It’s always good to start by defining terms before engaging in any meaningful discussion about anything as it gives room for people to gain more understanding of the topic at hand and move at the same pace.
Now, what’s Political Correctness? According to Oxford Dictionaries, Political Correctness is “The avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalise, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.”
With that out of the way, I think Political Correctness has gone way too far for my liking. We’ve come to a point where questioning political correctness is to risk being branded a bigot, ultra-conservative or alt-right.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions and I think that’s what happened with political correctness. It started with good intentions in the late 1970s as a response to prevailing racism and sexism. It led to increased tolerance for diversity. However, it has now morphed and evolved into something totally different.
The metamorphosis and evolution of Political Correctness was quite rapid and we’re at a place where people literally like, share, clap and cheer at a comment like, “You’ve offended me by your comment”. Unlike its initial intentions, PC is a tool now used for intolerance of diversity in opinions and speech.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions and I think that’s what happened with political correctness
More than ensuring the minorities have a voice and are represented, PC has turned into a vehicle for witch hunts. People are now afraid to say, “black person”, “white person”, say, in a working environment otherwise they can lose their job and everything they’ve worked for. I believe this is a dangerous place to be in society. To be able to think, you run the risk of offending people.
A question for you; do you think if political correctness had stayed focused on reducing discrimination and making sure that minorities had a voice, would all be good? And, we all know when the Right goes too far; when they start to discriminate based on race, gender, etc. However, I am sure the Left can go too far, but how do we know when they’ve gone too far? Do you know?
I strongly believe that the commandeers of Political Correctness in 2018 are enemies of progress because they deny people the right to dialogue at the level they are emotionally and intellectually.
I AM NOT a Donald Trump fan, but I’d rather deal with Trump because I know what I am dealing with as opposed to someone that hides behind euphemisms and political correctness. In that case, we haven’t dealt with unconscious bias and prejudice, the bedrock of racism and sexism if you ask me.
Also read: The Miseducation of The African Child
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