Post-PC dignity

Guardian.co.uk ^ | July 15, 2008 | Ziauddin Sardar

[forkinsocket]

Now that politically correct language has fallen from favour, demonised and discredited, where should we go next? Can we afford to ignore the return of derogatory language directed at black, Muslim, gay, disabled or elderly people, anyone deemed different?

Derogatory words make way for degrading treatment. Language is more than our basic tool of communication; it shapes perceptions and so influences behaviour. Referring to "faggots" or "wrinklies" strips people of respect, and it's just a short step to thinking them less equal. Terms such as "cripples", "spastics", "thick" and "retarded" stigmatise disabled people as less human. A recent increase in attacks has its roots in such language. If "terrorism" is constantly linked to the "Muslim community", as though it is one monolithic entity, it is not surprising if 69% of Britons see all Muslims as terrorists and feel fear and loathing towards them.

We shape our language, but language also shapes us. Giving a currency to demeaning language can blind us to the fact we have embraced demeaning perceptions about other people. The Equality and Human Rights Commission, where I am a commissioner, believes language should play an important part in our strategy to promote equality. It makes a contribution to social inclusion, fighting alienation, promoting good relations and democratic participation.

Instead of going back to pre-PC days, we need to move forward. In the commission's discussion paper, The Language of Equality, I advocate ethically sensitive language. I see ethics in terms of four moral precepts: equality, dignity, respect and value. Everyone has an equal right to be described in a dignified and respectful way. However, equal treatment does not mean the same treatment; that is why equal value is a necessary component.

[forkinsocket]

.

[Viking2002]

Does anyone have a web link to P.J. O'Rourke's 'Foreigners Around The World' to e-mail to this sand Nazi?

Oh, PM it to me, too. I can't find the damn thing anywhere these days.

[dynachrome]

“blogs on a different theme of the Qur’an weekly at blogs.guardian.co.uk/quran”

Gee, I never would have guessed Ziauddin Sardar
was a pig molesting muzzie.

Oops, guess I have to go to re-education and/or beheading ,now.

[Dianna]

“Wrinklies”? He’s making that up.

[LiberConservative]

I advocate ethically sensitive language.

I advocate civilized behavior. Mooselimbs first.

[Viking2002]

Yeah - that could either refer to a tailgunner's 'pitcher's eye's view' of the intended target, or, as I call them in PS (Politically Satiric) jargon, 'Jurassic-Americans'. LMAO

[SeafoodGumbo]

it is not surprising if 69% of Britons see all Muslims as terrorists

I'm calling bs on this without even looking it up. Does the author just pull numbers out of thin air? He want us to believe that seven in ten Brits see "all Muslims as terrorists"? Yeah, right.

[Will88]

“Derogatory words make way for degrading treatment.”

Oh, you smug, simplistic POS (sorry for the acronym for derogatory words), political correctness was and is about far, far more than a few derogatory words. It was and is a mountain of illogical nonsense erected to prevent anyone from looking objectively at certain customs and habits and peoples, and to force everyone to pretend that all cultures are equally valuable, and all people are equally acceptable and valuable to society.

And that’s just for starters.

[SeafoodGumbo]

If seven in ten Brits really did think that all Muslims are terrorists, we'd see Muzzie heads on the Tower of London.

It's because not enough Brits appreciate the Muslim threat to their nation's future that their government continually does stupid things like let a top-ranking al-Qaeda terrorist go free -- to his $1.5 million tax-funded home.

Guffaws directed at al-Guardian.

[Old Sarge]

Now that politically correct language has fallen from favour

SINCE WHEN??

[Little Pig]

Actually, “spastic” and “retard” are descriptive terms that accurately capture the disability in question.

Include me on the list of people who think everyone needs to just grow a thicker skin.

[Tzimisce]

I just ate, where the barf alert?

[tbw2]

Yet the author never condemned the harsh and demeaning terms used for Christians, pro-lifers, and whites, who are now a minority in many areas of that country.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I remember some wits who innovated the idea of spontaneous, one-use epithets of imaginary words. They quickly discovered that those who complained about known slang words and curses just as quickly complained that nonsense words were deeply offensive.

They were suffering from, what Berke Breathed, the cartoonist of Bloom County, called “offensensitivity”. They were offended because they wanted to be, and enjoyed pretending to be outraged.