The AP’s guidelines telling journalists to decide what’s ‘racist’ are already leading to disaster

Earlier this year, the Associated Press announced a guideline change encouraging news reporters to call out racism. This might sound reasonable enough, but several media outlets just proved it’s the start of a troubling trend in journalism.

“Do not use racially charged or similar terms as euphemisms for racist or racism when the latter terms are truly applicable,” the Associated Press announced in a series of tweets. “If racist is not the appropriate term, give careful thought to how best to describe the situation. Alternatives include racially divisive, racially sensitive,...