Word scrubbing is the practice of erasing language that points to particular people or things. Word scrubbing makes a whole list of vulnerable people invisible. According to Elizabeth Power, M.Ed., Adjunct Instructor, Georgetown University Medical Center and founder of The Trauma Informed Academy, the following are words that can trigger additional scrutiny in a grant application or request for program funding from the Federal Government:
- Activist, activism, advocate, advocacy, background, barrier, barriers, biased, bias, BIPOC, Black and Latinx
- Community diversity, community equity, cultural differences, cultural heritage, culturally responsive
- Disabilities, discrimination, discriminatory, diversified, diversity
- Enhancing, equality, equal opportunity, equitable, ethnicity, excluded
- Female, fostering, gender, groups, hate speech, Hispanic minority, historically, implicit bias
- Inclusion, inclusive, increase, indigenous community, inequalities, inequity, institutional
- Justice, LGBTQ, marginalize, minorities, multicultural, polarization, political, privilege, prejudice, promoting
- Race, racial, sense of belonging, sexual preferences, social justice, sociocultural, socioeconomic, status, status, stereotype
- Trauma, underappreciated, underrepresented, underserved, victims, women
This list includes most of the people Jesus spent his life reaching out to, loving and ministering to.
Jesus fed the hungry, made the blind see, cared for the poor and included everyone in the circle of God’s concern and love.
By removing these words from the lexicon of public programming and grant funding, the populations represented behind these words are essentially removed from public view. They are “disappeared” like political dissidents in authoritarian regimes. It also ensures that these populations will continue to be underserved and underrepresented in the public arena.
By erasing these words, the US is rewinding the clock at least 50 years to a time when the differently abled, wounded, gender divergent, and abused, to name just a few, were routinely excluded from resources, programs and funding that helped heal and empower them. Removing funding for these groups also isolates them from the mainstream of human life by taking away resources they need to function in society.
Many of Jesus’ miracles were as much about restoring people to their community as they were about healing physical maladies. For instance, in biblical times, women who were menstruating were considered ritually unclean and had to absent themselves from their community. In the story from Luke 8, a woman with an issue of blood was perpetually isolated from her community. When she was healed, not only was her physical health restored, she also was able to rejoin her community.
This word scrubbing policy directive in our time is a move toward a historically unkind and limiting time in the lives of many people. It is despicable that this is now public policy for funding initiatives. It begs the question, what kind of programs will be funded? Summer camp for blond hair, blued eyed rich kids from the suburbs? Private limo transportation for Buffy and Muffy to their piano lessons?
It is yet another of the occupant and his cronies’ fly by night slash and burn public policy initiatives that stay under the radar. If the day’s news hasn’t given you reason to contact your legislators, this is it. If we stay silent, the populations that are being “disappeared” don’t have a chance.
The Irreverent Reverend 