[Ads-l] Last (?) dated/archaic ethnic terminology stricken from US federal laws

[Benjamin Barrett]

Just passed and sent to President Obama for signing, a congressional law striking a number of terms from what are stated in the article below as the last two federal laws with ethnic terms not deemed acceptable. Despite this claim, the article notes that “colored” remains in one section of federal law. (The article also notes that terms remain when part of a proper noun such as in the United Negro College Fund.)

The article also cites examples that remain at the state and local level.

"U.S. Laws Will No Longer Sound Like a Vaguely Racist Uncle”
by Matt Ford
http://theatln.tc/21YgCXz

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In one section of the Department of Energy Organization Act, “a Negro, Puerto Rican, American Indian, Eskimo, Oriental, or Aleut or is a Spanish speaking individual of Spanish descent” will be replaced with “Asian American, Native Hawaiian, a Pacific Islander, African American, Hispanic, Puerto Rican, Native American, or an Alaska Native.”

Another section of the bill erases “Negroes, Spanish-speaking, Orientals, Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts” from a 1976 public-works act and adds “Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders, African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Natives” in its place.
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The bill is S2649/HR4238: AMENDING THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ORGANIZATION ACT AND THE LOCAL PUBLIC WORKS CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT ACT OF 1976
(http://1.usa.gov/1UU1jy3)

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org