Political Correctness - Good or Bad?
Posted: Friday, December 28, 2007
by Kevin D. Moore
Knowledge Driven & Moore LLC
As with anything good, too much of it can be bad. Unfortunately, this may have happened or is happening with Political Correctness (a.k.a. PC.)
I must admit that I have been very happy with the kindlier gentler world that has resulted from the internalization of PC by my fellow brothers and sisters of the human race in
For example, I once stated that someone was deaf. I was immediately informed that I was not being PC and that the more appropriate term was hearing impaired. Upon realizing the error of my ways, I immediately changed my verbiage. The good thing was that being PC would help me not to offend anyone. However, I was later informed that stating that someone was hearing impaired was not PC and the proper term was in fact deaf. So here is the bad part; I am now confused! I do not know what to do or say. I was trying not to be offensive but was anyway (depending on whom you talked to.)
Fortunately, my resolve and desire for the greater good (being PC) were not derailed by my confusion. This is especially true given the goodness that has personally been bestowed upon me. As a Black American, this goodness was manifested in the way that people addressed or referred to me. Specifically, I am for the most part no longer openly referred to as being a Boy, Colored, Negro, or the "N" Word all terms that I find offensive to some degree given their past history. And, thanks to PC, these words have almost been eradicated. This is a good thing!
But as I mentioned earlier, too much of a good thing can be bad. For example, from a cultural perspective, many White Americans have said to me that they are afraid to say things reference Black Americans because it might not be PC. More importantly, they are highly concerned with the backlash that they may experience for not being PC or the pain that they may inadvertently cause.
Unfortunately, this concern or fear to say the wrong thing is creating an environment where people are more unlikely to openly discuss issues, differences, or observations with respect to people. Without this dialogue, there is a tendency for people to continue to misunderstand each other, not improve relations, and limit social problem solving.
In other words, we must communicate with each other if we ever hope to make this world a better place. In lies the problem. To improve communications, it is important to be PC so as not to offend. But it must be balanced. Too much PC can backfire and limit communications.
That's where courage comes in. You and I must be courageous enough not to allow PC to limit our dialogue with others.
Is there a greater possibility of offending someone through our courage? Absolutely!
Will it be worth it in the end? Absolutely!
Copyright © 2007 Knowledge Driven & Moore LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Kevin D. Moore is the author of "Did You Ever Wonder Why Black People Do The Things They Do?" and is the President of Knowledge Driven & Moore LLC (www.knowledgedrivenandmoore.com) a motivational speaking and consultant company on Leadership, Management, Communications, and Diversity. Additionally, he is a Chief Information Officer (CIO), a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, and a graduate of the
Consideration, kindness, compassion, respect should always be applied but the truth sometimes needs direct talk. Stealing is stealing, doing drugs is doing drugs and lies are lies, etc and perhaps when we confront people with the truth that is what they really need not some suger coating or politcial correctness where we have to be afraid to offend. Good job! RTMRTM, Many thanks!!! KDM
I must agree with Robert Melaccio, Sr. PC is not only confusing, it avoids calling something what it is, thus hamstringing both communication and science/understanding. Consideration, kindness, compassion, and respect avoid needless hurt feelings, but sometimes feelings are not the issue. We might not want to hurt the feelings of an alcoholic, but confrontation may well be in her best interest in the long run. Hurting feelings for the sake of hurting feelings is inhuman. Hurting feelings unnecessarily is an area that PC may have helped us avoid in some cases by raising our awareness so that consideration, kindness, compassion, and respect can function. However, I still don't know what to call black/African-American/people-of-color. When I was growing up the term "Negro" was an anthropological term applied to a race like Caucasian, not a racial slur. Perhaps in the midst of a reaction to a derivative that was a slur, the "N word", Negro got thrown out with the bath water. So, with the TV mini-series Roots emerged a pride in their heritage, a good thing, and the term African-American was preferred. Then a reaction emerged preferring the term "Black" from those who did not identify as African (i.e., Caribbean, etc) or who saw the term discounting their American-ness. In recent years the term "people of color" has emerged. But wait a minute, I thought "colored people" was bad. How are those terms different? Admittedly, I am a WASP, which probably explains the thickness between my ears on this subject. But the monologue I have written above might help explain why considerate, kind, compassionate, and respectful people sometimes get irritated by what can appear to be overly sensitive reactions in the PC generating community. I can go on about gender issues and sexual preference, but my point is not to trample on anyone's feelings. You, as the author, are a black man, thus holding yourself out there as part of this dialogue. So, I will confine my PC examples to the race issue specifically as it relates to Blacks. What really makes it confusing is that "cultural competency" demands that we interact with cultures in a way that they relate to and understand. We are to respect the values of and be lenient with the asocial aspect of the hiphop gansta rappers because they reflect an aspect of Black culture. Yet they use the "N word" almost as much as they call women "Hos". Now "confusing" hits home, as well as feminism. I like Robert Melaccio, Sr.'s guidelines much better than PC because they show much more respect and consideration for Blacks and women than PC does.
Kevin, I also find that I like being PC and I sometimes don't like it. It's a funny thing. I am a native Iowan and was brought up with a very strong PC slant when discussing anything with anyone. When I moved to New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world, I was shocked to hear people refer to women as "girls" as where I'm from in Iowa, that would not be tolerated. I would have been outraged if someone called me a girl in Iowa, yet I have somehow let it go here. I was also originally shocked to see images of religious symbols in public institutions because in Iowa where I'm from, we were always so careful about not allowing that, so as not to offend anyone. (We were trying so hard to be PC!) It's funny and ironic at the same time as Iowa is not a diverse place, yet New York City is. So I have "loosened" up my "uptightness" a bit and I now just "go with the flow" here. Barbara
