[81alum]

When I skimmed over the list, I missed "American."  Stanford is now becoming--literally--associated with anti-American language.

https://www.newsweek.com/stanford-critic...st-1768543

I do understand the problem with "American," after living in Mexico for a time and hearing Mexicans refer to us as Norte Americanos since the Americas included many other countries.  (Although I always thought at the time that the Mexican term was itself reductionist, given that it lumped United States people and Canadians together.)

In any case, the problem with this list--other than the fact that it had no political sensitivity and as a result is proving to be a major embarrassment to the university--is that it places way too much emphasis on structure and not enough on culture.  For example, using the term "American" to refer to citizens of the United States is indeed structurally reductionist, since it is true that there are dozens of other countries in the Americas other than the United States.  But, culturally, none of those other countries call their citizens "Americans" in the same way, none have the word "America" in the official name of their country, and when average, everyday people use that term--whether they are citizens of the US or of Argentina--everyone knows exactly what is meant.  Furthermore, the term "residents of the United States" is 9 syllables long vs "Americans" which is 4, and common parlance will simply not embrace a term that is more than twice as long as the convenient current term. 

I can hardly imagine Stanford (well, one group at Stanford) doing something better designed to inflame the heartland of "America" against it and to put itself in the middle of massive  political debate.

Too bad, since in general I think we do need to bring the culture along to promote a language that supports greater equality, but this list seems like a parody of a thoughtful effort in that regard.  In fact, I can see the backlash being wide and deep, and the list may wind up being decidedly counterproductive. 

Sheesh, "American"?  I'm almost surprised they did not figure out how to put baseball, mother, and apple pie on the list too.

[81alum]

When I skimmed over the list, I missed "American."  Stanford is now becoming--literally--associated with anti-American language.

https://www.newsweek.com/stanford-critic...st-1768543

I do understand the problem with "American," after living in Mexico for a time and hearing Mexicans refer to us as Norte Americanos since the Americas included many other countries.  (Although I always thought at the time that the Mexican term was itself reductionist, given that it lumped United States people and Canadians together.)

In any case, the problem with this list--other than the fact that it had no political sensitivity and as a result is proving to be a major embarrassment to the university--is that it places way too much emphasis on structure and not enough on culture.  For example, using the term "American" to refer to citizens of the United States is indeed structurally reductionist, since it is true that there are dozens of other countries in the Americas other than the United States.  But, culturally, none of those other countries call their citizens "Americans" in the same way, none have the word "America" in the official name of their country, and when average, everyday people use that term--whether they are citizens of the US or of Argentina--everyone knows exactly what is meant.  Furthermore, the term "residents of the United States" is 9 syllables long vs "Americans" which is 4, and common parlance will simply not embrace a term that is more than twice as long as the convenient current term. 

I can hardly imagine Stanford (well, one group at Stanford) doing something better designed to inflame the heartland of "America" against it and to put itself in the middle of massive  political debate.

Too bad, since in general I think we do need to bring the culture along to promote a language that supports greater equality, but this list seems like a parody of a thoughtful effort in that regard.  In fact, I can see the backlash being wide and deep, and the list may wind up being decidedly counterproductive. 

Sheesh, "American"?  I'm almost surprised they did not figure out how to put baseball, mother, and apple pie on the list too.