Correctly Political: A Look into the Dynamics of Political Correctness
Every American probably knows what it means to be politically correct.
After all, we hear about it on the news almost every night. We have to be constantly aware of whether or not something we say or do is going to offend someone. This mode of communication is present in every aspect of our lives, from the most formal to the most informal situations.
This paper will answer questions on the origin of the term ‘politically correct' and the applications of the communication pattern it refers to: who started it, who is doing it, and why. Is political correctness a good idea? Is it too pervasive?
Varying opinions on the definition of political correctness exist. For the purposes of this writing the most concise definition available has been selected. Political Correctness refers to matters of inclusive speech, advocacy of nonracist, nonageist, nonsexist terminology, and insistence on affirmative action policies, avoidance of Eurocentrism as reflected in a “traditional” canon of literature, acceptance of multiculturalism as a valued feature of American society, and dismantling hierarchy as controlled by a white male power structure.
(Hoover and Howard 963)
In a nutshell, political correctness is an attempt at changing the way we look at things. The goal is to be respectful of all people and cultures.
Unfortunately, in the process of fostering understanding, the culture and ideas that are presently embraced must be discredited and virtually destroyed. This “ traditionalist” power structure is constantly under fire in the debate over political correctness. Nontraditionalists have proposed that we “regard the creation of a culturally diverse community as not just fair, but as a valued objective in its own right.” (qtd. in Hoover and Howard 967) In order to fully understand the effects of politically correct thinking, it is necessary to see it through time to its present state.
There is a wealth of information on the history of the term “political correctness” and it's applications. However, scholars usually do not agree.
The most common commentaries have noted its use in North American social movements from the late 1960's and within Leninist part...
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...tless books and articles which study and debate the problems and effects of PC. The left and right of the University are the nontraditionalists and the traditionalists. Debates over Universities center on curricula, in particular the literary canon. The canon is made us primarily of works by dead white males and is part of the core curriculum at nearly every University in America. Nontraditionalists seek to alter the canon by either supplementing it with a multicultural emphasis, or overhauling it and starting from scratch to create a more diverse base of literary education.
Traditionalists wish to continue to teach the current canon, and see the nontraditionalists' aims as subversive and irresponsible. (Hoover and Howard
968)
At a few Universities, nontraditionalist views are influencing class scheduling. Some schools have instituted “alternative” courses: Dartmouth offers “The Invention of Heterosexuality and How to Have Promiscuity in an
Epidemic.” At Brown one could find a course called “Christianity, Violence, and
Victimization.” Even Yale has PC courses: “Gender and the Politics of
Resistance: Feminism, Capitalism, and the Third World.” (Leo 18)
Don’t Just Stand There is an essay written by Diane Cole. It was first published in 1989 in a New York Times publication. She advises her audience about how to react to prejudice comments and jokes. However, her argument is not credible because she fails to mention vital information that would help to support her argument, and there are too many logical fallacies.
In Barre Toelken’s essay “Seeing with a Native Eye: How Many Sheep Will It Hold?”, the ways in which one culture perceives another and the criteria used to make judgements are explored. Toelken states “I think I can say something about how differently we see things, envision things, look at things, how dissimilarly different cultures try to process the world of reality” (10-11). In essence, Toelken is alluding to how different cultures will interpret their experiences and rituals according to their own set of beliefs and practices. This complicates situations in which the experiences or rituals are not comparable across cultural lines; someone will always be missing an aspect or a significant purpose if they do not try to “see it as much as possible with the ‘native eye’” (12). In other words, one must immerse themselves in the culture they are analyzing, while not comparing it to their own cultural experiences. One must consider all the cultural implications of that specific culture when wondering why things are done a certain way. Toelken provides
The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. The eurocentrism and its effects on our educational system and influence on society is what is holding the African-American community back from their own success. Reaction When I was first told that I was going to have to read this book, my initial reaction was that of a stereotypical math education student: I was less than enthused. Reading has never been something that I did in my free time, and it was always something that upset me when an instructor said that I had to do it. This book also had an extra complication, the stigma of the word “negro”.
The need to understand each other better and live in harmony is a reality and must be approached using multiple techniques including conversations. We must talk to each other to smooth out or differences and embrace our common attributes. Most conflicts are resolved after some form of dialogue. To stop discrimination or negative stereotyping of individuals or groups of people we should try to embrace conversations which will eventually lead to new laws that can protect the basic human rights of people and allow for people to be true to themselves without having to hide, cover or pretend to be what they are not,.Yoshino suggests using “reason-forcing conversations to address people forced to cover”(557) this conversations should occur informally and intimately in settings such as restaurants and should underscore certain reasons which include illegitimate issues such as homo phobia opining that such discourse are where tolerance can be made or unmade. The laws that govern our society should be dynamic allowing for changes that accommodate our human sensitivity and allow us to live together in better harmony with each other and our
Political correctness may be a coined term that the general population does not necessarily know the definition of, but is relevant in every single person’s life. In today’s society one must be very careful when verbalizing opinions in order to prevent offending others around, or from disturbing the Politically Correct Puritans: those who strongly support censorship of politically incorrect labels (Suedfeld et al 1994). There are many different theories as to what makes political correctness important and why college campuses seem to be so heavily surrounded by political correcting activists, but oddly enough there has not been an extensive amount of research done on the topic.
Irvine, Reed, and Joseph C Goulden. ³The ŒBlame Whitey¹ Media.² USA Today Magazine January 1994: 78+.
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White” also contribute to the inequality in schools. Authors like Sabrina, Samuel Bowles, and Herbert
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