Editing to eliminate racism and sexism

The mayor was dressed in a gray business suit and pumps [EB1] as she welcomed the trade delegation.

A manager needs to know his [EB2] people as well as hi[EB3] s job.

She’s a coed [EB4] at the University of Michigan.

Altobelli is a male [EB5] secretary at the law firm of Prescott and Heineman.

Thomas Sowell is an eminent black [EB6] scholar and newspaper columnist.

The suspect was described as a Hispanic [EB7] male of average build in his late teens.

Spend a few hours with Regina Esparza, and her sense of humor is so infectious, you soon forget she’s a cripple[EB8] .

She’s a highly respected actress despite being deaf and dumb.[EB9]

Mankind [EB10] has been around for at least 100,000 years.

Washington doesn’t seem to care about the [EB11] common man [EB12] and his [EB13] problems.

She’s a real craftsman [EB14] in her writing.

Also, review AP Stylebook entries on:

African American

Asian/Oriental
(To clarify the book: The word Asian refers to people. Oriental refers to objects. The Asian man. The Oriental rug)

black

chairman, chairwoman

Chinese names

dalai lama

disabled, handicapped, impaired

gay, lesbian

gentile

Hispanic

illegal immigrant

imam

Indians

Islam

Jew

Jewish Holy Days

Man, mankind

mentally retarded

Muhammad

Muslims

obscenities

people, persons

-person

nationalities and races

race

spokesman, spokeswoman

Taliban

Talmud

women

---

[EB1]If the mayor was a man, we wouldn’t pay that much attention to what he wore.

[EB2]delete

[EB3]replace with the. Usually, the easiest way to avoid sexism in this case is to convert the sentence to plurals. Managers need to know their people as well as the job.

[EB4]student

[EB5]delete

[EB6]delete - his race has no relevance in this story.

[EB7]Unless the description from police is specific enough narrow down the field much more, you shouldn’t use it. This simply casts suspicion on every Hispanic male teenager unfairly.

[EB8]OUCH! That’s cruel. She’s a cripple, but she’s a funny cripple. In one sentence, we have taken away her humanity and made her disability her entire identity.

[EB9]Same problem as in the previous sentence.

[EB10]Humanity is an acceptable substitute.

[EB11]delete

[EB12]people

[EB13]their (converting to plurals avoids the his/her problem.)

[EB14]artisan.