Note: This article concerns high school writing in a public forum.
While public writing should be tailored for a specific audience, a writer cannot control who actually encounters the text. After all, it's public. While there are mechanisms to try to keep materials in the hands of specific audiences (e.g., genres, rating guides, content warnings, etc), writers have very little control over who reads their work. Thus, it is the best practice of a writer to use inclusive language, which is language that is found acceptable by different groups.
So wait... is this about political correctness?
Sort of. Politically correct or "PC" culture is a progressive attempt to standardize inclusionary language for marginalized groups. The idea behind PC culture is postcolonial in nature: humans divide themselves into national, social, and ethnic groups, and these groups determine their own norms, taboos, and languages. Classic literature of the 17th through 19th century was always written by the colonizing group (i.e., rich white European Christians), who chose what to call the marginalized groups without their input. PC culture attempts to reverse this by letting the marginalized group determine what they are called and extends to what aspects of their culture can be appropriated and what can't. Thus, the power to create culture taboos lies in the hands of the original culture, not the conquering one.
There are debates on if PC culture actually stifles expression and if it goes too far in its scope (e.g., a white guy getting into trouble for dressing in a traditional native feathered headdress for Halloween). These debates are important and should be had... but that's not the point of this article or the need for inclusive language. Essentially, writers should use inclusive terms that are promoted by specific groups in order to allow their writing to appeal to that group. Otherwise, the wrong terminology could alienate a certain group and rob the author of a good chunk of their potential audience.
There are debates on if PC culture actually stifles expression and if it goes too far in its scope (e.g., a white guy getting into trouble for dressing in a traditional native feathered headdress for Halloween). These debates are important and should be had... but that's not the point of this article or the need for inclusive language. Essentially, writers should use inclusive terms that are promoted by specific groups in order to allow their writing to appeal to that group. Otherwise, the wrong terminology could alienate a certain group and rob the author of a good chunk of their potential audience.
Basically, if the writer respects a group of readers, those readers will respect the writer.
While there are many purposes for writing, they all come down to the same point: the author wants their writing to be read. Thus, the writing needs the ability to reach out and appeal to all audiences, and it can only do that if it shows respect to all audiences.
So how can you know what terms are okay and what aren't? Well, it's hard to establish hard and fast rules as groups change their language over time. Here are the terms that, at the time of this writing, are deemed acceptable by members of various communities and the writing community itself. They are broken down by the different ways individuals group themselves: racial groups, religious groups, gendered groups, regional or national groups, and ability groups.
So how can you know what terms are okay and what aren't? Well, it's hard to establish hard and fast rules as groups change their language over time. Here are the terms that, at the time of this writing, are deemed acceptable by members of various communities and the writing community itself. They are broken down by the different ways individuals group themselves: racial groups, religious groups, gendered groups, regional or national groups, and ability groups.
RACE
The preferred racial terms are:
- White or Caucasian for those with European heritage.
- Black for those with African heritage. While negro is still an acceptable term in Spanish cultures (as it literally translates to black), it has fallen out of favor in English unless used by an official black organization like the United Negro College Fund. The same goes for the term colored. Be careful when using the term African-American: while it is acceptable, it assumes nationality, and you can sometimes botch the term (e.g., "Bob Marley was an African-American musician"-- nope, Marley was Jamaican).
- Latinx for those with Latin American heritage. As Spanish uses gendered names, a group of men are Latinos, a group of women are Latinas, and a mixed-sex group are Latinos. While Hispanic is an appropriate term when discussing cultural items, its considered offensive when directed at people.
- Asian for those with Asian heritage. As Asia is large and diverse, it is best to try and reference the specific country of origin unless referring to Eastern culture broadly or unless you aren't sure. Like Hispanic, oriental is appropriate when describing objects but not when describing people. While once acceptable, yellow is no longer a respectful term. Be careful when using the term Asian-American, as it assumes nationality (George Takai is an Asian-American; Yo-Yo Ma is not).
- Native for those with heritage of those indigenous to the New World (the Americas and Pacific Islands, including Australian aborigines). While some tribes prefer terms like first nations or Amerindian, other tribes detest these names, so using the terms native or indigenous are usually preferred. Indian is a misnomer, as it refers to someone from India, and is no longer acceptable to use unless part of an organizational term (Bureau of Indian Affairs). While once acceptable, Eskimo, red man, and redskin are now considered racist. Whenever possible, try to refer to the specific tribal name (e.g., Inuit, Ute, Arapaho, etc.)
- If someone identifies as a blend of multiple races, they are mixed race. While once acceptable, the term mulatto is now considered offensive.
All other terms are considered offensive and should not be used in your writing. Remember, this is not about censorship--it's about voluntarily using terms that open up rather than shut out your audience. Still, any time I broach this topic in my classes, the following three questions about exceptions to these guidelines immediately crop up:
But what if I'm using a direct quotation?
I tell my freshman students to always use respectful language. I also tell them to use exact, specific quotations. Then we read Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and this comes up:
"Scout," said Atticus, "nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything--like snot-nose. It's hard to explain--ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It's slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody."
"You aren't really a nigger-lover, then, are you?"
"I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody [...] it's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you." (11.107-109)
This is a powerful section about accepting others for who they are regardless of what they may be. It also unabashedly uses both the terms nigger and negro, which are not respectful to the black community (and both are said by white characters). So are students allowed to use the quotation for evidence in an essay. Absolutely--so long as the offensive words stay within the confines of the quoted text. Quoting offensive and even racist language to make a point about racism makes absolute sense: it gives specific evidence that an indirect or censored quotation would not. However, if the student followed this evidence up with this sentence...
Clearly, Atticus doesn't find "nigger-lover" to be an insult, as it endures him to the negro community he wants to defend.
...I would ask her to re-edit it. Why? The first sentence is quoted--it's Harper Lee's voice; the second sentence is the student's voice. The whole point of using inclusive language is to respect audiences so they respect the author. When the author uses offensive terms, even if they quote the same terms elsewhere in the paper, it damages their connection to the audience. Thus, I would guide the student to change the sentence so it looked more like this: "Clearly, Atticus doesn't find the racist slurs of the common townspeople to be an insult, as the idea of being a "lover" endures him to the black community he wants to defend."
And as always, if a writer is uncomfortable with a word, they can just write the first letter and replace the rest with dashes, thus censoring words like n----- in a way that keeps the integrity of both the original quotation and the author's moral code.
And as always, if a writer is uncomfortable with a word, they can just write the first letter and replace the rest with dashes, thus censoring words like n----- in a way that keeps the integrity of both the original quotation and the author's moral code.
But what if I'm using an offensive term to create character?
So going back to To Kill a Mockingbird, why does the liberal and inclusive Harper Lee use offensive language. Let's look at another passage from Lee's book:
"I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella!" (Bob Ewell, 17.84)
As Atticus surmises later in the book, the character of Bob Ewell is racist trash, a character designed to be a mirror opposite of Atticus. Thus, Lee uses the word nigger for the same reason she uses the word ruttin': Bob's specific diction gives the reader information about the character's beliefs, background, and social status, as only certain men used both those terms so loosely, even back in 1935.After all, the easiest way to establish racism in a character is to have the character say or do something racist. Yet is this appropriate to depict when students make their own characters? It depends on context. Bob Ewell exists to teach the reader that racism is ignorant and foolish, thus his offensiveness works to build the overall theme. If one of my students wrote a fictional character that said disparaging things, I would ask them about the broader point they are trying to make through the character's diction, and work with them to see if there'd be a more pleasant way to phrase some offensive material.
But what if I belong to the marginalized group--don't I get to make the rules?
No--your community does, and while some communities use offensive terms among their own membership to rob a word of it's historic value, this is not done through an academic discourse. As it's been our example for the past two entries, let's look at nigga, which has been co-opted by the black hip-hop community as a synonym for "brother." It's used in this context by most rap and hip-hop artists, including Tupac Shakur:
"Cops give no damn about a negro,
Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero." ("Changes," 5-6)
Yet Shakur didn't write that song as an academic--he wrote it as an artist using the word to make a political point. Now, I picked Shakur as my example because he attended a fine arts school and did quite a bit of academic writing, much of which examined the black community and history of oppression. In all this writing, Shakur never once references Malcolm X or the Rev. Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela as "my niggas," as doing so would be grossly inappropriate when using an academic tone. I'd never correct one of my black students from using this term to reference their friends in the hallway: as a dorky white guy, it's not my place to enforce my group's taboos on his or her group. However, in an academic paper, I wouldn't hesitate to edit out this use of the word, as academia calls for an objective authorial identity.
RELIGION
Almost all religions are straightforward: the name of the faith is typically the name of the worshiper. Those who believe in Catholicism are Catholic. Those who believe in Buddhism are Buddhists. Those who believe in Judaism are Jews (which is an acceptable term). Of the major religions, the only one that doesn't that doesn't follow this pattern is Islam: the worshipers are Muslim while the faith is Islam.
SEX AND GENDER
Be careful not to confuse terms related to sex, gender, and romantic preference.
It's important to keep terms of sex, gender, and romantic preference straight. For example, a man with a wife who acts feminine is not gay--his romantic preference is heterosexual despite his gender being female. A majority of people are cisgendered and heterosexual; the minority belong to the LGBT community, also known as the queer community. Be careful when using the term queer, as it is acceptable as an academic term (Scout is a queer character) but not as a pejorative term (Scout is such a little queer). The words fag and faggot are never acceptable to use when referring to people.
- Sex refers to a person's physical body; while 99% of the population falls into woman (xx chromosomes) or man (xy chromosomes), some people are intersex, where a genetic anomaly of xxy gives the person both physical expression of men and women, which can even extend into the person being a hermaphrodite. Intersex is the proper term--don't use transsexual, which is outdated.
- Gender refers to how society defines the people based on their physical sex. Most people express male gender if a man and female gender if a woman (this is called cisgender identification). If a person's gender does not align with their gender, they are consider transgender. If a person simply does not express any gender, they are agender. Note that there are many other gender preferences--these are just the most common.
- Romantic preference refers to the sex of a person's romantic partner. If a person desires a member of the opposite sex, they are considered heterosexual or straight. If a person desires a member of the same sex, they are considered homosexual: gay if a man or a lesbian if a woman. If a person desires members of both sexes, they are considered bisexual. If a person has no romantic desires, they are asexual. Note that there are many other romantic preferences--these are just the most common.
It's important to keep terms of sex, gender, and romantic preference straight. For example, a man with a wife who acts feminine is not gay--his romantic preference is heterosexual despite his gender being female. A majority of people are cisgendered and heterosexual; the minority belong to the LGBT community, also known as the queer community. Be careful when using the term queer, as it is acceptable as an academic term (Scout is a queer character) but not as a pejorative term (Scout is such a little queer). The words fag and faggot are never acceptable to use when referring to people.
NATIONALITY
In general, refer to nationalities based on how they refer to themselves. One from German is German. One from Brazil is Brazilian. One from Japan is Japanese--don't use the term Jap, as it has negative historical connotations. This extends to most slang terms for nationality, like calling a French person frenchy, a Brit limey, or an American yank. It's important to not confuse nationality with ethnicity: calling a Latino Mexican is offensive when said Latino hails from a different Latin American nation like Guatemala or El Salvador.
ABILITY
When it comes to people with disabilities, it is important to use person-first language, where the individual is identified as a person over their disability. Instead of referring to Christopher from The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night-Time as an autistic boy, one should refer to him as a boy with autism. Instead of referring to wheelchair-bound Niles Caulder as a disabled person, one should say he is a person with disabilities. Notice that the word "person" always precedes the disability. While person-first language is preferred in general, it is still permissible to say blind man instead of man with blindness and deaf girl instead of girl with deafness. Also, one should avoid the terms dumb for one who cannot speak and lame for one who cannot walk, as they have secondary negative connotations. It is no longer acceptable to use the terms handicapped, crippled, or retarded to refer to people.