University of Washington IT department: 'cakewalk,' 'ninja' and 'no can do' are 'problematic' words
The University of Washington Information Technology department claimed in a recently-updated "inclusive language guide" that phrases like "ninja" and "no can do" are "problematic."
The University of Washington Information Technology department claimed in a recently-updated “inclusive language guide” that phrases like “ninja” and “no can do” are “problematic.”
The inclusive language guide, which was updated on May 29, states that “words matter,” adding the guide should be used “to audit the language used on websites, web pages, wikis, online documentation, software and system applications, and documentation about these applications.”
”As an educational institution, it’s imperative that we remain committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, and one place to start is how we communicate to those who visit our websites. This guide shows our commitment to ensuring our organization, and our websites, continually show respect for everyone,” the guide states.
According to the language guide, the word “cakewalk” is problematic because the phrase was a “pre-Civil War dance performed by enslaved people, and the winner of which would be given a cake.”
Other phrases like “lower the bar” are problematic because it is “based on the erroneous idea that a company has to relax hiring standards in order to add people from different racial, ethnic, gender backgrounds,” according to the guide. Alternatives listed are “simplify,” “inclusive,” and “make more accessible.”
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”Mantra,” is also listed as a problematic word because “Many people in the Buddhist and Hindu community hold this term ‘mantra’ as highly spiritual and religious experience, and is not to be used with nonchalance.”
The University of Washington IT department contends that the words “ninja” and “guru” are problematic because its “culturally appropriative.”
”No can do” is problematic, according to the IT department, because it “is actually an imitation of Chinese Pidgin English. The phrase dates from the mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries, an era when Western attitudes towards the Chinese were markedly racist.”
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”Dumb” is also listed as a problematic word because “It’s a negative word often associated negatively with those who cannot speak.”
The following words/phrases are also listed as problematic:
- Blind spot
- Crazy
- Insane
- Lame
- Normal, healthy
- Freshman
- Housekeeping
- Man
- Preferred pronouns
- Mankind
- Virgin
Campus Reform reached out to the University of Washington for comment.
