Stanford Releases Guide to Eliminate 'Harmful' Language

Stanford Releases Guide to Eliminate 'Harmful' Language
Photo: Getty Images [via Fox News]

The Facts

  • California's Stanford University has published its Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative, an index of "harmful language" it plans on deleting from the school's website and computer code. It also includes a list of replacement terms.

  • The index has 10 language sections, including ableist, ageist, colonialist, culturally appropriative, gender-based, imprecise, institutionally racist, and person-first words.


The Spin

Left narrative

Stanford University is a diverse, inclusive, and highly respected institution of higher learning, which is why it has taken steps to redesign its website to that effect. Though small linguistic changes like these may seem inconsequential, they can have a monumentally positive impact on the communities that have historically been put down by the use of biased language. This is a welcome gesture.

Right narrative

While Stanford claims to be fighting for the disenfranchised through this new initiative, what it's really doing is implementing Big Brother tactics that, ironically, have long been used to silence the marginalized. No matter your race or gender, the best way to combat this is by speaking your mind — uninhibited by administrative rules — and exposing what a mockery of education and freedom the university's Orwellian guide is.


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