(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) The sanctimoniously disingenuous practice of virtue signaling took a pair of stiff jabs when honesty and reality topped wokeness and hypocrisy.
The first roundhouse was delivered with a fierce backlash to the perplexing decision by the Associated Press to tweak its infamous stylebook, in this case by scolding itself for using “the French” in a tweet, and advising journos to avoid using such “dehumanizing” phrases.
So then why do call yourself “The” Associated Press 😂 pic.twitter.com/DPdQYjXfdO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2023
The Twitterverse erupted in mockery and hilarity at the AP’s pretentious and increasingly irrelevant guidelines.
I believe the correct AP label is “the/those fucking French”
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) January 26, 2023
Even the French Embassy jumped into the mix, informing that it had changed its moniker to “Embassy of Frenchness in the US.”
I guess this is us now… https://t.co/YFybgfI2AB pic.twitter.com/LrKvgjiw1X
— French Embassy U.S. (@franceintheus) January 26, 2023
Kyle Mann cracked that he thought the story was a Babylon Bee spoof, until he remembered that he was the publication’s editor-in-chief.
The AP was just getting started, and its expanded guidance included not just “the” French.
“That is why we recommend avoiding general ‘the’ labels such as the poor, the mentally ill, the wealthy, the disabled, the college-educated. Instead, use wording such as people with mental illnesses or wealthy people,” the AP advised.
“Use these descriptions only when clearly relevant and that relevance is made clear in the story. Be specific when possible and relevant, such as people with incomes below the poverty line.”
“Why are you so racist against the definite article?” cracked First Things associate editor Justin Lee. “Unconscionable Anglo-centrism, if you ask me.”
“The” Stylebook is also a bit dehumanising, wouldn’t you agree?
We recommend using “a book that is a style”.— 𝔚𝔩𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫 (@vladin_petrov) January 27, 2023
It wasn’t all mirth and jocularity, though, with some taking legitimate offense at the AP’s skewed guidance.
people-first language is almost never preferred by disabled or mentally ill individuals, who are you consulting for what is “best” here?
— ClaryFey➜ ChromaFeyArt🐊🌈 (@ChromaFeyArt) January 27, 2023
Similarly, the fabricated term “Latinx” has received increasing backlash from Latinos offended by pathetically woke leftists infringing on the Latino culture.
“By insisting on using the incorrect term Latinx, progressives are engaging in a type of cultural Marxism, a recast of societal norms,” Virginia’s Cuban–American attorney general Jason Miyares said. “Latinos don’t use the term—only upper-educated white liberals who hardly interact with the Latino community.”
A recent poll conducted by a Democrat firm focused on Latino outreach found that “only 2 percent of those polled refer to themselves as Latinx, while 68 percent call themselves ‘Hispanic’ and 21 percent favored ‘Latino’ or ‘Latina’ to describe their ethnic background.”
More states are starting to follow the lead of Arkansas, where freshly-elected Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders banned the term “Latinx” from official government documents, calling it offensive to Spanish speakers.
“Ethnically insensitive and pejorative language has no place in official government documents or government employee titles,” Sanders wrote in her executive order. “The government has a responsibility to respect its citizens and use ethnically appropriate language, particularly when referring to ethnic minorities.”
Sanders’s order noted that ‘The Real Academia Española, the Madrid-based institution which governs the Spanish language, has officially rejected the use of “x” as an alternative to “o” and “a” in Spanish.”
“One can no more easily remove gender from Spanish and other romance languages than one can remove vowels and verbs from English,” Sanders said and ordered that “all state offices, departments, and agencies shall revise all existing written materials by replacing the terms ‘Latinx,’ ‘latinx,’ ‘Latinxs,’ or ‘latinxs’ with ‘Hispanic,’ ‘Hispanics,’ ‘Latino,’ ‘Latinos,’ ‘Latina,’ or ‘Latinas.’”
A group of Democrat Hispanic lawmakers from Connecticut wants their state to follow the same path, proposing to ban “Latinx” from official government documents.
Rep. Geraldo Reyes, who is a primary sponsor of the bill and is Puerto Rican along with colleagues supporting the legislation, told CNN that they consider the term offensive.
“It’s a term that we believe is unnecessary because the Spanish language, which is 1,500-plus years old, already identifies male, female and neutral,” Reyes said, adding that “Latin” and “Latino” were both gender-neutral options.
That sentiment was shared by Arizona Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is 2021 directed his office staff to stop using “Latinex” in official communications.
“Look y’all. Hispanic, Latin American are gender neutral,” Gallego said at the time. “So we have already gender neutral options to describe the Latino community. Adding an x and creating a new word comes off as performative.”
