Students want the word ‘black’ banned from textbooks and lectures

University students have demanded the word “black” be banned from lectures and textbooks amid claims it symbolises “negative situations”.

Undergraduates at the University of Manchester say the colour’s use as an adjective is stemmed in “colonial history”, which has become outdated in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Supporters are calling for commonly used phrases such as “black sheep” to be removed from lecture slides and books, while concerns have also been raised about “blackmail” and “black market” during a student union-led audit of racism concerns on campus.

The University said it is preparing to roll out new training and research in response to the unease in order to tackle “racist terminology” and “aggressions”.

In documents seen by The Telegraph,those studying at the red brick institution called for: “The university to ban the use of these words listed above and any other use of the word ‘black’ as an adjective to express negative connotations.”

This is because black is “linguistically and metaphorically associated with negative situations” and “used for bad and unsavoury situations or objects”.

This is part of an “accepted consciousness” of using colours as adjectives that is “situated in colonial history”, the student report stated.

Students in the university’s East African, Sudanese, Nigerian and Natural Hair societies canvassed for the report, claiming terms like “blacklist” and “whitelist” should be barred from any written communications.

This ban, they argue, should be imposed on university research papers, lecture slides, and books published by staff.

The University of Manchester, part of the elite Russell Group, has said in a report responding to student concerns that it will address language that is “divisive and not inclusive”.

A training programme is being developed based on the “findings on everyday aggressions” and “this will include the use of racist terminology”.

A spokesperson said: “Racism and discrimination have no place in our University, and all our community of students and staff have a right to expect that they will be treated equally and fairly and can work and study in a safe, secure and fulfilling environment.”

The Race Matters report states the institution will consult on “appropriate language to ensure we embed inclusive linguistics into our values”.

However, the alleged “colonial” or racist etymologies of the common phrases which are to be addressed has been dismissed by experts.

Lexicographer Jonathon Green said the phrases were not borne from conscious racism. “An aspect of current identity politics has indeed claimed an etymology that simply wasn’t there at the moment of coinage,” he said.

The negative connotations of the nursery rhyme staple black sheep may stem from the commercially less valuable wool of these rarer animals.

Blackmail is believed to have derived from bandits demanding extortion payments from victims near the Anglo-Scottish boundary between the 13th and 17th centuries.

via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/students-want-word-black-banned-142514068.html

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