Inclusive language isn’t about censorship
As EDI trainers, one of the most common concerns we hear about from participants in our training sessions is that they “don’t want to offend”, or that they don’t know “what to say and not to say”. This is, of course, a very understandable impulse: very few people actively want to cause offence to their colleagues, clients, or customers, and often want to use gender and all-inclusive language. But it is not as difficult as many people assume.
Certain outlets and organisations have been insisting for several years that “you can’t say anything any more” and that free speech has been ended by “wokeness”. In fact, we’re hearing a lot lately about the effects of being “woke”, which is likely contributing to concerns about “saying the right thing”.
The phrase “stay woke” originates in AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) and became popularised in the mid-2010s amidst the Black Lives Matter protests. It was used to mean “stay politically aware”, particularly around issues of racism. Since then, its usage has been broadened to refer to a range of issues related to equity, inclusion, and human rights, but the intention is the same: to ‘stay woke’ is to stay awake and alert to injustice.
So, when people discuss being “woke” as a bad thing, it may be useful to ask them what they mean by that. Are they opposed to acknowledging that discrimination exists? Do they dislike that marginalised groups are getting more representation? Is it simply a vague sense of discomfort with the world?
Regardless, when it comes to the workplace and being inclusive of others, the political and semantic discussions around “wokeness” shouldn’t actually come into it. What is important is being respectful – and that usually means getting to know the people around you.
The vocabulary we use is always going to be changing, and not everybody in a community is going to have the same opinion; so, the best option is often to engage with people on an individual level.
Here is an inclusive language example: if you don’t know how to pronounce someone’s name, you can always ask them and practice it; or if you’re not sure what someone’s gender is, you can ask about what pronouns they use. Most people would much rather someone checked in with them rather than making assumptions.
It’s also important to understand that it’s okay to make mistakes. Reasonable people know that getting something wrong by accident is completely normal and are unlikely to make a big deal out of these things. It’s how you deal with those mistakes that can really make the difference – i.e., instead of doubling down or refusing to change, accept that you got something wrong and do something about it. When you know better, do better.
If you want to find out more about being inclusive, including what is inclusive language and the ways that you can incorporate it into every day communication, why not take a look at our Inclusive Communication course?
