{"id":8710459,"date":"2023-01-09T16:20:01","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T00:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8710459&preview=true&preview_id=8710459"},"modified":"2023-01-13T08:48:30","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T16:48:30","slug":"stanford-removes-harmful-language-guide-from-website-following-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/09\/stanford-removes-harmful-language-guide-from-website-following-backlash\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanford removes \u2018harmful language guide\u2019 from website following backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"

STANFORD — Stanford University officials cited “intense recent feedback” in their decision to cast aside a newly crafted “harmful language guide” that sent the Internet into a frenzy last month for discouraging the use of words like “American,” “Hispanic” and “cakewalk.”<\/p>\n

The Stanford guide<\/a> quickly became part of the “culture war” discourse, criticized on social media and in the media for going too far in trying to dictate politically correct speech in professional settings.<\/p>\n

While it was conceived as a way to promote a more inclusive and welcoming environment for people of all walks of life, the guide “missed the intended mark” and was was broadly viewed as counter to inclusivity,” university spokesman Steve Gallagher said in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Written by the Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative at Stanford, in partnership with People of Color in Technology and the Stanford CIO Council, the \u201clanguage guide\u201d is part of a multiphase, multiyear project to address harmful language in information technology (IT) uses only at the university. Its goal is to \u201celiminate many forms of harmful language, including racist, violent and biased language” in Stanford websites and code.<\/p>\n

Gallagher said the initiative was created to address racist terms historically used in IT, such as \u201cmaster\u201d and \u201cslave\u201d to describe aspects of systems. The initiative\u2019s scope of \u201cracist terminology in technology\u201d was later expanded more broadly as \u201charmful language in technology.\u201d<\/p>\n