The nation’s leading parks nonprofit on Tuesday released a lengthy guide on how to speak in woke terms, including tips like avoiding using the term “Americans” and making sure the term “white” is lowercase while “Black” may be capitalized.
The National Recreation And Park Association’s (NRPA) exhaustive 17-page “Equity Language Guide” for parks and recreation professionals includes meticulous instructions on what words are acceptable or unacceptable in speaking about race, age, gender, sexual orientation, and ability.
One member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board in Edmond, Oklahoma, told The Daily Wire that he was apparently automatically signed up for NRPA emails, so he received the guide in his inbox. He said he plans to complain about the manual at the next board meeting.
Just days after President Joe Biden took office, the NRPA touted that it had spoken with the Biden administration about reversing Trump administration decisions.
Press release: NRPA’s new Equity Language Guide aims to facilitate conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion. https://t.co/HVbWcDjTXX#Equity #ParksAndRecreation #ParkEquity #Diversity #Inclusion #DEI #WeAreParksAndRec pic.twitter.com/5CwknkXK3A
— NRPA news (@NRPA_news) October 19, 2021
“Use caution with this word,” NRPA’s guide says about calling people “Americans.”
“When we talk about parks and recreation serving communities, we are usually talking about how they serve all people whether or not they are a U.S. citizen,” the guide says, advising that people “avoid using the term ‘Americans’ generically for a group” and use “residents” or “members” of a community as a more “inclusive approach.”
The guide also says that the term “white” should be lowercase, but “Black” may be capitalized and is “a recognition of how language evolves over time.”
“The term reflects a shared identity and culture rather than a descriptor of skin color,” the guide says of the capitalized term “Black.”
Because the term “alien” is offensive when used to refer to people, it should not be used even in reference to plants, the guide advises.
Furthermore, the guide claims that people’s “implicit bias” is “not accessible through introspection.”
Even the terms “minority” and “person of color” are not acceptable, according to NRPA.
On religion, the guide says it can be “an important factor to someone’s identity and culture” and encourages parks professionals to “recognize religious and cultural traditions other than those that typically dominate the U.S. media landscape (usually Christian holidays).”
NRPA’s glossary also expounds on other terms including “ally,” “environmental justice,” “anti-racism,” “equity,” “structural racism,” “dominant culture,” “cultural humility,” and “white supremacy.”
“While most people associate white supremacy with extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazis, white supremacy is ever present in our institutional and cultural assumptions that assign value, morality, goodness and humanity to the white group while casting people and communities of color as worthless (worth less), immoral, bad, inhuman and ‘undeserving,’” the guide says.
“From the time we start learning how to communicate, we unconsciously take in the implicit biases in our language. We may not realize certain words, and how we use them, can be damaging to others,” the guide says.
“Sometimes, you will get it wrong or forget and that’s OK. Take a moment, acknowledge it, and commit to doing better next time,” the guide advises.
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