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.
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 centuries was always written by the colonizing group (i.e., rich white European Christians), who chose what to call marginalized groups without the input of those groups. 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 cultural 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. In general, the key is asking each group themselves what they prefer to be called. 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. In general, the key is asking each group themselves what they prefer to be called. 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.
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR USING INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE
1. Only use references to identity when it's relevant
2. Be as specific as possible (e.g., "Members of the Ute Tribe" > "Native Americans")
3. Allow for nuance (e.g., "One common Jewish belief is" > "Jews believe...")
4. Capitalize ethnic groups (race, religion, and nation) and Deaf
5. If sex or gender identity isn't clear or clear-cut, use they (NEVER his or her)
6. Avoid negative connotations (e.g., "X has diabetes" > "X suffers from diabetes")
7. When it doubt (because the standards change all the time), ask a member of that group
2. Be as specific as possible (e.g., "Members of the Ute Tribe" > "Native Americans")
3. Allow for nuance (e.g., "One common Jewish belief is" > "Jews believe...")
4. Capitalize ethnic groups (race, religion, and nation) and Deaf
5. If sex or gender identity isn't clear or clear-cut, use they (NEVER his or her)
6. Avoid negative connotations (e.g., "X has diabetes" > "X suffers from diabetes")
7. When it doubt (because the standards change all the time), ask a member of that group
How to respectfully talk about race
Use White or Caucasian for those with European heritage.
Use Black for those with African heritage.
Use Latino for those with Latin American heritage.
Use Asian for those with Asian or Pacific heritage broadly.
For those indigenous to the New World, the preferred term depends on the country:
If someone identifies as a blend of multiple races, they are mixed-race. While once acceptable, the terms mestizo (Latino + Native) and mulatto (Black + White) are now considered offensive.
Use Black for those with African heritage.
- While Negro is still an acceptable term in Spanish cultures (as it literally translates to Black), it is no longer considered acceptable in English language cultures unless used by an official Black organization like the United Negro College Fund.
- With the sole exception of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), the term colored is no longer considered acceptable.
- Be careful when using the term African-American: while it can be acceptable, it assumes nationality, and you can sometimes botch the term (e.g., "Bob Marley was an African-American musician"—nope, Marley was Jamaican).
Use Latino 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 some groups prefer to use the non-gendered term Latinx, the actual Latino community does not often use this term.
- While many with Latin American heritage in the Southern US use the term Chicano to refer to themselves, avoid using this term unless you are sure that the specific community you are writing about identifies with the sociopolitical Chicano Movement.
- While Hispanic is an appropriate term when discussing cultural items, it's considered offensive when directed at people. Despite this, Hispanic is still a demographic category according to the US government; thus, it is the proper term when citing government statistics.
- While once acceptable, brown is no longer considered a respectful term.
Use Asian for those with Asian or Pacific heritage broadly.
- As Asia is large and diverse, it is best to try and reference the specific country of origin whenever possible.
- A more inclusive term for those with Asian heritage is AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander), but like with the term African American, only use this term when referring to Americans with Asian heritage (George Takei is part of the AAPI community; Yo-Yo Ma is not).
- Like Hispanic, oriental is appropriate when describing objects but not when describing people.
- While once acceptable, yellow is no longer considered a respectful term.
For those indigenous to the New World, the preferred term depends on the country:
- Mainland United States: The most respectful way to refer to someone who is indigenous to the Americas in America is by the specific name of their tribe or clan. However, when referring to a mix of tribes all having indigenous heritage, the most preferred term by indigenous people is American Indian or its portmanteau Amerindian. The US government also uses American Indian as a demographic term in official documents. However, non-indigenous people frequently feel uncomfortable using the term Indian due to the word's connection to historical abuses; for these writers, Native American is an acceptable if not preferred term. Red, Redskin, and Indian without American are considered offensive, as are the casual uses of brave, squaw, chief, powwow, totem pole, scalp (as in reselling tickets), peace pipe, and warpath.
- Alaska and Hawaii: Those indigenous to Alaska are called Native Alaskans (Eskimo is no longer considered a respectful term). Those indigenous to Hawaii are called Native Hawaiians or Kānaka. Like Hispanic, Polynesian is an appropriate term when discussing cultural items but not people. Samoan is no longer considered a respectful term for Hawaiians but is for those from Samoa or American Samoa.
- Canada: Like in the US, the best way to refer to these peoples is by the specific name of their tribe. However, when referring to a mix of tribes all having indigenous heritage, the most widely accepted term is Indigenous Americans. However, indigenous people in Canada are most frequently referred to as Inuit, Metis, or First Nations. These terms are not interchangeable: Inuit refers to the tribes indigenous to the Arctic, Metis refers to those with a blend of Indigenous and French or Scottish heritage, and First Nations refers to all other indigenous Canadians. Like in the US, Indian is still a demographic term used by the government, but unlike in America, tribes do not prefer this term.
- Mexico and Latin America: The most widely accepted term is Indígenas (indigenous), though Pueblos Originarios (original people) is popular in Patagonian countries. Indio (Indian) is considered offensive.
- Australia: The most widely accepted term is Indiginous, though Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander is also acceptable (but never shorten it to ATSI). Aborigine is now considered offensive. Black and Blackfella are also considered offensive—despite having dark skin, Indigenous Australians have no African heritage, so Black is a misnomer.
If someone identifies as a blend of multiple races, they are mixed-race. While once acceptable, the terms mestizo (Latino + Native) and mulatto (Black + White) are now considered offensive.
All other racial 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.
How to respectfully talk about 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 follow this pattern is Islam: the worshipers are Muslim while the faith is Islam. If unsure, use "members of the XXXXX faith."
How to respectfully talk about sex and gender
Sex refers to a person's physical body, specifically their biological, anatomical, and hormonal characteristics.
Gender refers to one's understanding of themselves and how they express themselves based on how their society defines the roles, behaviors, and activities each sex is expected to follow.
Sexual preference refers to the sex and gender of a person's desired partner.
Those that are not cisgender heterosexual women or cisgender heterosexual men are part of the queer community. Like with heterosexual and homosexual, queer is acceptable as an adjective (Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird is a queer character) but not as a pejorative noun (Scout is such a little queer). Another widely accepted term for the queer community is LGBTQ+, though some queer scholars criticize this term for not being inclusive enough.
- Female/females refers to bodies anatomically able to produce egg cells and who, genetically, have xx gamete chromosomes
- Male/males refers to bodies anatomically able to produce sperm cells and who, genetically, have xy gamete chromosomes
- Intersex refers to bodies that, due to issues with biological development, lack obvious male or female genitalia or have atypical gamete chromosomes (x, xxy, xyy, xxxy). Intersex also can refer to those with the genetic anomaly of having both male and female genitalia—animals with this anomaly are called hermaphrodites, but that word should never refer to a human.
- Individuals who are sterile due to biology or age are considered the sex that matches their genitalia and hormones
- Someone who is changing their outward expression or physical body (via hormones, clothing, or surgery) is said to be transitioning. If a person gets a sex change operation, reference may be made to sex assigned at birth to clarify that their anatomical sex does not match their genetic sex. While once a medical term for those that had undergone that surgery, transsexual is an outdated and now offensive term.
Gender refers to one's understanding of themselves and how they express themselves based on how their society defines the roles, behaviors, and activities each sex is expected to follow.
- A society's set of roles, behaviors, and activities for females to follow is called femininity; for males, masculinity.
- Woman/women refers to those that align their identity and expression with femininity. If this person has female sex attributes, they are a cisgender or cis woman. If this person has male sex attributes, they are a transgender or trans woman. Women use the honorific Mrs. if married and Ms. if unmarried. Women also use the pronouns she/her/hers.
- Man/men refers to those that align their identity and expression with masculinity. If this person has male sex attributes, they are a cisgender or cis man. If this person has female sex attributes, they are a transgender or trans man. Men use the honorific Mr. regardless of marital status. Men also use the pronouns he/him/his.
- Nonbinary refers to those that do not align their identity and expression with either femininity or masculinity regardless of their sex. Less common but acceptable terms for this also include genderqueer, agender, and third gender. Genderfluid is not quite the same, however: this term refers to those who express as both masculine and feminine depending on the circumstance. Indigenous cultures have their own nonbinary term--two-spirit—that is reserved just for those of indigenous heritage. Nonbinary individuals use the honorific Mx. and the pronouns they/them/their/theirs (and only these pronouns: MLA doesn't recognize bespoke nonbinary pronouns like xe/xem, ze/zir, fae/faer, and kit/kits). Never refer to a nonbinary person as it/its.
- The use of the phrase he or she to indicate indeterminate gender (The applicant must bring his or her ID card) is considered exclusionary—use nonbinary pronouns for indeterminate gender (The applicant must bring their ID card).
- Someone whose sex and gender do not align has gender dysphoria. Avoid this term, as it was originally a medical diagnosis and has historical stigma attached to perceptions of queer identity as a mental disorder.
Sexual preference refers to the sex and gender of a person's desired partner.
- A person who is attracted to someone of the opposite sex is a heterosexual person. A person who is attracted to someone of the opposite sex is a homosexual person. Heterosexual and homosexual are fine to use as adjectives but never as nouns. Homo is considered a deeply offensive pejorative.
- Straight refers to heterosexual men and women; while some scholars believe the term is offensive, it is considered widely acceptable
- Gay refers to homosexual men (attracted to other men)—it should never be used as a synonym for "stupid."
- Lesbian refers to homosexual women (attracted to other women).
- Bi/bisexual refers to those of any gender who are attracted to both men and women
- Pan/pansexual refers to those that are sexually attracted to all gender identities (including nonbinary individuals)
- Ace/asexual refers to either men or women that rarely or never feel sexual attraction and do not seek partnership
- There are many, many other sexual and romantic preferences—these are just the most common.
Those that are not cisgender heterosexual women or cisgender heterosexual men are part of the queer community. Like with heterosexual and homosexual, queer is acceptable as an adjective (Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird is a queer character) but not as a pejorative noun (Scout is such a little queer). Another widely accepted term for the queer community is LGBTQ+, though some queer scholars criticize this term for not being inclusive enough.
How to respectfully talk about national identity
In general, refer to nationalities based on how they refer to themselves. One from Germany is German. One from Brazil is Brazilian. One from Japan is Japanese...
...but don't use the term Jap, as it has negative historical connotations. This consideration 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.
...but don't use the term Jap, as it has negative historical connotations. This consideration 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.
How to respectfully talk about affliction
The word disability is still the neutrally accepted term for a bodily affliction that puts a person outside the normate body. However, do not call someone disabled or part of the disabled community (excepting, once again, government documents that use these demographics). Instead, put them in a community based on their specific affliction, and if you must refer to a wide spectrum of those with mental and physical disabilities, use the afflicted.
When it comes to those 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 a blind man instead of a man with blindness and a Deaf girl instead of a girl with deafness. Also, one should avoid the terms dumb for one who cannot speak (mute is the preferred term) 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.
When it comes to those 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 a blind man instead of a man with blindness and a Deaf girl instead of a girl with deafness. Also, one should avoid the terms dumb for one who cannot speak (mute is the preferred term) 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.
But what if I'm using a direct quotation?
I tell my students to always use respectful language. I also tell them to use exact, specific quotations. These two directives can conflict, however, when we read texts like Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird:
"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." (Lee 78)
"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." (Lee 78)
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...
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 endears him to the negro community he wants to defend.
...I would ask them 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' endears him to the black community he wants to defend.
While quoting the text without edits is acceptable, it's not necessarily preferable. There are two acceptable alterations to quoted material that I recommend to my students. First, you can put the words [slur redacted] in brackets where the slur occurs:
While quoting the text without edits is acceptable, it's not necessarily preferable. There are two acceptable alterations to quoted material that I recommend to my students. First, you can put the words [slur redacted] in brackets where the slur occurs:
"You aren't really a [slur redacted]-lover, then, are you?" (Lee 78)
This can be pretty vague if one doesn't know the context, so more often, students prefer to treat slurs the same way they do when quoting obscenity: keep the first letter and replace the remaining letters with hyphens (or one long dash) and then add "slur redacted" to their source citation:
"You aren't really a n------lover, then, are you?" (Lee 78, slur redacted)
But what if I belong to the marginalized group? Don't I get to make the rules?
No—your community does.
While some communities use offensive terms among their own membership to rob a word of its historic power to inflict harm, this is not done through an academic discourse. 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:
While some communities use offensive terms among their own membership to rob a word of its historic power to inflict harm, this is not done through an academic discourse. 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." (Shakur "Changes," ll. 5-6)
Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero." (Shakur "Changes," ll. 5-6)
Yet Shakur didn't write that song as an academic—he wrote it as an artist. The word is making a political point about what is going through the minds of the cops pulling the trigger and the fact that they are using a slur represents their trained and internalized racism.
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 a member of another 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.
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 a member of another 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.
But what if I'm writing creatively and using an offensive term?
If you are writing something personal like Mr. Shakur AND you are a member of that community AND your community accepts that type of expression, then it is acceptable.
If you are writing fiction and having fictional characters speak, you can do so without using slurs. Yes, even when writing historical fiction. You can indicate prejudice through use of obscenity ("I'm gonna kill that dirty rotten sunnuva b----!"), innuendo ("We don't want their kind here"), or describing non-verbal acts ("His demeanor changed when the Black family came in—his eyes narrowed to a leer of disgust").
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 less offensive way to get the same point across.
If you are writing fiction and having fictional characters speak, you can do so without using slurs. Yes, even when writing historical fiction. You can indicate prejudice through use of obscenity ("I'm gonna kill that dirty rotten sunnuva b----!"), innuendo ("We don't want their kind here"), or describing non-verbal acts ("His demeanor changed when the Black family came in—his eyes narrowed to a leer of disgust").
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 less offensive way to get the same point across.
SOURCE: "Principles of Inclusive Language." MLA Handbook. 9th ed., The Modern Language Association of America, 2021, pp. 89--93.
Last edited 1 April 2026.
Last edited 1 April 2026.