Guide for UK police instructs officers no to use vocabulary such as ‘black sheep’, ‘blacklist’
Date
1/28/2025 7:05:58 AM
(MENAFN) UK Police have been advised to avoid using terms like “black sheep” and “blacklisted” due to concerns about racial insensitivity. This recommendation is part of a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) guide distributed to several police forces, including Bedfordshire Police, Hertfordshire Constabulary, and Cambridgeshire Constabulary. The guide suggests these terms may be problematic due to their negative associations with the word “black.”
Additionally, the guide encourages using gender-neutral language, advising the use of “pregnant person” instead of “pregnant woman” to be inclusive of transgender and non-binary individuals. It also recommends avoiding the term “faith” for being “Christian-centric” and suggests a broader understanding of gender. Other advice includes refraining from associating older individuals with negative stereotypes and using terms like “mature adult” instead.
While police representatives emphasize the importance of inclusivity and cultural intelligence in their workforce, critics argue that the focus on language distracts from more pressing issues, such as crime and safety. Some even deem the initiative excessive, with one former police officer calling it a waste of resources. Critics, including UK’s first black police and crime commissioner, Festus Akinbusoye, raised concerns about the consistency of the guidelines, asking why other phrases like “whitewashing” weren’t flagged.
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