In the US, there are few things more popular to attack than 'political correctness'. I don't mean PC as simply not using a few insensitive words, but PC as some enormous left-wing conspiracy to rob people of their rights of free speech. This devilish thought-control has apparently made us into a bland, timorous nation where straight, white, Christian men are banished from the halls of power and influence to make way for the takeover of black, lesbian Wiccans.
And yet, not everything we don't like has happened because political correctness has become overwhelming. If you can believe it, some things needed changing. Alot of the 'traditions' we've kept around for the past 50 or 100 or 2,000 years were simply garbage that needed cleaning out as soon as possible. Besides, all the supposedly unassailable minorities (such as blacks, gays, Muslims, etc.) are hardly free of criticism and suspicion; while white, Christian men continue their dominance over American political and economic life.
Cries of 'PC! PC!' have become a dismal, obvious excuse for lazy racists, sexists, homophobes and sundry other bigots across the country. Yes, such people really do exist! It's almost become a sort of game; various right-wing figures try to outdo each other to make the most sweeping, offensive, unjust generalization before hiding behind the cover of 'sticking it to the PC police'. One can hardly listen to some conservatives argue for more than five minutes without hearing him (or her) lean back, sneer, and, with the air of someone revealing that ice is actually frozen water, declare "It may not be PC to say so, but..." as if that gave them free reign to say absolutely anything, no matter how stupid or untrue.
Just browsing around on FreeRepublic as I sometimes do (though I don't reccomend it to anyone else) I find two accusations of 'PC liberal trash'. One involved Philadelphia public schools requiring a course on black history, and another involved the banning of a poster who had submitted an article supporting the theory of global warming. Heavens! Teaching science? Learning about black history? In America? What a crazy idea!
Political correctness, like any good cause, can be exploited. Yet its aim remains to challenge the idea that the things some people are used to are somehow sacred or 'traditional' and therefor immune to change just because we haven't had the sense or the courage to do something about it.
