NationStates Jolt Archive

Do you think the politcial correctness (or PC) movement of the last 20-something years has really helped fight discrimination, or just added fuel to the fire?

Personally I think the PC movement is good in theory, and has good intentions, but is often wielded like a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel. There are people out there who are basically "thought police" but hide behind the mantle of PC do-gooders. As far as I am concerned, dictating to people how they must think and feel is just as bad as the discrimination it is supposedly fighting.

The problem is, so many things which aren't PC aren't racist.

I know many black people. Not one of them has ever been to Africa. Their parents haven't been to Africa. Their parents parents never went to Africa. They are not African-Americans, they are American of African ancestry. Yet to call them black instead of African-American is not PC.

Why am I not a European-American?

PC works to hard to fight the superficial racism rather than fighting actual racism.

Political correctness can be a good thing, but too often it is abused and taken to extremes it was never meant to go. I think that some people have to understand what is meant to be a joke and not an insult. People tend to be lawsuit-happy (I apologize for using such an informal phrase) when someone says something that was not meant to be taken literally.

I think society is still in a very primitive, intolerant stage. One way we can all help advance it to a better future is to use language and expression in a thoughtful & considerate way. No one should be forced to do this, it should be a matter of conscientious personal choice.

So many of those who constantly attack what they imagine as "political correctness" seem to me to be people who hate idealists and are deeply afraid of social progress. I wish I knew why.

*Snort* By and large, the so-called "political correctness" movement decried by conservatives died in the late 1980's-early 1990's.

If to be "politically correct" means to follow a line of thought and speech dictated by society as a whole, then current "PC" types are neocons, not liberals.

It is politically correct for a black person to call another black person a "nigga" but it is not politically correct for a white person to do the same to a black person. Now that is racism.

It is politically correct for a black person to call another black person a "nigga" but it is not politically correct for a white person to do the same to a black person. Now that is racism.

Not really. In fairness, a racist term becomes the exclusive property of the group it was aimed at. They can claim it and use it anyway they like, but nobody else can. Just like it's perfectly fine for me to jokingly call myself a "cracker" or "honkey" but it's completely wrong for a non-white person to call me that.

Not really. In fairness, a racist term becomes the exclusive property of the group it was aimed at. They can claim it and use it anyway they like, but nobody else can. Just like it's perfectly fine for me to jokingly call myself a "cracker" or "honkey" but it's completely wrong for a non-white person to call me that.

Uh...I really don't get offended by racism. It's hard to when I'm white, but I don't think I'd make a big fuss about someone calling me a cracker every day. So long as my rights weren't being trampled on, I don't mind other people exercising their right to free speech. If it was against the law to hurt people's feelings, we'd solve unemployment because we'd need a lot more lawyers and judges...

"political" and "correctness" happen to be oxymorons. Get over it.

"political" and "correctness" happen to be oxymorons. Get over it.

Amen to that. Politics really shouldn't influence what is right and wrong for us to say. It should be decided on an individual basis.

Very good point there :)

I think being PC is evil. The craze about everything needing to be PC is even more evil. It's pointless, self-defeating, and rather annoying at best.

No one should listen to people who practice the art of PC. It makes no sense who cares if feelings are hurt. Get over it theres many more important things we should be worrying about.

Feelings can be important... I do think it's imperative that we try to fight racism... but PC doesn't do much to help anyone's feelings IMHO.

"political" and "correctness" happen to be oxymorons. Get over it.

Amen to that. Politics really shouldn't influence what is right and wrong for us to say. It should be decided on an individual basis.

Ya!

*Snort* By and large, the so-called "political correctness" movement decried by conservatives died in the late 1980's-early 1990's.

If to be "politically correct" means to follow a line of thought and speech dictated by society as a whole, then current "PC" types are neocons, not liberals.


i was in college between 86 and 90, and a leftist political activist. pc was actually more of an in joke amounst politicos than any form of ideology. when we talked about being politically correct or being pc we were basically being ironic. once the right got a hold of the term the acted like it was a political party or a conspiracy, and they coopted a term that we never took that seriously ourselves.

Making more problems. Stiffling conversation, lowering quality.

It is politically correct for a black person to call another black person a "nigga" but it is not politically correct for a white person to do the same to a black person. Now that is racism.

Not really. In fairness, a racist term becomes the exclusive property of the group it was aimed at. They can claim it and use it anyway they like, but nobody else can. Just like it's perfectly fine for me to jokingly call myself a "cracker" or "honkey" but it's completely wrong for a non-white person to call me that.

I don't see why anyone would be offended by words. That is all they are. Those who hurl them at you are generally ignorant and not worth getting offended over. I will call a black person black because they are not African-American. I think someone else made this point as well. A friend of mine in collage is from South Africa and he is white. He is African-American. The average black guy on the street is not. He wasn't born in Africa and neither were his parents. Thusly, he is not African-American. I really don't pay attention to a person's race when I speak to them anyways, there isn't much point. As far as I am concerned, a black guy is just a person with a very deep tan, a fact that sometimes makes me jealous because I am fair skinned and sunburn easily. The fact that he is black carries with it no real stereotypes for me. I could care less if I get called "honkey" or "cracker." Those words don't carry any meaning to me. "******" should likewise not carry mental baggage. It is just a word. Get over it.

Making more problems. Stiffling conversation, lowering quality.


is it a slogan? cus slogans should be clear and easy to understand, not confused and awkward. its not a hiaku, cuz it doesn't have enough syllables.... meh

Making more problems. Stiffling conversation, lowering quality.


is it a slogan? cus slogans should be clear and easy to understand, not confused and awkward. its not a hiaku, cuz it doesn't have enough syllables.... meh

psssst, look at the title of the thread.

Making more problems. Stiffling conversation, lowering quality.


is it a slogan? cus slogans should be clear and easy to understand, not confused and awkward. its not a hiaku, cuz it doesn't have enough syllables.... meh

psssst, look at the title of the thread.


yeah i realize it relates negatively to political correctness, i'm just not sure what its supposed to mean, especially the "lowering quality" part. i can see how pc could stiffle conversation, and most anything controversial can create more problems but...

Making more problems. Stiffling conversation, lowering quality.


is it a slogan? cus slogans should be clear and easy to understand, not confused and awkward. its not a hiaku, cuz it doesn't have enough syllables.... meh

psssst, look at the title of the thread.


yeah i realize it relates negatively to political correctness, i'm just not sure what its supposed to mean, especially the "lowering quality" part. i can see how pc could stiffle conversation, and most anything controversial can create more problems but...

It is politically correct for a black person to call another black person a "nigga" but it is not politically correct for a white person to do the same to a black person. Now that is racism.

Not really. In fairness, a racist term becomes the exclusive property of the group it was aimed at. They can claim it and use it anyway they like, but nobody else can. Just like it's perfectly fine for me to jokingly call myself a "cracker" or "honkey" but it's completely wrong for a non-white person to call me that.

I disagree. If people are going to be stigmatized for using "racial slurs" then to me it doesn't matter who was the speaker and who was the target. If "******" is such a bad word, then I'm offended by hearing a black man use it to another black man. Simarly, if "cracker" is a hate-filled word when a black man uses it, I don't care what color you are, if you call me by that word, I'm going to have a problem with it.

We CANNOT have a double standard. Either a word is horrible and offensive, or it's not. There is a word that begins with a "C" and ends with a "T" that sometimes describes a part of the female anatomy. That's the only word I know guaranteed to piss off a woman. You think women call one another by that word wholesale? Nope, because what's offensive to one is offensive to all.

I don't care if you're a ****** or a cracker, a spick or a gringo, a kike or whatever, you use those racial "trigger words," you're in the wrong. I'm not a politically correct person, but I know I don't like to be called "gringo" or other words for anglo, so I in turn don't use racially sensitive words. But if you're an asshole, I'm gonna tell you that you are.

yeah i realize it relates negatively to political correctness, i'm just not sure what its supposed to mean, especially the "lowering quality" part. i can see how pc could stiffle conversation, and most anything controversial can create more problems but...

I am assuming he was referring to the tendency for political correctness to involve labelling people by physical characteristcs, race or religion.

Not really. In fairness, a racist term becomes the exclusive property of the group it was aimed at. They can claim it and use it anyway they like, but nobody else can. Just like it's perfectly fine for me to jokingly call myself a "cracker" or "honkey" but it's completely wrong for a non-white person to call me that.

Now this is a prime example of PC gone wrong. I am from the UK where racism exists - but I don't think it is any where near the big deal that it is in the States where most posts in this discussion look to be from. There are plenty of black people here and if we called them African Britains or Britains of African Decent they would either laugh at us or be offended that we still refer to them as not true Brits by assigning them a nationality with which only their distant ancestors have links with. Also I think they would find this quote: completely wrong for a non-white person to call me that. quite offensive. Not defining a peoples by their own distinctions, but by the group of people that they are not.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to rant about the fact that we are not allowed to use the terms 'Black board' or 'White board' despite these objects being boards that are black and white respectively. We have to use the terms 'Chalk board' and 'Dry marker board'. How could any one be offended by labeling an object by its most striking feature - its color?

Answers on a postcard to the office of political correctness.........

-GL

Not really. In fairness, a racist term becomes the exclusive property of the group it was aimed at. They can claim it and use it anyway they like, but nobody else can. Just like it's perfectly fine for me to jokingly call myself a "cracker" or "honkey" but it's completely wrong for a non-white person to call me that.

Now this is a prime example of PC gone wrong. I am from the UK where racism exists - but I don't think it is any where near the big deal that it is in the States where most posts in this discussion look to be from. There are plenty of black people here and if we called them African Britains or Britains of African Decent they would either laugh at us or be offended that we still refer to them as not true Brits by assigning them a nationality with which only their distant ancestors have links with. Also I think they would find this quote: completely wrong for a non-white person to call me that. quite offensive. Not defining a peoples by their own distinctions, but by the group of people that they are not.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to rant about the fact that we are not allowed to use the terms 'Black board' or 'White board' despite these objects being boards that are black and white respectively. We have to use the terms 'Chalk board' and 'Dry marker board'. How could any one be offended by labeling an object by its most striking feature - its color?

Answers on a postcard to the office of political correctness.........

-GL

Totally agree.

Who cares if a black man says nigga or if a white guy says nigga? I certainly don't. Political correctness is a horrible idea...and for one simple reason. It takes away more and more of individualism. Yeah yeah yeah, political correctness effects groups and not individuals technically, but when it comes down to it, we're a community made up of individuals. I'd prefer to be called a whip cracker by a black man than have the term die off... for the sake of remaining culturally unique. A melding together of cultures and races is fine...to a point. I, however, being pretty conservative, don't want to see different cultures and beliefs etc. die off.

As well, political correctness is turning us into a country of pussies. Fat people are actually called "vertically challenged." Short people...refer to fat people. Ugly people are actually referred to by some psychologists as "those with severe appearance deficits." Stupid children are "minimally exceptional" and have "learning disorders." THEY'RE FAT, STUPID, SHORT, AND UGLY! PC is a bunch of rhetoric that deserves no attention.
(Yes, George Carlin is heavily to thank for my reference points)

Depends on the context.

Government officials and employees should absolutely be held to high levels of political correctness- it's very innappropriate for a person in an official position to deride, belittle or otherwise demean another person, as this reflects directly on the governemtn, and consequently the people as a whole.

Professionally, policies on political correctness should be left up to the firm in question. If a given corporation wishes to be PC, or vice versa, this is complete up to them. As an employee of such an organization, they can reasonably expect you to abide by their policies.

Privately, we're all allowed to express ourselves how we want. No one is forcing you to be PC; social pressure may indicate it's a good idea to be such and such a way, but I think in this case you can reasonably disagree and be left to your self.

I think the entire movement is one that useless - arguing for the sake of arguing. If you develop a sense of respect you'll know what to say without being told or corrected.

I think the entire movement is one that useless -

I keep hearing about this so-called "PC movement". I've frankly never noticed any co-ordinated, directed "movement" as such. Who directs this "movement" - what are its texts and who are its leaders by name? What are their goals?

i guess i go for the approach "all things in moderation" - a little PC is ok and may be a good thing.

However, in our western society we have, perhaps, taken things too far.

i guess i go for the approach "all things in moderation" - a little PC is ok and may be a good thing.

However, in our western society we have, perhaps, taken things too far.

Its called being polite and showing respect. Political Correctness is taking those things to ridiculous lengths.

i guess i go for the approach "all things in moderation" - a little PC is ok and may be a good thing.

However, in our western society we have, perhaps, taken things too far.

Its called being polite and showing respect. Political Correctness is taking those things to ridiculous lengths.

Ah yes...one forgets there are such things as politeness and respect in this day and age :wink:

You always put things so well :)
Thanks...

Anytime! :)

Its a pain in the ass. See this quiz to rate yourself:http://www.worldnewsstand.net/4fun/PCQ.htm

I need to lock my door and wait for the next revolution :lol:

Its a pain in the ass. See this quiz to rate yourself:http://www.worldnewsstand.net/4fun/PCQ.htm

I need to lock my door and wait for the next revolution :lol:

Me too! :lol:

.. There are plenty of black people here and if we called them African Britains or Britains of African Decent they would either laugh at us or be offended that we still refer to them as not true Brits by assigning them a nationality with which only their distant ancestors have links with. Also I think they would find this quote: completely wrong for a non-white person to call me that. quite offensive. Not defining a peoples by their own distinctions, but by the group of people that they are not.


Yes I agree with this. I also wonder why I've been defined as Caucasian. You know these forms where they ask your race? I've never really understood what makes me Caucasian. Nothing wrong with that though, I don't mind, I'm just amazed 'cos as far as I know my origins are somewhere a bit west from Siperia.

Political correctness is the left trying to impose it's will on all.
:evil: - The majority of people were not racist or anti-disabled or anti-gay in the first place.

Whatever your views on race, colour or religion it is immoral to use violence (the police) to force your views on others. It's irrelevant whether you want to enforce integration or segregation, either way is disgusting.