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'Time to walk away from universities': Outrage after Stanford puts 'American' on forbidden word list

One user wrote, 'I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American.”— Daniel Webster Take that, @Stanford!'

STANFORD, CALIFORNIA: Stanford University has left the Internet upset over a list of phrases that the establishment has published, specifically the word “American” which was listed on the forbidden list. The phrases' altered usage is a result of a multi-year, multi-phase effort that started in 2020 and is officially known as the Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative (EHLI) at Stanford University in California. This has even caught the attention of Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, who was shocked by the decision.

In the EHLI, which was released on December 19, Stanford defines the goal of the effort "is to eliminate many forms of harmful language, including racist, violent, and biased (e.g., disability bias, ethnic bias, ethnic slurs, gender bias, implicit bias, sexual bias) language in Stanford websites and code." "The purpose of this website is to educate people about the possible impact of the words we use," the EHLI says. "Language affects different people in different ways. We are not attempting to assign levels of harm to the terms on this site. We also are not attempting to address all informal uses of language." There is even a bolded disclaimer on the website which states: "Content Warning: This website contains language that is offensive or harmful. Please engage with this website at your own pace." Jay Bhattacharya, one of the professors at Stanford, also voiced his opinion when the word "American" was added to the forbidden list.

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Although the Americas are made up of 42 countries altogether, one of the many modifications is the transition from "American" to "US citizen," which is implied to mean "that the U.S. is the most important country in the Americas." The style rules at Stanford University are intended for internal usage, frequently for small workgroups, according to Dee Mostofi, a spokesperson for the university, who talked to Newsweek. The ELHI lists further expressions and concepts that ought to be avoided such as "lame," "tone deaf" and "walk-in" as they "can trivialize the experience of people living with disabilities." The phrase "spirit animal" is also rejected since doing so would diminish its value by associating it with an animal that provides protection or guidance.

The same goes for the word "tribe," which, according to Stanford, has historically been "used to equate Indigenous people with savages." It is also advised to use the terms "frosh" or "first-year student" in place of "freshman" because the former "lumps a group of students using masculine language and/or into gender binary groups that don't include everyone." In disapproval of the terms eliminated by the reputed university, one user wrote on Twitter, “I'm proud to be an American, whether Stanford approves or not." Twitter CEO, Elon Musk also tweeted on the subject: "Stanford disapproves of saying you’re proud to be an American? Whoa." One user said, "I remember how proud I was when I became a naturalized American citizen. I'm still proud to be an American, and I don't care that @Stanford disapproves of my using the term." Another one added, "I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American.”— Daniel Webster Take that, @Stanford!" 

One person wrote, "Stanford doesn't what you guys to use these words...This may be beating a dead horse and should have a trigger warning. But as brave American social media users, we need to have a stand-up meeting and push back. We have to walk into the line of fire...it would be insane not to." Another person said, "Stanford University just banned the word “American” and a lot of other language the school now deems harmful. Don’t go to Stanford." One user added, "The American University System is being run by enemies of the American people." One social media user taking a dig said, ""American" is a forbidden word?!?!!!! It's time to walk away from the universities. There's no saving them..." Another said, "Is "eat a d*ck" on their disapproved list?"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.