A News Org Listed 'The French' As A 'Dehumanizing' Label & It Backfired Ridiculously Fast
"People experiencing Frenchness" are so mad!
A professional mime.
One of the world's top news organizations is getting dragged online for offending French people, and the worst part is they did it while trying to be inclusive.
The Associated Press, one of the world's top news wire services, recommended on Thursday that writers should avoid "general and often dehumanizing" labels that put the word "the" at the beginning.
Then they tweeted some examples: "the mentally ill, the French, the disabled, the college-educated." Instead, they recommended using phrases such as "people with mental illnesses."
News organizations are constantly reviewing their standards when it comes to using the right language for various groups, and many North American outlets look to the AP for advice. However, this little update caused a big stir once it was posted, particularly among the French French people.
Thousands of Twitter users jumped in to drag the AP for making it seem like "the French" and "the mentally ill" are similarly insulting, with some even suggesting that it was clownish or "damn racist" to do so.
\u201cSo @APStylebook now says their tweet about the French was inappropriate and deleted it. But this kind of stuff isn't just inappropriate, it is pretty damn racist.\u201d— Amad. \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf10 (@Amad. \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf10) 1674830436
Others mocked the tweet by declaring themselves to be people "experiencing Frenchness," a riff on the recommended way to talk about homelessness.
\u201cAs a person experiencing frenchness I wholeheartedly agree \ud83e\udd2d\u201d— Solenn Madevon (@Solenn Madevon) 1674790055
The French Embassy in the U.S. also joined in on the trolling by pretending to change its name to the "Embassy of Frenchness in the U.S."
"I guess this is us now," the embassy's tweet read.
\u201cI guess this is us now...\u201d— French Embassy U.S. (@French Embassy U.S.) 1674771552
The AP eventually deleted the tweet and asked people to pardon its French blunder.
"The use of "the French" in this tweet by @AP was inappropriate and caused unintended offense," read the apology tweet. The APP then put out an updated tweet that did not include "the French," although "the college-educated" was still in there.
"You wish it was offense," wrote one user in the replies. "Actually, people were laughing at you."
People with jobs at the Associated Press have not said anything else about the tweet experiencing backlash.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.