Federal Agency Discourages ‘Blacklist,’ ‘Male/Female,’ ‘Master/Slave’

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a federal science and technology office in the United States responsible for keeping up with China, has released a guide encouraging the use of inclusive language among federal employees. The guide states that terms such as “blacklist” and “whitelist” should be avoided since they carry racial connotations. According to the guide, terms such as “master/slave” should also be avoided since they perpetuate negative stereotypes and unequal power relationships. In addition, workers should not assign a gender to inanimate objects such as “male/female connectors.” The guide urges the use of language that is preferred by groups being described to eliminate condescending or reductive descriptions.

The guide “Inclusive Language Guidance” was issued primarily for NIST staff members who participate in the development of documentary standards as expert collaborators and leaders. The use of inclusive language aims to avoid potential gaps in understanding that could arise from the use of dialects and colloquial expressions that are rooted in particular historical events.

The guide follows similar initiatives by liberal language police, who seek to eliminate language that they deem violent. Advocates have proposed removing words and phrases such as “jump the gun,” “roll with the punches,” and “deadline.” Instead, they have suggested replacing them with terms such as “feed two birds with one scone” and “I won’t avoid it any longer” for “I’ll bite the bullet.” While the guide offers new acceptable phrases, critiques argue that it is unnecessary to replace well-known and well-understood phrases that have no violent connotation such as “deadline.”

Notably, the NIST guide has sparked criticism with some asserting that the institute is going too far to restrict language use.

The author, Joseph Curl, has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years.