Gutfeld: Stanford is now the place for language castration
'Gutfeld!' panelists react to Stanford University's Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative, a project meant to eliminate 'harmful language' from its website and computer code.
The "Gutfeld!" panelists roasted Stanford University after the release of a "language guide" that will remove terms like "American, peanut gallery, thug, and stupid" from the institution’s websites and code.
Host Greg Gutfeld sounded off, calling the removal of gendered and imprecise words "language castration."
In a statement regarding the changes, Stanford University explained the goal was to eliminate racist, violent and biased language which could be harmful. The university published categories that words may fall into, including ableist, gender-based, culturally appropriative and institutionalized racism.
"Basket case" was also on the expansive list, because it once referred to a person with no limbs who had to be carried in a basket.
"I see myself as a basket case since I commute in on Bill Hemmer’s bicycle," he joked Wednesday.
"What drives me crazy about this is a lot of this stuff is if you didn't know about it, it wouldn't matter," he said. "Like, I never heard about ‘basket case.’ … Now I’m bothered by that image."
Sonnie Johnson, of "Sonnie’s Corner," argued White supremacy is at the core of the issue and is driving the changes.
"They say its ‘institutionalized speech’ right? And then you look at who started it," she explained. "And when they're starting to say grammar is racist, learning proper English is racist."
"Well, the people that started the institutionalized racism also made that grammar. So I'm thinking all of it is racist, so I don't have to play by any of your damn rules."
PALO ALTO, CA - OCTOBER 2: A general view of the buildings of the Main Quadrangle and Hoover Tower on the campus of Stanford University before a college football game against the Oregon Ducks on October 2, 2021 played at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. (David Madison/Getty Images)
Financial analyst Heather Zumarraga warned the trend of removing "harmful language" has spread beyond universities and academic settings to the corporate world, where she argued even the term "ladies" will be banned.
"All of these companies, the H.R. divisions are making all of these policies to cover their butts from lawsuits from the [political correctness] police," she said, pointing to Disney’s "woke" controversy and the following backlash as an example.
"It's a bad business decision, I think, for the corporate world," she said.
Fox News contributor Tyrus immediately criticized Stanford’s decision, saying "idiots" are running the show and emphasizing that a team spent 18 months coming up with the list.
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"This is the dumbing down of society," he said. "When they started telling you what you can and cannot say, it's time to not go to that school."
"It’s time to run away," Gutfeld added.
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