The French are No Longer The French

The Associated Press tweets:

We deleted an earlier tweet because of an inappropriate reference to French people. We did not intend to offend.

Writing French people, French citizens, etc., is good. But "the" terms for any people can sound dehumanizing and imply a monolith rather than diverse individuals.

That is why we recommend avoiding general “the” labels such as the poor, the mentally ill, the wealthy, the disabled, the college-educated.

Yes, France used to be composed of French people, and French was a meaningful national identity. No more, I guess. The NY Times says The French Want to Remain the French.

Ann Coulter writes:

Lots of politicians have been caught burnishing their resumes, but recently, one of our elected representatives has come under fire for telling some real whoppers. And no, I’m not talking about George Santos.

In a space of three days last fall, President Joe Biden claimed to be Puerto Rican, practice Judaism and to have lost his house in a natural disaster.

She then details a list of examples of Biden lying about his past.