American’ which usually, depending on the context, fails to recognize South America,” the guide states. “American assumes the U.S. is the only country inside these two continents.”

The guide recommends terms such as “U.S. citizen,” “resident of the U.S.” and “North American or South American” as “preferred.”

Here are some other hateful words the university urged its constituents to stop using, encouraging students and faculty to use the “preferred” terminology instead.

Problematic: Opposite sex. Preferred: Other sex.
Problematic: Homosexual. Preferred: Gay, Lesbian, Same Gender Loving
Problematic: Normal … healthy or whole. Preferred: Non-disabled.
Problematic/Outdated: Mothering, fathering. Preferred: Parenting, nurturing.
Problematic/Outdated: Obese, overweight people. Preferred: People of size.

It’s not like this is some friendly heads up published by the university to appease an overzealous student rights club, either. This shit is being enforced, and we’ve reached the point where professors are afraid to teach.

From The Fiscal Times:

The most recent to find himself not the last up against the wall in this anti-free speech revolution is “Edward Schlosser,” a professor writing under a pseudonym at Vox, for reasons that become apparent almost immediately. Schlosser admits that he lives in fear of students who share his political point of view, and has to change his curriculum continuously to keep from running afoul of their potential for hurt feelings.

He worries that an accusation will involve a lack of sensitivity to one individual’s “feelings,” or as Schlosser puts it, “some simple act of indelicacy that’s considered tantamount to physical assault … center[ed] solely on how my teaching affected the student’s emotional state.” Even if the instruction delivered is “absolutely appropriate and respectful,” any wounded emotions will “get a teacher in serious trouble” on today’s college campuses.

The “Inclusionary Language” movement has moved beyond a violation of our basic human right to freedom of speech. With professors afraid of doing their jobs, the very education of American (yeah, I said it) college students is now at stake.

The PC train continues to rumble across the countryside, leaving a trail of trigger warnings, lengthy pamphlets, and out of work professors behind it. When it rolls through your campus, I ask all of you, obese or healthy, straight or homosexual, mothering or fathering, to take a stand..

**UPDATE**

Following the publication of this article, the president of the University of New Hampshire published a statement saying the “well-meaning effort to be ‘sensitive’ proves offensive to many people, myself included.”

“While individuals on our campus have every right to express themselves, I want to make it absolutely clear that the views expressed in this guide are NOT the policy of the University of New Hampshire. I am troubled by many things in the language guide, especially the suggestion that the use of the term ‘American’ is misplaced or offensive. The only UNH policy on speech is that it is free and unfettered on our campuses. It is ironic that what was probably a well-meaning effort to be ‘sensitive’ proves offensive to many people, myself included.”

— UNH President Mark W. Huddleston

The guide, published by UNH officials, has since been removed from the university website.

[via The College Fix, The Fiscal Times]

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