The growth of political correctness evokes images of America in the 1950s with Senator Joseph McCarthy's
Communist witch hunts.
British courts have now been presented with a 300 page document by the Government instructing them what they can and cannot say.
No longer can they use the terms immigrant, postman, or
even man and wife. Judges are further banned by the PC lobby of language police from saying
"evening," "girl," or even
"Mrs."!
Here are some examples from The Bench Book of words which are no longer to be used in the British courts:
Asian Should not be used by judges because it is a "term of convenience."
Asylum Seeker Almost pejorative.
British Use only to "include all in our multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society."
Businessman Implies an evaluation of the sexes.
Coloured Offensive.
Common Sense Becomes problematical when there are parties from differing cultural backgrounds with their differing world views.
Epileptic Use "person with epilepsy."
Ethnics Patronizing, use "minority ethnic," but not "minority ethnics."
Evening The notion of time can be relative. "Evening can mean something completely different to a Scottish person and to a Spanish person."
Girl See Businessman (but can be used for a child).
Half-Caste Offensive, use "mixed parentage," but not "mixed race."
Handicapped Insulting.
He, She, Him, Her Judges should use gender-neutral language such as
"they" or "them" instead.
Immigrants Highly inaccurate given the time the majority have been settled in the UK. The term is exclusionary and liable to offend.
Man and Wife See Businessman.
Mental Handicap Use "learning disabilities" or "difficulties."
Mental Illness Judges should say "mental health problems" instead.
Mixed Race Slightly pejorative to the extent that it focuses on the racial identity of the parents.
Mrs., Miss, Ms. Given the history of marriage in the subordination of women it should come as no surprise that many women find it offensive to be referred to by reference to their marital status or their husband's name.
Normal To be avoided as a comparison with disabled people.
People of Colour Popular in the USA, implies inferior status.
Sleeping Policemen The 1989 Bar vocational evidence exam question with reference to sleeping policemen was failed by the vast majority of non-ethnic English students.
Suffer from an illness people must simply "have" an illness.
The Blind Use "blind people" or "people who are
blind." Similar rules apply to deaf people, who may also be "deaf without speech."
Visible Minorities Problematic because it implies invisible minorities.
West Indian Colonial overtones.
Wheelchair Bound Use "wheelchair user."
These are just a few examples from a 300 page book of instructions which could certainly remind one of Orwell's
"Newspeak" - except that they are frightening
examples of what is happening in Britain
today!
In fact, these language alterations do little to help minorities.
Rather, most indigenous people are actually
patronized in the U.K. as attitudes and legislation from the Government favour
them over what they refer to in a derogatory manner as "people from
middle England."
Previous page in this article
1 | 2 | 3
