Colorado State: 'Avoid' using 'Americans,' 'America'

I was blissfully unaware that we had prevented any of the people of other countries from calling themselves Americans.

 

Right, so why are we talking about what some state college said almost a year ago?

 

If we've gotten to the point where we are re naming things that could be offensive it'd seem like one of two things could be happening 1 that we live in such a stable safe world that those are the only things left to address or 2. We have a failure of government to address actual needs in favor of fluff. It seems obvious it's choice 2 to me

 

So when you hear the word manhole, do you think of men or do you think of an underground space? The word has been around so long it's now generic. Is he term manslaughter gender based?

 

Languages always evolve, and there are ways to accelerate that evolution: a President using the bully pulpit to try to get "American" to refer to anyone from the Americas is one of those ways. And if, in 50 years, "American" DOES refer to anyone in the Americas? So what? Is the sky going to fall?

 

I agree with what you're saying, and this is Berkeley we're talking about. They don't want any references to gender for things that aren't gender-based, like "manslaughter". They're obviously trying to push the language to be more gender-neutral, and maybe they'll succeed in 50 years. And if they do? So what? What bad thing happens if "manhole" gets replaced with "maintenance cover"?

Racism is bad because it leads to horrible outcomes. I don't see the horrible outcome here. Why does this bother you? THAT's what's interesting. Steve N, this obviously triggers you, you posted about it, so tell me, what are you trying to say with this. Convince me that it;s bad to change "manhole" to something else, because I'm not seeing the problem. Is it just the silliness of it?

 

As usual, a very small, deranged minority of idiots are causing everyone else to adjust language and behavior to accomodate their mental illness. If someone seriously is triggered by the word 'manhole cover', then they should be institutionalized.

 

It's not that different from some of the goofy PC crap we see currently. Someone posted it and it got discussed, You're allowed to opt out if you aren't happy with it.

 

I'm not triggered, the people who felt the need to rename something out of political correctness are. The silliness is that if this continues we could have different nomenclatures for things throughout the country. The way things are now, if the residents of Berkeley are so offended by this name, a person from another area might stroll in one day, refer to manholes as manholes, and suddenly find himself on the down side of political correctness. Keep in mind these Berkeley types have the same mindset as those who don't want to use he, him, her and she. Eventually they'll come across a word that offends them only to find out it's roots come from a foreign or minority culture and then what will they do?

Finally, the PC crowd is so concerned about anyone being offended by harmless words, yet when they disagree with something they use the most offensive words possible as some sort of weapon. Calling people Nazis and racists doesn't seem to bother the left, but call someone a *** (word filter: 3 letter word for an effeminate man or a British cigarette) and their world explodes.

 

Completely unnecessary. Berkeley has no men.

 

It's BOTH. And the second is a result of the first.

Our end is in our 'achievement'. There was absolute naivety in thinking all we had to do was check off those last few insults, and everything would be just wonderful from there on in. The minute we reached equilibrium - at least in the First World - the writing was writ large on the wall.

No sentient being does well when struggle is removed from the equation.

 

Ok, thanks for explaining!

 

They will leave Spanish alone more than likely and just focus on castrating English.

 

Reminds me of our conversion to the metric system.

Social norms change organically through the interaction of individuals OR by force. Beware the next logical step if government finds this within its compelling interest.

 

German is going to present some grammatical gender issues! Good f'n luck.

 

“Gendered Language Like ‘Manhole’ Will Soon Be Banned From Berkeley’s City Codes,” CBS’s Sacramento affiliate reports.

The city voted Tuesday night to replace gendered terms in its municipal codes, like “manhole” and “manpower,” with gender-neutral ones like “maintenance hole” and “human effort.”

The item passed without discussion or comments and was not controversial, said Berkeley City Council member Rigel Robinson, the bill’s primary author.

“There’s power in language,” Robinson said. “This is a small move, but it matters.”

The revised city documents also will replace instances of gendered pronouns, such as “he” and “she” with “they,” according to the ordinance.

Berkeley’s municipal code currently contains mostly masculine pronouns, the office of the city manager said in a letter to the mayor and city council.

“Having a male-centric municipal code is inaccurate and not reflective of our reality,” Robinson said. “Women and non-binary individuals are just as entitled to accurate representation. Our laws are for everyone, and our municipal code should reflect that.”​

That topic was mentioned in passing during Ronald Reagan’s very last radio address before announcing his candidacy for the White House way back in 1979:

In Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the City Council has ruled that from now on those metal-covered holes in our streets we’ve long called manholes will henceforth be known as person holes.

And in Missoula, Montana, a Peeping Tom ordinance is now a `Peeping Person’ law.​

No one will benefit from Berkeley’s dip into the Newspeak Dictionary, except for the city’s uber-woke bureaucrats. They’ll now have yet another reason to chastise the blue collar workers who have to go down what will now be called “maintenance holes” to help keep the city’s infrastructure running. And Gaia forbid that a sewer worker slip and call them manhole covers when dealing with his boss, who is more interested in pronouns than keeping the city’s plumbing working.

Or as Victor Davis Hanson wrote a few years ago when asking why Sacramento was increasingly beguiled with high-speed rail, even as its own highways were crumbling, “It is almost as if California answers back: ‘I am too bewildered by your premodern challenges, so I will take psychological refuge in my postmodern fantasies.'”

 

Guys, do you think Berkeley would consider calling women’s health people’s health, or women’s rights people’s rights?

 

I always wondered about that use of nomenclature it sounds to me like they are talking about an anus...

 

I found metric to be easier than fractional based system..

 

There is only ONE country with the word "America" in it. That is the United States of America. All other countries do not have that name. the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, United States of America etc etc are all apart of the American CONTINENTS. When most people refer to their country of origin they do not refer to their continent. They refer to the name of their country. A Brazilian does not refer to themselves as American or having come from America. They refer to themselves as Brazilian. A Mexican does not refer to themselves as American or having come from America. They refer to themselves as Mexican.

The inclusion of "America" in that list is nothing more than America hating nonsense.

 

That's a good point. I hadn't thought of that.

 

Personally, I'm all for woman's lib and think that Berkeley should call them female holes. However, since it is Berkeley, they should just call them a** holes.

Since I got edited there, I would like to add this link;

 

Lol, well some manholes do lead to the sewers !!!

Good one

 

How about Gavin Gruesome portals?

 

If they're going to do that then they should be required to change every reference in each and every city document since it became a city.