Political Correctness

[Not Changed by VASM :(]

People take this shit way to seriously.

[Meteor]

What is the difference aside from inflection? ._.

The fact that is sounds "nicer" is a bad reason to use an inaccurate term. Maybe I'm alone on this, but when I hear the term used incorrectly I interpret the speaker to be intentionally ignorant just so nobody might happen to be "offended."

[Divine Hero Nguyen]

I'm not trying to slam you, but I don't hear Caucasian (or however you spell it) as much as African American. If black isn't the right word, neither should white be the right term for "Caucasians". Personally, white and black are so much quicker and easier to say/write than Caucasian and African American then again everthing formal is harder than informal.

Caucasian IS the right term. But the minority's perspective is more sensitive (and therefore, more important) than the majority. :/

The fact that is sounds "nicer" is a bad reason to use an inaccurate term. Maybe I'm alone on this, but when I hear the term used incorrectly I interpret the speaker to be intentionally ignorant just so nobody might happen to be "offended."

How is it inaccurate when they both mean the same thing? Black = African American. The connotation is different and that is why it depends on the formality of the situation (i.e. Would is better to say "African American" in a speech to the audience or "Black"?)

It is WHEN it is the right time to use certain words that people have a problem with.

[Crystal Shards]

How is it inaccurate when they both mean the same thing? Black = African American. The connotation is different and that is why it depends on the formality of the situation (i.e. Would is better to say "African American" in a speech to the audience or "Black"?)

"African American" is wrong because it implies African roots. Also, there are Africans who aren't black; look at Egyptians and many South Africans. Aren't THEY African Americans?

It also leads me to another pet peeve of mine: Putting shit before "American."

I AM German American. I was born in Germany to a full-blooded German. My American dad left my mom but that's a different story. Anyway I was German until I was like, 6 or so, when I became a US citizen. Therefore, by heritage, I AM German American.

However, many of the people who claim "African American" descent aren't really African American. If to claim Native American status, you have to have 1/32 in you, I think the same should apply to claiming to be African American (yes, I know it's for legal reasons, but I'm just talking about the idea here). That would be your great-great-great grandparents, or someone born roughly 100-150 years ago, so like 1858-1908. Considering that the slave trade was abolished in 1865, it's highly unlikely that anyone is a direct, 1/32 or more African American (unless, of course, someone moved to America from Africa, which is a different story, though the numbers are quite low).

-CIS

See, it's near the bottom.

Yeah. I dunno. It just irritates me that a lot of people cling to a culture (and this isn't just blacks) that they don't even really belong to. It'd be like me suddenly deciding I'm Japanese or Russian.

Edited November 25, 2008 by Crystal Shards

[General Spoon]

The snowman is perhaps, the biggest example of political incorrectness. It is white and male, promoting racism and male dominance.

[Steven Tyler]

The snowman is perhaps, the biggest example of political incorrectness. It is white and male, promoting racism and male dominance.

I thought you were talking about me at first!

But yes, this politcally correct crap is out of hand. People worry too much if you are offending somebody. Also, some of the terms for P.C. are actually offensive and just plain silly.

[Cynthia]

Sometimes it's polite, and sometimes it's just going over board.

I recall someone telling me they were offended by the word chair, so they asked people to call it a "sitting apparatus."

[Shuuda]

Brainstorm! Those diagrams are called BRAINSTORMS, not a freaking "thought-shower". Brainstorm just sounds more exciting. Thought showers are for wimps; real men use brainstorming... and maybe thought EXPLOSIONS!

Edited November 26, 2008 by Shuuda

[YokaiKnight]

Just to make you all facepalm at this post, African American isn't much more accurate than black. How many black people do you know who are, you know, black?

I prefer using black anyway, because it's less of a hassle and is a lot less stiff.

The snowman is perhaps, the biggest example of political incorrectness. It is white and male, promoting racism and male dominance.

Your first joke was a lot better.

[Iceland]

Just to make you all facepalm at this post, African American isn't much more accurate than black. How many black people do you know who are, you know, black?

I know a couple who are pretty close.

But seriously, PC is getting overboard, and I'm not just talking about race either. People are not handicapped or physically disabled, they're crippled or 'dude in the wheelchair'. Old people are old, not elderly. He's not a street person, he's a bum. Etc. I know I'm parroting George Carlin on this, but the dude was spot on with his asessment of PC.

[California Mountain Snake]

I remember a presentation I saw in high school one of my classmates gave on Mauritania, in which they declared 1/3 of the population was of Arabic decent, 1/3 Moorish, and another third was "African-American"...

"Black" isn't politically incorrect. And neither is Caucasian technically correct (Caucasian = from the Caucasus, an area between the Caspian and the Black sea including Albania, Georgia, Azerbaijan, etc).

I just tell people I'm Native American, which most people balk at. But really, my family has been here 4 generations at the low end, and too many generations to count at the high end. I hold no cultural ties to England, Germany, Scotland, etc. I was born here, I am an American, I can't get any more native than that. And believe it or not, many First Nation or "Indian" people find the term Native American offensive, to them we're the Americans, because we destroyed their nations to make America. To some of them, the idea of being called American in any context is offensive and grossly inaccurate. There was no "America" before the Europeans came here.

Political correctness has gone way overboard, but to imply it's "completely useless", like most absolute statements, is a bit overboard. The expectation that politicians and our government exercise political correctness is what prevents our government from (overtly) playing off racial tensions and ingrained primordial sentiment, a problem many nations have had that result in ethnic violence (Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Germany) and salient ethnic tension (India, Belgium Canada, lots of others). Political correctness is the part of our freedom, believe it or not, which allows a Muslim to be angry when he is scrutinized at an airport, and allows a black person to be offended when the security officers follow him around in the store. Political correctness takes away some of the ethnic tension in America that, believe it or not, is quite lower than many other nations, even those that we could consider civilized.

It's a personal choice. Yes, you're allowed to call mental challenged people "retarded", and your allowed to call homosexuals "queers", this is America and unlike many other countries you're allowed to say (mostly) anything you want. And political correctness is never going to be legally required in this country, so there's really nothing to worry about except the fact that being PC is, in some limited circles, becoming socially expected (there are still much larger circles I believe that are fighting against political correctness). Basically, if you have it good enough to just be able to complain about using good manners to be acceptable (since it's not legally required), you need to stop BAWWWing and put a little perspective on things.

Edited November 28, 2008 by Black Knight