Where to begin?
First of all, it pisses me off.
There was a thread today in JJHF talking about the whole Don Imus situation (He apparently called some girls' basketball team 'nappy headed hos'). I don't watch/listen to Imus, so I don't know what he said.
But then it got into political correctness.
I saw Ralphie May on Comedy Central the other day. One of his jokes was that people get upset when you call someone "Retarded" vs "Mentally Challenged" or whatever. Then he said "The retarded people aren't getting upset!"
And it's true.
Political Correctness has gone way too far.
Retarded people KNOW that they're different. But I don't know if they think the word "Retarded" is, according to the PC people, offensive.
re·tard·ed
–adjective
1. characterized by retardation: a retarded child.
–noun
2. (used with a plural verb) mentally retarded persons collectively (usually prec. by the): new schools for the retarded.
n.
1. A slowing down or hindering of progress; a delay.
Retarded means, simply put, "slow".
The word, in and of itself, is not offensive. It's just stating a fact.
Any word can be offensive if people CHOOSE to see it as such.
I am offended by the term "African American". I am not African. No one in my family (for the past several generations) is African. I did not just get off the boat.
I'm an American. I happen to be black.
If you're going to try to label me as an "African" American, you need to label every other American too. But, let's be honest, most of us are Hybrids. Or Composites. Even if both of your parents consider themselves Italian, it doesn't mean you don't have some Black, German, Asian or Latino somewhere in the mix.
Which is why it's stupid.
I think everyone knows that not all black people are BLACK. Strictly speaking, white people aren't white. They're pinkish peachy people. But if you have to put a label on what they are, everyone knows what a white person is.
How much farther will this go?
Like hate crimes.
If 2 men get into a fight, it's a fight. If one of the men is gay, it's a hate crime.
????
What if the gay guy is kicking the straight guy's ass? Is it a hate crime then? Maybe he hates heterosexuals.
*sigh*
Whatever.
I am only politically correct when I am being facetious.
I don't see that changing in the future.
Technically if a gay guy is kicking a straight guys butt i think they call that "foreplay". The Tabloids would make it attempted rape I'm sure.
ReplyDeletePC makes the world that little bit more difficult to live in, but then in a world of craziness that's not saying much..
PC...definitely too far...I knew this when my kids were in preschool and sang the song with the line "10 little Indian boys and girls"...God forbid it should be just boys! But that was more than 10 years ago...now they probably have to sing, "Native American boys and girls" or have had a constitutional amendment to ban the song from preschools altogether.
ReplyDeleteI am tired of famous people saying stupid things, having a week of back and forth, getting fired and then having a big meeting to apologize. Maybe they should just not say objectionable things in public at all. I mean, I know about free speech and all. But these people (Imus, Tim Hardaway, Michael Richards, Dr. Burke on Grey's) don't stand up after and claim free speech...they claim they didn't mean it, they are sorry, they'll go to rehab, etc.
Did I mention that I LOVE your blog!!! I think I'm going to become an insomniac so I can read all of your archives! No, I'm not a blog stalker (blalker? I have this annoying habit of combining blog with other words to create new blog words, a la Julie & Julia author who dubbed her blog readers "bleaders")
I don't mind being called "White" but would prefer "Porcelain Skinned" as it compliments my skin (an attribute that helps to offset the fact that my waist is the same size as my hips) while also differentiating me from the "Latte" gal next to me in line at Starbucks!
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that black people always describe their skin tone by using "food" words.
ReplyDeleteI'm cafe au lait.
Some people are chocolate.
I think Evan is Creme Brulee before it's been hit with the blowtorch. ;-)
Well put! PC-speak is, IMO, censorship at its best. I'm not sure when the world got so darn sensitive, but I wish it would stop.
ReplyDeleteMaturity is the issue, and that is severely lacking in the world todady!
And BTW, if we're describing our skin tones, mine would be "pasty"