UK Police Advised to Avoid Terms Like ‘Blacklisted’ and ‘Black Sheep’ Amid Concerns

[Social Media]

 

Police officers in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Cambridgeshire have been advised to steer clear of using terms such as "blacklisted" and "black sheep" due to potential concerns of causing offense. These recommendations are outlined in a diversity, equality, and inclusion reference guide created for officers and staff across the three forces.  

 

 

The nine-page document, published online last year and reported by *The Telegraph*, also discourages phrases like "black mark," arguing that such expressions associate "black" with negative connotations. In addition, the guide suggests adopting gender-neutral language, recommending terms like "pregnant person" instead of "pregnant woman," and advises against using “Christian-centric” language, such as the word "faith."  

 

The guide elaborates on broader concepts, such as the idea of gender being a "social construct relating to behaviors and attributes," noting that "there is a wider range of gender identities than just male and female." It also includes discussions on racial microaggressions and "white fragility," which is described as "a state in which some white people are unable to cope with or process the information they receive about racism."  

 

Officers are further reminded to avoid generalizations, such as stereotyping older individuals as grumpy or boring or assuming that women in their 50s are menopausal.  

 

Festus Akinbusoye, the UK’s first Black Police and Crime Commissioner and former PCC for Bedfordshire Constabulary, criticized the guidance as “utterly mad.” He questioned why terms like “whitewashing” were not scrutinized while terms like “blacklisted” and “black mark” were deemed unacceptable. "Had this come to my attention while serving as Police and Crime Commissioner, I would have questioned the necessity and the limited inclusivity of this document," Akinbusoye said.  

 

James Esses, a psychotherapist and campaigner, also expressed disapproval of the guidance, posting screenshots on X (formerly Twitter). “I think it is utter madness that after all the harm this woke ideology has done, this is being sent to police officers,” he commented.  

 

A spokesperson for the three police forces defended the initiative, stating: “We can confirm that this information has been made available as part of an online diversity, equality, and inclusion reference guide for our officers and staff. Our forces serve diverse communities, and we are pleased to have an inclusive, culturally intelligent workforce. The information aims to provide guidance to help our officers and staff identify differences in our communities and treat the public we serve with respect.”  

 

The spokesperson added that the guidance is reviewed regularly to ensure it remains relevant and current. “We are committed to ensuring everyone across our three forces takes personal responsibility to help create an inclusive workplace, where police officers and staff respect others, feel valued for their differences, and can be themselves,” they concluded.  

 

The guidance has sparked debates about the balance between fostering inclusivity and maintaining practicality within the police force. While some see it as a step forward in addressing societal biases, others question whether such measures go too far and potentially hinder common-sense communication.  

 

Based on a report by The Daily Mail 2025-01-28

 

 

[Tailwagsdog]

OMG ...does this mean we have to ban red alert in case we upset indian people, or blackout when the lights go out, or brownout when power supply is intermittent or what about whiteout when you can't see through the snow, ...it's the woke idiots that talk about colour & sex neutrality yet if a black woman wins power she's a champion because of her skin colour & genitals. Thank God Trump is getting rid of these idiots

[Rampant Rabbit]

if they spent as much time and money on this crap  as they did on crime in general it wouldnt be so sad f/laughable, theyre a  disgrace.

Then again  we just cant get enough clickbait on here..............oh my bad mr mod strike me down and blacklist me forever, hopefully  we'll be removing whitelisting as well then?

[proton]

 

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

Officers are further reminded to avoid generalizations, such as stereotyping older individuals as grumpy or boring or assuming that women in their 50s are menopausal.  

 

But they are 😆

[BritManToo]

How about whitewash?

And presumably blackmail will need to be renamed!

[portisaacozzy]

42 minutes ago, Tailwagsdog said:

OMG ...does this mean we have to ban red alert in case we upset indian people, or blackout when the lights go out, or brownout when power supply is intermittent or what about whiteout when you can't see through the snow, ...it's the woke idiots that talk about colour & sex neutrality yet if a black woman wins power she's a champion because of her skin colour & genitals. Thank God Trump is getting rid of these idiots

'drunk as as a skunk ',very insulting to my pet skunk who says i drink more than he  does

[bkk6060]

BlackFriday, Blackballed, Blackout, Blackmail, Blacksmiths....

[Denim]

Eventually this will come full circle and it will be illegal to employ black people.

 

They will have to be called colored people again. Until someone remembers this was formally objectionable and black will be back in favor. Round and round we go .

[bokningar]

WOKE fools never stops.

[PomPolo]

Absolutely ridiculous, there are going to be so many words that we can't say in the future that everyone is going to be communicating in sign language

[soalbundy]

9 minutes ago, bokningar said:

WOKE fools never stops.

They didn't get the message......woke is dead and good riddance

[JonnyF]

"He who controls the language, controls the masses".

 

It's no surprise Starmer believes in Stalin's famous quote. They share a lot of philosophies.  

 

Perhaps he could release a list of government approved words so we are 100% sure what we are allowed to say. He could call it the government whitelist. Oh, wait a minute...

[phetphet]

I'm offended that they keep coming up with this crap.

[Smokey and the Bandit]

"These recommendations are outlined in a diversity, equality, and inclusion reference guide created for officers and staff across the three forces. "

This is why the UK police re failing so bad, this is why the USA, in this area,  is now light years ahead of the UK. If only common sense could return to UK, but alas, ALL IS LOST!

 

[Andre0720]

The world is headed to an era when so many things that people say naively, will trigger a response like:

'What do you mean by that?".

 

Some leaders have kept their common sense. Thank God.

Oh but ''God", what do you mean by that?

 

[connda]

I'm waiting for this:

"In breaking news, PM Keir Starmer signed legislation banning the word, "black," as to not offend anyone.  News at 6!"

[klauskunkel]

Quote

The nine-page document, published online last year and reported by *The Telegraph*, also discourages phrases like "black mark," arguing that such expressions associate "black" with negative connotations. In addition, the guide suggests adopting gender-neutral language, recommending terms like "pregnant person" instead of "pregnant woman," and advises against using “Christian-centric” language, such as the word "faith."  

 

The guide elaborates on broader concepts, such as the idea of gender being a "social construct relating to behaviors and attributes," noting that "there is a wider range of gender identities than just male and female." It also includes discussions on racial microaggressions and "white fragility," which is described as "a state in which some white people are unable to cope with or process the information they receive about racism."  

I am sooo out of the loop (is it permitted to say that, or am I discriminating against loops?). I never heard of "white fragility" either.

I think this whole chicanery began achieving traction decades ago when it became to be fashionable to "discover your inner child" and to "get in touch with your female side". And now it has spiraled totally out of context and is dictating (not dick-tating!) policy.

[Snackbar]

Now you believe the media?

[JonnyF]

58 minutes ago, Snackbar said:

Now you believe the media?

 

You think it's a white lie?

[impulse]

From across the pond, stuff like this makes Trump and his ilk look like a Godsend.

 

Maybe he'll be taking applications to allow the UK to become the 54th state?  If they ask real nice...

 

 

[JonnyF]

2 minutes ago, impulse said:

Maybe he'll be taking applications to allow the UK to become the 54th state?  If they ask real nice...

 

I'm not sure we'd want to join a country that has Hunter Biden running around with a pre-emptive pardon. 

 

Besides, the Dems might get back in one day. 

[KannikaP]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

BlackFriday, Blackballed, Blackout, Blackmail, Blacksmiths....

The All Blacks, Blackpool Tower, Penny Black stamp, Bury Black Pudding, a Chess board & pieces, playing cards, Ozzie Osbourne's band, Los Bravos song, that hole in Calcutta, the colour of this font.

 

[ignore it]

Hmm..

 

So can we be expecting..

 

Blackpool, Blackburn, Blackheath, Blackfriars, Blackwood, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackstone, Blackley, Blackford, Blackrock

 

to be be replaced with:

 

Wokepool, Wokeburn, Wokeheath, Wokefriars, Wokewood, Wokeburn with Darwn, Wokestone, Wokeley, Wokeford, and Wokerock.

 

?

[impulse]

11 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

I'm not sure we'd want to join a country that has Hunter Biden running around with a pre-emptive pardon. 

 

Yeah.  There is that...

 

 

 

[impulse]

1 minute ago, ignore it said:

Hmm..

 

So can we be expecting..

 

Blackpool, Blackburn, Blackheath, Blackfriars, Blackwood, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackstone, Blackley, Blackford, Blackrock

 

to be be replaced with:

 

Wokepool, Wokeburn, Wokeheath, Wokefriars, Wokewood, Wokeburn with Darwn, Wokestone, Wokeley, Wokeford, and Wokerock.

 

?

 

I think they're proposing "melanated".

 

 

[petedk]

2 hours ago, Andre0720 said:

The world is headed to an era when so many things that people say naively, will trigger a response like:

'What do you mean by that?".

 

Some leaders have kept their common sense. Thank God.

Oh but ''God", what do you mean by that?

 

 

I have a problem. My colour printer needs some new ink.  I don't mean red, yellow or blue. I mean the other colour that we normally use to print text.

 

Do you know what I mean?

 

[Purdey]

All this verbal red tape doesn't come out of the blue and is just a red herring to disguise the black sheep among the racist boys in blue, many of whom were caught red handed in text messages. They have been yellow carded often enough, so it isn't a gray area. Brown nosing people of color it is not. I would not blackball the use of color in idiomatic English as it is a golden opportunity to teach idiomatic language to immigrants.

[black tabby12345]

Looks like World's Oldest Democracy now got Political/Language Police(21th century Gestapo), while their criminal police are at the blink of extinction.

 

Obsessively eager to crack down on own people's freedom of speech.

While  they keep blind eyes to violent crimes by street gangs(especially ethnic ones).

[MalcolmB]

7 hours ago, Tailwagsdog said:

Thank God Trump is getting rid of these idiots

This about the UK, Trump isn’t getting rid of anyone in the UK.

 

Sounds like a whitewash to me.

[thaibeachlovers]

Seems we now know where all the American woke are heading after Trump got elected. Has to be the UK as probably no other country on the planet would tolerate them.

 

I pity the UK people having to put up with years of this c***.