Posted on 01/20/2019 3:21:49 PM PST by ml/nj
In the past few years, anti-politically correct (PC) movements have grown in popularity and vigor. Groups of young college conservatives have criticized the liberal hold on universities and conservative activists have mocked censorship and “sensitivity” among young millennials. The sentiment that “people get offended by anything these days” seems to be growing among the larger population. Scandals of comedians getting booted from gigs for racially insensitive remarks or being fired from hosting an awards ceremony due to old homophobic tweets have sparked discussion over whether PC culture has gone too far. Even at Duke, students and professors complain about the PC culture on campus.
Politically correct means non-offensive and non-controversial. As racial minorities and niches of LGBT communities gain political clout, the amount of identity factors that we are exposed to increases. Some appreciate this diversity, while others see this diversity as more people they can’t offend. The anti-PC culture of arguing that “people get offended too easily” shifts blame on an individual’s surroundings, and away from the individual who was offensive or careless with their words. It makes political correctness seem like society’s flaw, and that the individual holds no responsibility for their words and how their words make people feel.
I view political correctness as an opportunity to connect to a broader range of people. I do not see it as a restriction. My life experiences have not specifically taught me the struggles of other racial, sexual, and gender minorities. However, I do know respectful language, or PC terms, that members of certain communities ask outsiders to use. In an institution such as Duke, we are surrounded by an extremely diverse population. Through being politically correct, I can make my words accessible to and respectful of a larger amount of my peers at Duke, instead of solely people with similar life experiences to mine.
Being ignorant to different identities shuts out people from hearing your message, and it dwindles your audience. A few weeks ago, Kevin Hart was dropped from his hosting gig at the Oscars due to a resurfacing of tweets using the word “f*g” as well as a joke about him beating his son up with a dollhouse if he turned out to be gay. Many, including Ellen DeGeneres, defended the comedian, arguing that these were old jokes from years ago.
The issue was not that society had somehow decided to be offended by Kevin Hart. Rather, Kevin Hart decided in those years to exclude gay people from his audience by making them the target of those jokes. He lost that community as a potential fan base as a direct result of his choice to make homophobic comments.
When I was in middle school, I said plenty of offensive things. I pushed boundaries and ignored political correctness often. But then I grew up. I learned about the experiences of people different me. And I didn’t become politically correct because society or this "liberal university" pressured me, but because I gained more empathy for certain communities. I dropped about 10-12 words from vocabulary, including words like “retarded” and “ghetto.” I have not lost any ability to communicate my ideas or thoughts from my political correctness. I still make mistakes, but with good intentions I never feel like I have to worry.
I understand that it can be difficult to use the correct vocabulary in an academic environment focused on social justice. I also believe that criticisms of political correctness are borne out of a nostalgia for past eras where racist, sexist and homophobic comment were more commonplace. It is important for us to take ownership of our words, and understand that our message reaches the audiences we choose for it.
I don’t want people to monitor their language to fit within a societal rule book. Instead, I want us to understand the perspective of affinity groups and learn how our words impact their communities. This way, we can implement socially conscious language from a genuine desire to be more respectful, rather than an obligation to adhere to a set of rules.
Learning to be non-offensive takes patience. People will get angry at you for things you have been saying for your entire life. Instead of resorting to defensiveness, try to understand where their anger is coming from. For minority groups, this anger can come directly from life experiences. It takes a strong will to step back and realize that what you have said is truly hurtful, and it is easy to dismiss others’ anger as a societal flaw. But when you learn to re-evaluate your words in that way, you expand your own opportunities for knowledge.
Nathan Heffernan is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs on alternate Wednesdays.
I dropped about 10-12 words from vocabulary, including words like... “ghetto.”
NO !! (unless you mean bad manners)
When one of us is forced to leave a restaurant, politeness is entirely absent.
ML/NJ
Typical Duke wus.
Nathan is a Gillette-male.
+1. Excellent post!
The weapon of the Left to silence the Right is good old Political Correctness.
Political Correctness is not something new with the American Left. It has its origins a hundred years ago with Marxist totalitarian ideologies. It came about as a way to quiet and shut out any opposition to Marxism. It was brought into the US and introduced as Critical Theory in the 1930's by a couple of German university professors.
It was then passed on to the anti-war "Make Love, Not War" hippie generation, who have now grown up and are running the institutions of society, i.e. the media, the universities, the government, corporations, etc.
Critical Theory terminology was morphed into the phrase Political Correctness, so as not to tarnish its name with Marxism. But Political Correctness is nothing more than cultural Marxism. It utilizes the same Marxist technique to quell any opposition by shaming and shutting down dissent to the Leftist ideology in society.
It is not about what is right or wrong but solely about what the Marxist Left chooses to believe and then imposing those beliefs on the rest of society. If your square block doesn't fit into their round hole, then your block will be cut and shaped by sheer force to make it fit. You will believe what they believe, or else. It is insidious and dangerous. It stifles free speech and the exchange of ideas.
The Left will use ad hominem attacks under the guise of politically correct speech to stop you from criticizing their side or candidate. Or if you support a president they hate, like Trump. They even extend their malice to all of his supporters. The "deplorables" behind Trump have been called every name in the book to because they support Trump. But don't dare call them names. That's not PC.
Other examples abound. Most obvious was being called a racist for criticizing anything about Obama during his two terms. The same occurred during Hillary Clinton's campaign. You were called a sexist if you criticized her. Her campaign came out with a dozen or so words that even journalists couldn't use in describing Hillary. That is pure Marxism.
Global warming or climate change or climate crisis, whatever they are calling it this week, is another example. Try and argue the facts on global warming with a liberal. Immediately, you're called a denier and if you press the issue, they will tell you that the debate is over and/or it is settled science. There is already a consensus. So when exactly did this debate take place? I don't remember any debate. First I heard about it, the debate was over. How convenient.
Then there's the discussions of radical Islam. Immediately, if you are not tolerant of these blood-thirsty savages who maim, murder, mutilate and behead people who don't agree with them (including making a drawing of their pedophile leader), then you are branded an intolerant Islamaphobe. Try talking about homosexuality and LGBTXYZ issues. You're definitely a homophobe right off the bat.
And not to be left out is the current public discourse over illegal immigration and building a wall to help protect the safety and security of Americans. If you side with Trump or think there ought to be an orderly process for entering the country legally, instead of an open border where hoards flow across, unchecked, you are called a racist and a xenophobe (I had to look that one up). Instead of discussing the pros and cons of allowing millions of illegal aliens to enter the country, the Left resorts to ad hominem attacks because you don't agree with them their point of view. They don't want to hear you views. PC speech demands that their view are mandated to be your views as well.
And it goes on and on and on with whatever issue or speech the Left wants to control. Not allowing conservative speech on university campuses is a complete turnaround to the situation in the 60s when I graduate from college. Back then, discourse in all kinds and form of speech was allowed and encouraged. Now it is stopped and stifled from taking place at all. Talk about unenlightened college students.
Nathan needs to wake up and smell the foul odor coming from the Left. If we don't push back against the liberals, progressives, Marxists, socialists and communists on this issue, it could well be the death of our country, which was founded on freedoms and liberties. Political correctness is the antithesis of these ideals. I choose not to practice it or acquiesce to it at all.
John Tolland, biographer of Adolf Hitler, related the story of how once, following a speech he had made, Hitler was accosted by a young man who had listened to the speech. “Tell me,” said the man, “did they shit in your brain and forget to flush it?”
Be kind to everyone around you. This covers not using hostile language that might upset anyone.
It is an act of kindness, nothing more or less, to not react with hostility if someone else is unkind. Save most of your anger for when you are in private. In the public situation, ignore the unkind person, or if you can find an example-setting moment, kindly correct them (ex: “Disabled people have a hard enough time as it is, so let’s not use that word, ok?”)
bfl
Have you talked to many PhD students in education or gender studies?
Even at Duke, students and professors complain about the PC culture on campus.
And this! Are those the same professors who condemned the men's lacrosse team without a shred of evidence?
Because if you are not, you are not going to be writing for The Chronicle and in fact will probably be run off campus.
Thankfully, we don’t have a sissy for president. We did with Obama, and it’s dangerous.
Universities are scam warehouses of propaganda
How kind should one be with a child rapist or mass murderer?
How kind should one be with someone who spends his days facilitating terrorism?
How kind should one be with a child rapist or mass murderer?
It’s kind of a dumb comment to ask me if you have to be polite to a guy raping a kid.
(But yes, for example, in an American courtroom, someone accused of child molestation is treated with the same respect as anyone else. Again, a paradigm for high civilization, ruling with intelligence and not emotion.)
Being ignorant to different identities shuts out people from hearing your message, and it dwindles your audience. A few weeks ago, Kevin Hart was dropped from his hosting gig at the Oscars due to a resurfacing of tweets using the word “f*g” as well as a joke about him beating his son up with a dollhouse if he turned out to be gay. Many, including Ellen DeGeneres, defended the comedian, arguing that these were old jokes from years ago. The issue was not that society had somehow decided to be offended by Kevin Hart. Rather, Kevin Hart decided in those years to exclude gay people from his audience by making them the target of those jokes. He lost that community as a potential fan base as a direct result of his choice to make homophobic comments.
Thanks ml/nj.
Excellent post, tho the thread has already been won by“In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is...in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.” ― Theodore DalrympleYour post does complement #11 usefully, however.11 posted on 1/20/2019, 6:30:19 PM by Grimmy
Thank God he isn’t my son. Guess he wears dresses too.
Quit talking about Muhammed.
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