Blacklist is blacklisted: UK Met Police bans word over claims it is racist

Police chiefs have banned the word ‘blacklist’ over fears it is racist.

They have also struck out its opposite – ‘whitelist’ – which is used by IT workers for a list of acceptable email contacts.

London Police Scotland Yard employees have been told to use ‘red’ and ‘green’ instead.

One officer said: ‘Frankly we all sigh when things like this come around. Lots of good work is done to make sure policing reaches into all parts of society and helps the most vulnerable. This is not it.’

The measure is part of a drive by police chiefs to stamp out racism within the force. But officers within the organisation are said to have described the latest orders as 'bizarre'.

One source said that banning them won’t solve any genuine problems the Met has with racism.

They added: 'Do we really think these words are discriminatory? The truth is they’re nothing to do with race whatsoever and are very common terms.'

Daily Mail

Why are the forces of politcal correctness banning a word which has been in use for the last 300 years?

The Oxford English Dictionary definition of blacklist is: 'A list of the names of people, groups, etc, who have incurred suspicion, censure, or displeasure, and are typically therefore subject to a ban or other punishment.'

Its first recorded use was in early 17th century England. The OED cites Bishop Joseph Hall's sermon True Peace Maker in 1624: 'Ye secret oppressors, ye kind drunkards and who ever come within this blacke list of wickednesse.'

I am tempted to say that this latests spasm of political correctness within the London police force has turned into a whitewash, but perhaps that word is now racist as well?

Why stop there? Why don't they ban any word with the word "black" in it, like blackberry, black jellybeans, black bears, blacktop etc? While they're at it, they might as well ban the use of all words containing colors all together as to not have any doublestandards of racism exist. Aren't people going to see how stupid all this is at some point?

EDIT:

You said:

whitewash,

RACIST!

reply to post by ollncasino


If they are going to ban blacklisted, then they need to ban whitelisted as well...


Now that the days of having a piece of paper that either allowed or disallowed a list of 'whatever' are gone, anarchy shall ensue immediately as decisions can no longer be made in any capacity for fear of incarceration...


What have they done..?

Next they'll try to stamp out the notion of light and darkness..

"The neverending battle between light and, eh uhm, green and red?"

There's nothing in the world that irritates me more than political correctness and the white guilt liberals that support it either out of ignorance, cowardice or a perceived moral higher ground.

I remember when they banned bar bar black sheep

The word 'black' is becoming outlawed, no matter what context it is used in.

I looked for black grapes in a supermarket a couple of weeks ago, when I found them I saw they are now labeled as purple grapes.

It seems to me that all this political correctness is getting a tad extreme, and it's inciting more bad feeling than good.

Originally posted by TheLaughingGod
There's nothing in the world that irritates me more than political correctness and the white guilt liberals that support it either out of ignorance, cowardice or a perceived moral higher ground.

From a perceived moral higher ground.

They view everyone else as being moral savages and use political correctness both to advertise their moral superiority and to keep the masses under control.

This is all down to the compensation culture we find ourselves living in now
For instance if someone worked for the met police and they said the word blacklist racially offended them they could probably sue them
But you then have the otherside of the coin so you have to also ban the word whitelist
Where there is blame theres a claim
Its getting out of hand though when you have to ban words that have absolutely no relevance to racial issues

Cran

War On Words: NYC Dept. Of Education Wants 50 'Forbidden' Words BannedBut what's worse is they're more like categories of words than actual words. [these are the actual words - the list was published by the school and is 'public' beyond the article-text]

Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological)
Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs
Birthday celebrations (and birthdays)
Bodily functions
Cancer (and other diseases)
Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes)
Celebrities
Children dealing with serious issues
Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia)
Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting)
Crime
Death and disease
Divorce
Evolution
Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes
Gambling involving money
Halloween
Homelessness
Homes with swimming pools
Hunting
Junk food
In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge
Loss of employment
Nuclear weapons
Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling)
Parapsychology
Politics
Pornography
Poverty
Rap Music
Religion
Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan)
Rock-and-Roll music
Running away
Sex
Slavery
Terrorism
Television and video games (excessive use)
Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters)
Vermin (rats and roaches)
Violence
War and bloodshed
Weapons (guns, knives, etc.)
Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.

The police haven't outlawed or banned anything. They don't have the POWER to outlaw or ban anything.

They are there to enforce the laws, not make them.

The only organisation in the UK that can ban or outlaw anything, is Parliament.

If you actually read the linked article, its not really a ban, its a workplace policy. Police employees are not allowed to use the term. So the thread title is quite misleading.

Originally posted by ollncasino
London Police Scotland Yard employees have been told to use ‘red’ and ‘green’ instead.

Bad idea. A red list could offend the Native Americans. Truthfully, I'm also inclined to consider the idea of a green list somewhat discriminatory, myself.