Background: people have been pointing out that the term "Anglo-Saxon" has been used to support a white supremacist historical narrative since the 19th c and is harmful to PoC. Also, that it's not really very accurate (see: Archaeologists, who have been saying this since the 70s)
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Pointing out that one word should be exchanged for another, or gotten rid of because it oversimplifies things, is not a new phenomenon in academia. Many people have pointed out that we successfully binned "The Dark Ages" (in all but the most banal of popular texts) but so too...
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..have we discarded "feudalism" and in most cases the study of the medieval "state." We have become much more careful about terms such as "conversion," the distinction between "Christianity" and "paganism," or claiming that something is a "frontier." These are but a few examples.
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One which I have been looking into recently is the substitution, esp. but not only in US history, of "enslaved person" for "slave", which highlights the action of enslaving rather than turning a person who experienced violent enslavement into an object.
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That the specific discussion of AS is receiving so much pushback is thus not an indication of opposition to changing terminology *per se* but rather an indication that academics have a particular attachment to this term. This attachment is bound up in whiteness & white supremacy.
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[white supremacy in the structural sense of the term, y'all, before the goblins come out of the woodwork to accuse me of calling everyone I don't agree with white supremacists]
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Claiming that people are trying to "ban" words echoes a consistent right-wing tactic of accusing people -- most often PoC -- of "policing" language (often wrapped up in dog-whistles related to communism or a certain orwell novel). See "PC police" etc
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We have seen the far-right UK fringe lob this exact accusation at the WoC leading this conversation on twitter, sometimes with added physical threats. It is not a novel argument, and I would thank anyone who thinks themselves an "ally" or a "leftist" to reconsider using it.
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Finally, and perhaps a tad pedantically on my part, nobody in this conversation has any power to "ban" any kind of words or engage in "censorship." What state apparatus is being wielded against the term "Anglo-Saxon"?
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Similarly, no one is engaging in "fascism," which is honestly just such an absurd misuse of the term I'm not going to get into it. Claims like this fundamentally misunderstand power dynamics and the ACTUAL PROBLEM with state power being used to oppress.
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Literally the only consequence you'll face for misuse of the term "Anglo-Saxon" is everyone knowing you don't listen to PoC. That's not a ban. No one will be going through your correspondence with a black sharpie, you won't be arrested. Calm down.
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In conclusion 1) nobody's banning anything 2) accusations of such are right-wing narratives. Please stop. /fin
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End of conversation
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