University of New Hampshire says its students shouldn't call themselves 'American'
The University of New Hampshire has created a "Bias-Free Language Guide" for campus use, a thorough document which details exactly which words the UNH community should and should not use to promote a "healthy, more productive classroom culture."
Included in the guide is a request that UNH students refrain from simply calling themselves "American":
Preferred: U.S. citizen or Resident of the U.S.Problematic: AmericanNote: North Americans often use “American” which usually, depending on the context, fails to recognize South AmericaPreferred: North American or South AmericanProblematic: American: assumes the U.S. is the only country inside these two continents.
While some of the other guidelines are just good manners (like saying "black" or "African American" rather than older, now-offensive labels) others are more surprising (like avoiding "mothering" and "fathering" in favor of the neutral "parenting"). "Healthy" also gets the axe, which seems to be news to the writers of the guide themselves.
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