In 1892, the first Annual Cakewalk Jubilee was held at Madison Square Garden.¹ After 3 nights of performance, a champion was crowned. Decades of a peculiar dance permeating American culture had culminated in this national competition. The dance? A cakewalk.

The cakewalk began in the mid-19th century on Southern plantations.² Slaves, lined up in pairs (mostly men), dressed in elaborate suits and top-hats. They took turns strutting around in a square, emulating the perception of white people as best they could. Much bending and high-stepping ensued, in a sort of condoned vaudeville mockery of their owners. As the master of ceremonies, the plantation owner observed the entertainment and decided who won. This was a competition. And the prize? A cake, of course.

In one sense, the cakewalk’s implied (if not explicit) ridicule of white people by their black slaves might be seen as an incredibly rare reversal of the otherwise universal deference demanded of slaves. The recorded literature does describe these as jubilant, festive events. But don’t forget who was in charge during these shows. Role reversal? Probably not.³

Since then, the term “cakewalk” has morphed in our common language to mean “something simple to do.” Some claim it’s because participants made the dance look easy. Since then, the phrase has been adopted into common use, belying its connection to slavery and the dance that was its namesake.

Gimme Some Straight Talk

Dolly Parton’s 1992 song, “Straight Talk,” is catchy and upbeat. She demands straight talk, and rejects any “mumbo-jumbo jive.” Mumbo-jumbo is a common term for something incomprehensible. What an odd phrase…sure doesn’t sound Latin. Where does it come from? If you’ve read this far, you might rightfully be dreading the answer.

In 1700s West Africa, British travelers documented the existence of the “Mumbojumbo."⁴ What they were actually referring to was the Maamajomboo - a tall, and likely frightening, masked figure who presided over religious ceremonies and disputes. As a side note, if those early records are accurate, this figure was not entirely gender-impartial, and was observed applying uneven physical punishment to women of the tribe as a method of subjugation. The term “mumbojumbo” made its way back to the British mainland but its use was inconsistent and relatively uncommon. It took over 100 years for mumbo jumbo to become popularized with the meaning we know today - gibberish.

Usage of "mumbo jumbo" since 1910

The people from whence this term came would later make up a significant percentage of slaves in Europe and the American South, particularly Louisiana.⁶ The relative similarity of climate between that region of the South and their homes in what is now primarily Gambia and Senegal (among many other countries in West Africa) led to this preference. Why? Rice grows well in both⁶. Their culture would go on to substantially influence what would become American Creole culture.⁷ But usage of mumbo jumbo today is completely disconnected from its origin…an origin some would sooner forget than face.

Low-Frequency, High-Impact

Modern American English is dotted with words and phrases that have surprising origins - some from the worst parts of our past. Racial history and slavery is one lense. There are also phrases rooted in prejudice toward women, subcultures within America, people with learning disorders and mental disabilities, and even military veterans. They show up in jokes, slang, and everyday conversations without us even realizing it. And the list is growing. This post talks about words with deep historical connections, but modern cultural appropriation can be just as controversial, provocative, and painful.

I’m happy to report Evolved Inclusion’s data shows these kinds of unintentional exclusionary terms are relatively uncommon in job postings - but not entirely absent. I call them low-frequency, high-impact. When they do end up in a job posting, they’re likely to be off-putting or offensive to anyone who knows the backstory. This can mean the difference between a candidate, or not. A hire, or not. Why have them there at all? Well, knowing is half the battle.

It’s not always obvious, until it is

Sometimes the connections are bluntly hiding in plain site. Around 2020, the word “master” became a controversial topic in many software companies. For decades, the default branch in Git, the most popular software code version control system, has been named master. But for many, the word master and the frequent coupling of “master/slave” in technical jargon are understandably evocative of slavery and oppression. “Master/slave” has been an analogy in technology dating at least as far back as 1904 and used to describe everything from clock mechanisms to car brakes.⁸ A movement quickly picked up steam: software teams began erasing master from their code and changing it to something like “main.” Code hosting giant Github was in lockstep with the movement, removing master across its systems and renaming the default branch to main.

If Evolved Inclusion finds “master” or a variation of it in your content, it highlights and shares this context with you so you can decide what to do. Is a dev candidate going to walk if they notice “master” in your VCS, or read “we never never push to master” in a posting? I’m not sure. If they were around in 2020, they might pause for a moment. I do (Evolved’s repo uses “main”, for what it’s worth).

Intention and Curiosity

Evolved Inclusion looks for language like this that could inadvertently contradict your company’s values or send your candidate into the arms of a competitor. I always run my writing through Evolved Inclusion now. All of it, even this blog post (the sentiment score was hilariously negative…which tracks).

I should note that it would be misleading to say Evolved Inclusion’s language data is comprehensive on this topic. There’s simply no way to capture and record all of these phrases and histories without incredible resources at your disposal (like, Google-size resources), and even then it’s a quickly growing target.

But you don’t need a complete resource. All you really need is curiosity and intention in your words. From Evolved Inclusion’s research, terms you might regret seem to arise more commonly in a couple patterns. When you’re writing something, pause to reflect on old turns of phrase you’ve just “always said” and phrases that seemingly explode out of nowhere into popularity. Kind of like this one, which I’ll leave you to investigate on your own:

Usage of "spirit animal" since 1850

Try Evolved Inclusion for free today, so you can reach a broader audience and attract the best talent, whoever they are.