Whenever I see the very latest thing that is being described as "racist" or somehow "offensive", I think this can't be happening!!!
Yet it is: having a picnic? That's oppressive!
Brandeis Labels ‘Picnic,’ ‘Rule of Thumb’ as ‘Oppressive’ Language
June 28, 2021
https://thecollegepost.com/brandeis-oppressive-language/
Brandeis University in Massachusetts has cautioned its students and teachers to refrain from using words and phrases that “link to violence” and can reinforce “systems of oppression.”
The school’s Prevention, Advocacy, and Resource Center (PARC) released a list of problematic words which includes “picnic,” “policeman,” and “rule of thumb” for allegedly having racist and sexist origins. “Rule of thumb,” for example, supposedly comes from an old British law that allows men to beat their wives with sticks no wider than their thumbs.
Furthermore, PARC explained that the word “picnic” is often associated with “lynchings of Black people” in the US, during which white spectators were said to have been watching the executions while eating. A suggested alternative for this word is “outdoor eating.”
