Politically CorrectFollow

Texas A&M-- taking down the imagined enemies of the right wing from 1992.

i would love to shake the guy/girls hand who wrote that. so very true.

Cite?

How are you supposed to ask for black coffee?

This has always been my experience as well. As a Black man, I just want to be treated the same as everyone else, there really is no need for some sort of "special" word for my racial background.

I never hear anyone saying European-American or not colored, so why do I have to have terms just for me? Plus, for some reason it sort of annoys me when people get more "offended"(Sometimes I don't think they are offended. I at times believe it to be just a way to try and show not being racist, sort of like those "I have a black friend..." stories.) then me when the term is directed at my race. If I don't get upset about it, I really don't see why someone outside of my race should be either.

Oh, and when it first circulated, it was an illogical "liberal minority"...can't forget the liberal part there...

Nexa

I agree with your general contention but your specific example-- I mean, I went to Smith and Hampshire College and lived in Amherst and Northampton, MA. If anyone know those areas, it's like the Mothership of the Politically Correct and no one I ever met ever, ever, ever, would object to a black coffee being called black. Your example seems like that proverbial example used to dismiss either real examples of political correctness gone awry or the ways that PC is used as a dismissal or a straw man tactic to silence those who might genuinely have a beef with the way that something is done or said. And for good reasons--like the realities that we live in a genuinely racist world where people are really being discriminated against constantly and the real issue aren't minor points of style, as indicated here, but really inequities. And also real times where there is something said or done that is controversial and does not just serve as comedy fodder.

Edited, Mar 31st 2008 5:28pm by Annabella

Someone found the thesaurus tool in Microsoft Word.

And, as stated before, this is some old *********

I concur.

I have yet to hear many of these 'politically correct' statements come from the mouths of people genuinely trying to make a difference.

Take away the people using it as a defence mechanism, those who want to sound trendy, and those tryng to prove that we straight white men are victims of minority oppression, and you're usually left with boringly temperate language.

I note your caution. As a child, overtly offensive language went unchallenged. Thankfully I now rarely hear people shouting Paki, ****, Pouffter or wog, as I did. I once challenged my late father-in-law for referring to black neighbours as 'n1ggers' within earshot of my kids. I was accused of being PC.

As per my previous comment, time has moved the boundaries.

Examples of what I challenge that get me ridiculed as being "Too PC" are:

• A local Hospital has a 60% british Muslim catchment area, but (until recently) still had documentation requiring people's "Christian Name". It's an anachronism that makes assumptions that became invalid decades ago. As a non-christian - I don't have a 'christian name' - it's my 'first' name.
• I still hear people use the word 'Jew' as an adjective meaning to cheat or swindle. I find that ridiculous and worth challenging.
• I still grumble at the TV when criminals/terrorists are described by their ethnicity and/or faith even when it's irrelevant.
• I despise the use of 'gay' as a generic insult.

On the other hand, I will happily share a jaunty "Oh just FUck Off" with anyone who challenges me ordering "Black" Coffee, singing the national anthem, flying St George's Cross on St George's day or when England are playing, or challenging the celebration of Christmas (or Eid/Hannukah/Vaisaki etc.)

Surely these are the exactly the trivial bullsh*t that when you get right down to it are nothing more than a mild iritation and in the great scheme of things are not going to have an effect on someones life.

Sure get rid of them but it's hardly

A. going to happen overnight
B. Solely the province of skin coloUr/ethnicity (how many time have you heard the phrase "Small man's syndrome"?

The first example wouldn't offend me and i'm not Christian

The Second example i have never heard, Big nosed, Yes but cheats/swindle No thats usually accompanied by Gypsy wher i was brought up and is used exactly the same way as Scoucer only with half the vigor.

I grumble at the TV when any of a thousand inaccurate typecasts are thrust upon a group: Hoodies, Punk, the list is endless, Lets face it the press are purely out to label any group to make "selling" the story easier.

Does racism exsist? Yes it does.

Does racism target only non whites? No it doesn't, not that you will ever see it portrayed that way by the press.

Does ALL racism need to be adressed? yes but lets get the REAL issues dealt with and stop worrying so much about trivial sh*t like what a form indicates your first name to be, and start adressing the media portrayal of immigration and get a programme to intigrate members of cross culture neighbourhoods.

the best way to stop people hating each other because of skin coloUr is to let them get to know each other and socialise with one another rather than live in a "Them and Us" system like we do at the moment, on both sides.

When I was a teenager in London in the early 90s, everyone called "newsagents" "Paki shops". That's just how they were called. And it made sense, since they were mostly staffed by, you know, Pakis. So we were like "Et man, ca va? On va a la Paki shop? C'est cool, ils ont des Mars bars". I didn't realise "Paki shop" was offensive until I reached 17-18, and even then I still sometimes referred to newsagents as "paki shops" when I was with my friends, purely out of habit.

On the whole though, PC is a good thing. Not being pointlessly offensive to people can only be a good thing in a multi-ethnic society. It goes too far sometimes, but so does everything. The situation we're in now is much better than the one in "This is England", and it's partly thanks to PC. It's a good film, by the way. The part when the 12 year old boy sucks the 14 year old girl's tits is a bit disturbing, but other than that it's really quite cool.

Problems as complex as inherent racism/sexism need to be tackled on many fronts. Several people, myself included, have at one time or another used a word that is considered a slur, whether intentionally or out of ignorance. Systematically altering language is just one way to make our interactions more open and program ourselves to not make automatic assumptions about people, but it's just as important to not fear these differences as dangerous or 'bad'. There's nothing I despise more than the statement that "we're all alike, no one's any different". We may be biologically identical, but trying to impose the idea that your ethnic identity, gender, religion, or race doesn't or shouldn't matter in the larger scheme of things is illogical, and smacks of trying to hide your head in the sand simply because you're uncomfortable dealing with it. You should acknowledge and celebrate difference, not feel like you have to sweep it under the rug, and work to make general processes and languages more inclusive at the same time.