Even the word 'minority' - the most neutral word label conceivable, referring only to relative numbers - was banned in 2001 by the San Diego City Council. "People invent new words for emotionally charged referents, but soon the euphemism becomes tainted by association, and a new word must be found, which soon acquires its own connotations, and so on. "If a word that refers to something always appears in sentences where that thing is framed negatively, then that term will take on that negativity," Lauren Hall-Lew, a sociolinguist at the University of Edinburgh, told me over email. Linguists refer to this process as "pejoration." Each replacement was meant to be less loaded than its predecessor, only to eventually take on all of that predecessor's anxieties - and some new ones. Each of those terms came into wide usage in the 20th century, only to fall out of vogue and be replaced with a new one. In some corporate-esque sectors, you might even hear someone use the term "diverse" as a modifier - as in, "We're really interested in hearing a diverse voice on this issue," as though an individual person might be diverse.
Census forms that prompted the bureau to announce last year that it would be removed from future questionnaires.) (You might recall a similar controversy over "Negro's" appearance on U.S. On this side of the border, the Army found itself in hot water after it updated its regulations to prevent discrimination, noting that some people who are "black or African-American" might also identify as "Negro." The story was widely reported as Army says 'Negro' is OK to use, and although that's not exactly what happened, the Army felt compelled to issue an apology and remove the motive.