The Political Correctness Police: Warranted or Overkill

Political correctness is defined as the avoidance of forms of expression or actions that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against. Political correctness, “PC”, stood for fairness and openness. People want to avoid offending certain groups because this could lead to them starting a fight or losing friends. Celebrities and political leaders also want to use PC because offending groups could lead to losing sponsors and votes. Since the PC contains the word “correctness”, some people think the word is authoritative. People believe the word makes it seem like you are being talked down to. Political correctness has been around for over 100 years. There are people who believe that PC is warranted and then there are the people who believe that PC is overkill.

The first use of the word political correct was in the late eighteenth century. The supreme court used it in Chisholm v. Georgia. The supreme court said, “Sentiments and expressions of this inaccurate kind of prevail in our common, even in our convivial, language. Is a toast asked? The United States, instead of the People of the United States, is the toast given. This is not politically correct.” The word was first used in the most literal sense possible. PC was not yet a nationwide topic of debate. Modern PC didn’t occur until the 1960s. The 1960s was a time of social change in America. In the 1992 article, “Historically Correct”, written by Ruth Perry, she writes how both sides of the party were equally as responsible in guiding the modern day PC. She wrote, “Each side felt that the other side was standing in the way of liberation”(Perry). Ruth talks about how she saw terms like, “civil rights”, “black power”, and “feminist” become popular with liberals. The other side of the spectrum served as a beacon for anti-communist conservatism. Being PC was seen as being great to society. PC isn’t just words, it is actions as well. The people protesting against war during the 1960s were seen as being politically wrong by Republicans. The Democrats thought that legislation support was politically correct. PC was used in a different way by the late 90s. PC was now being used sarcastically and straight. PC was not seen as a compliment. A few Republicans right now believe that the co-ownership of PC has all but faded. President Donald Trump said, “I frankly don’t have time for political correctness”, when questioned about his past of questionable comments regarding women. Dr. Ben Carson answered a question about anti-Muslim sentiments and he said, “ The only way we fix that is by fixing the PC culture in our country, which only listens to one narrative. And if it doesn’t fit their philosophy then they have to try to ascribe some motive to make it fit.” Today’s use of the word has been said that, “It’s become very fashionable for people to take the term and to use it as a mocking term, to use it as a way to discredit anybody who expresses concern about an underdog in anything.” History has shown that the term political correctness has changed its meaning drastically from what it was initially. Politicians are beginning to deal with PC differently, which might indicate that the meaning of the term might be changing. Ungar said, “ People are understanding more and more, how dangerous it is to suppress opinions or to make some opinions unacceptable.”

Political correctness is used to avoid offending people, and many people follow this strictly. They have many points as to why people should be politically correct. The anti-PC group constantly say that, “people get offended too easily”. This shifts the blame on someone’s surroundings, and away from the person who was being careless with their words. The pro-PC community says that this makes PC seem like society’s weakness, and that people are not held accountable for their words and actions, and how those words and actions could make someone feel. Pro-PC members claim that being PC allows them to connect with more people. Not using PC terms only allows people to solely connect with people with similar backgrounds. Although not everyone has gone through the same struggles, thus using PC terms allows people to see that you respect them. All groups of people will then respect you because they see that you are trying to understand them. Anti-PC members have their voices less heard because they exclude certain groups of people by showing them that they don’t respect them because they refuse to use the political correct terms when referring to them. This is supported by the fact that Kevin Hart received backlash and was dropped from the Oscars because he didn’t use a PC term when referring to a certain group of people. Many people felt that he lost the chance of getting those people as fans because they were the target of the jokes. Pro-PC member say that the opposite of political correctness is not unfiltered truth telling. They believe that the opposite of political correctness is political expression that is careless towards one’s beliefs that is different from our own. Anti-PC members are seen as having no respect, tolerance, and patience for those who are different. Certain groups of people ask outsiders to call them by a certain name because the non PC terms are usually used in a negative connotation, and they don’t understand the struggles they have gone through. Anti-PC groups arguing that, “people are too sensitive”, is a complete invalid argument in the eyes of the pro-PC community because not everyone has gone through the same experiences. People don’t have the credibility to say what someone can be offended by.

The other side of the spectrum is that Political correctness is overkill. Most people that are classified as be “anti-PC” don’t think that they are. They just believe that a person cannot say or do anything without being seen as politically incorrect. They do believe that racial slurs are unacceptable and that political correctness is necessary in those instances. They also see when its overkill. They don’t see everything having to do with race, gender, sexuality, etc. They believe that not letting someone dress up as a character because they exemplify a negative connotation is ridiculous. They think that people need to actually target the actions that are detrimental to people and ideas in our society. They say that America has developed lazy views on what is actually wrong or right. Political correctness is no longer constructive, it has become something that people abuse when they simply don’t like what another person says or does. They argue that people are now becoming afraid of speaking their mind and sharing their opinions because of censorship. There are conversations that are being held back because of political correctness. They don’t believe someone has the right to tell other people how to speak or act, simply because of their opinions on a topic. Anti-PC member don’t think everything someone says is filled with hatred. But people are quick to label these people as racists, homophobes, sexists etc. When that is not the case. They believe that this logic takes people away from their first amendment rights. They suggest that instead of targeting the person, we should target the words and ideas. The community needs to start educating not censoring. If we only censor every politically incorrect person, then those same people will towards censoring everyone else. In the end they see how being politically correct is important, but censoring and labeling someone something their not is not right.

Political correctness has changed a lot throughout the years, spanning over 100 years. Political correctness seems to be spilt. There are some people that believe that it is warranted and we need to use it at all times to respect everyone who has gone through a different experience. Then there are those who believe that political correctness is warranted under certain circumstances, but feel like people take it to an extreme and begin labeling people by false characteristics. Which ever side your on remember its important to look at both sides without bias in order to understand it. We all see the circumstances where political correctness is needed, but the question lies in when does it become overkill? Or is it never overkill and its always warranted.