Letter to the Editor: Poor Language Choices on Formerly Incarcerated People

To the Editor:

On behalf of foundations promoting employment opportunity for people with arrest and conviction histories, we felt compelled to share the following thoughts about your article regarding the new fair-chance hiring tool kit for philanthropy (“Foundations Call on Peers to Hire People With Criminal Records,” November 3.)

We were pleased that The Chronicle of Philanthropy covered the release of the tool kit. However, the headline and some of the language in the article clearly signaled a need for broader education on the ways in which people with arrest and conviction histories are often unfairly labeled for life based upon past mistakes. And in that regard, it was quite disappointing to see the treatment of this important story.

Words matter. Some of the language used in your article defines people by their legal status and past mistakes rather than by their skills, talents, and potential — the result so many public and private employers nationwide have sought to avoid by eliminating questions about convictions and arrests from job applications or delaying such inquiries until later in the hiring process. Such language leads readers to think of people with records as somehow incapable of redemption, less worthy of second chances, and even less than human.

The often unconscious correlation between “criminality” and people of color makes the poor choice of words further disturbing.

With every use of terms such as “criminal background,” “former prisoner,” or “ex-offender,” the label is further ingrained as having a negative association with people of color. This is precisely why the Associated Press, USA Today, the LA Times, and other news outlets and journalist associations have decided to stop using the term “illegal” to describe undocumented immigrants. The term is tainted with negative associations about an entire class of people and also tainted with undertones of racial bias. The same is true with respect to labeling people with arrest and conviction histories as “ex-prisoners” or even people with “criminal” records.

We are not alone in our caution about the power of language. Earlier this year the Office of Justice Programs, a branch of the U.S. Department of Justice, adopted an agencywide policy replacing terms such as “offender” and “felon” with humanizing language consistent with the notion of providing a second chance.

The article actually uses appropriate language such as “formerly incarcerated people” in some places, although not consistently. The fact that the headline in particular missed the point of the tool kit and the purpose of our fair-change hiring effort shows how much work remains.

Creating a fair-chance hiring culture will require action not only from employers but also a shifting of the dominant narratives that your own word choice reinforced. Through our “ban the box philanthropy challenge,” we have adopted fair-chance hiring practices and challenged all institutions in U.S. philanthropy to do the same. We believe fair-chance hiring can become an industry standard in our sector. And we sincerely hope that as our sector’s journal of record, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, can cover our culture change efforts accurately instead of preserving the status quo.

See editor’s note below.

Lateefah Simon
President, Akonadi Foundation

Leticia Peguero
Executive Director, Andrus Family Fund

Kevin Jennings
Executive Director, Arcus Foundation

Felecia L. Lucky
Executive Director, Black Belt Community Foundation

Martha Toll
Executive Director, Butler Family Fund

Antonia Hernández
President and CEO, California Community Foundation

William C. Bell
President and CEO, Casey Family Programs

Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker
President and CEO, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo

Yanique Redwood
President and CEO, Consumer Health Foundation

Starsky D. Wilson
President and CEO, Deaconess Foundation

James W. Head
President and CEO, East Bay Community Foundation

Lori Bezahler
President, Edward W. Hazen Foundation

Darren Walker
President, Ford Foundation

Flozell Daniels Jr.
President and CEO, Foundation for Louisiana

Ivye L. Allen
President, Foundation for the Mid South

Betsy Fairbanks
President and CEO, Fund for Nonviolence

Cedric Brown
Chief of Community Engagement, Kapor Center for Social Impact

Shane Murphy Goldsmith
President and CEO, Liberty Hill Foundation

Ben Hecht
President and CEO, Living Cities

Jamie Merisotis
President and CEO, Lumina Foundation

Luz A. Vega-Marquis
President and CEO, Marguerite Casey Foundation

Robert Hughes
President and CEO, Missouri Foundation for Health

Sharon Alpert
President, Nathan Cummings Foundation

Sherrie Deans
Executive Director, NBPA Foundation

Nick Donohue
President and CEO, Nellie Mae Education Foundation

Ken Zimmerman
Director, U.S. Programs, Open Society Foundations

Mary McClymont
President, Public Welfare Foundation

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey
President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Timothy P. Silard
President, Rosenberg Foundation

Chet P. Hewitt
President and CEO, Sierra Health Foundation

Emmett D. Carson
CEO and President, Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Kent McGuire
President and CEO, Southern Education Foundation

Patrick McCarthy
President and CEO, The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Christopher G. Oechsli
President and CEO, The Atlantic Philanthropies

Robert K. Ross
President and CEO, The California Endowment

Judy Belk
President and CEO, The California Wellness Foundation

Scott Moyer
President, The Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation

Rip Rapson
President and CEO, The Kresge Foundation

Fred Blackwell
CEO, The San Francisco Foundation

John Jackson
President and CEO, The Schott Foundation for Public Education

Tonya Allen
President and CEO, The Skillman Foundation

Kriss Deiglmeier
Chief Executive Officer, Tides Foundation

Emily Tow Jackson
Executive Director and Board President, The Tow Foundation

La June Montgomery Tabron
President and CEO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Sherece West-Scantlebury
President and CEO, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation

Editor’s Note: The Chronicle strives to use language that is clear to all readers. In this case, we felt our readers would not understand that foundation efforts were directed at people who had been convicted of crimes.