enhanced_deficit
08-04-2013, 11:19 PM
Seattle city gov’t bans the words “citizen” and “brown bag,” for obvious reasons
Government workers in the city of Seattle have been advised that the terms “citizen” and “brown bag” are potentially offensive and may no longer be used in official documents and discussions…
“Luckily, we’ve got options,” Elliott Bronstein of the Office for Civil Rights wrote in the memo obtained by the station. “For ‘citizens,’ how about ‘residents?’”
In an interview with Seattle’s KIRO Radio, Bronstein said the term “brown bag” has been used historically as a way to judge skin color.
“For a lot of particularly African-American community members, the phrase brown bag does bring up associations with the past when a brown bag was actually used, I understand, to determine if people’s skin color was light enough to allow admission to an event or to come into a party that was being held in a private home,” Bronstein said.
Incidentally, a brown bag can also be used to hold food that will be eaten later in the day. But this is no longer to be mentioned by employees of Seattle city government.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/02/seattle-city-govt-bans-the-words-citizen-and-brown-bag-for-obvious-reasons/ (http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/02/seattle-city-govt-bans-the-words-citizen-and-brown-bag-for-obvious-reasons/#ixzz2b4KZdJmY)
Government workers in the city of Seattle have been advised that the terms “citizen” and “brown bag” are potentially offensive and may no longer be used in official documents and discussions…
“Luckily, we’ve got options,” Elliott Bronstein of the Office for Civil Rights wrote in the memo obtained by the station. “For ‘citizens,’ how about ‘residents?’”
In an interview with Seattle’s KIRO Radio, Bronstein said the term “brown bag” has been used historically as a way to judge skin color.
“For a lot of particularly African-American community members, the phrase brown bag does bring up associations with the past when a brown bag was actually used, I understand, to determine if people’s skin color was light enough to allow admission to an event or to come into a party that was being held in a private home,” Bronstein said.
Incidentally, a brown bag can also be used to hold food that will be eaten later in the day. But this is no longer to be mentioned by employees of Seattle city government.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/02/seattle-city-govt-bans-the-words-citizen-and-brown-bag-for-obvious-reasons/ (http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/02/seattle-city-govt-bans-the-words-citizen-and-brown-bag-for-obvious-reasons/#ixzz2b4KZdJmY)