Seattle continues to make the national news, and this time, it isn’t about sports (or lack thereof), traffic, tourism or even snobbishness. What made the news this past week is a memo that came from the city Office for Civil Rights regarding potentially offensive phrases.
Elliott Bronstein, public information officer for the Seattle Office for Civil Rights, had written “On ‘Brown Bags, ‘Citizens’ and Language,” which offered alternative phrases for “brown bag” and “citizens” because of their discriminatory implications.
In the case of “brown bag,” it was historically used during slavery to determine among black people if a person’s skin color was lighter than a brown bag to be admitted into a home or event.
With “citizen,” Bronstein explained, “We sometimes use it as another way of saying ‘members of the public’ — except for all the members of the public who aren’t actually citizens but who live and work here.”
He told various media outlets that this issue came up about a dozen times in the past, so he wanted to make note that not every seemingly “innocuous” word is such. He suggested “sack lunch” and “residents” as respective alternatives.
“Language matters, and the city has entrusted us with the keyboards,” Bronstein said.
It’s virtuous to speak respectfully to others and to make better use of the entire English language. However, many of the words and phrases considered historically offensive are no longer so: A brown bag is a brown bag. Even some small African-American circles have reclaimed the N-word.
With all the social justice issues prevailing in the city — police-brutality claims, police use of traffic cameras, homelessness, the gender-wage gap, among others — language should be a low priority for the Office for Civil Rights. If only a small number of the citizenry (all Seattle residents and workers) is upset about the use of “citizen,” it’s a trivial issue.
At least it was only a memo with suggestions (which is well within the Office for Civil Rights’ purview) and not an outright ban on the terms, and it doesn’t involve paying for new signs and stationery.
Now, can city officials focus on the real issues that divide this city that are more “correct” to tackle?
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