Where Did We Get Here

With the generations changing, people are becoming more cautious about what they do or say or even let their children go out and do sensitivity is a growing at an alarming rate with the demand for “safe spaces” at college campuses across the United States, with a high rise of students demanding certain subjects from schools to be removed from institutes. Students are trying to get rid of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause them to feel uncomfortable and offended. Students are attempting to get rid of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause them to feel uncomfortable and offended.

In her article, “The Word Police”, Michiko Kakutani said “many gung-ho advocates of politically correct language seem to

Students of today are not being challenged as they should. Political correctness has become to run rampant and has come to silence great, intellectual minds. They are unable to speak out on different topics because what they have to say may be harsh, or hard to hear. Students do not want to be challenged, they want to be coddled. They want to go back to kindergarten and have their nap times, to have a “safe-space” that they can retreat to. They want juice boxes and puppy piles, to not face a harsh truth that can help them grow as a person. They know nothing of a harsh life, no hardships any more. Simple words in a books have become too much, they cannot handle reading a book that may “trigger” them. They have no sense of ownership. Everything has to be PC, to fit the norm. To go against the grain, to tell the truth when the truth may be an unpopular opinion, to do this is a sure-fire-way to get a very harsh backlash. Which, when thought about, seems to be rather ironic and hypocritical. When a person sees a wrong and tries to speak out against it and is unable to because of the fear for the backlash that is sure to follow, that is where being PC is harmful. A well known comedian, Jerry Seinfeld has this to say,

This shows that African American students were deeply troubled by the racial incidents. The racial incidents affected students both emotionally and mentally, so much so that some black students did not attend their classes since they did not feel safe. One student tweeted, “my head hurts, I’m exhausted, I’m currently emotionally unavailable, and I’m behind my coursework. This is not like me” (Kenz). These events not only show that racism exists, but also show that there is a lack of cultural competence on Xavier’s campus, which needs to be

“When words lose their meaning, people lose their freedom.” These wise words are said to be quoted from Confucius, a great philosopher and teacher from thousands of years ago. It seems that this man had predicted the future of our society. Our society has become a place where words lose their meaning due to sensitivity that a word may cause. We try so hard to ensure that someone isn't offended, and by doing so we lose the meaning of words. While I agree that there is some need for political correctness in our society, I believe that efforts have been taken to the extreme, causing many words to lose their meaning, and people to lose their freedom of expression.

The meaning of words change over time. Some of the words that were considered highly offensive and unacceptable in the past are now presently used in a kind hearted manner and a way to communicate in this current generation. A major factor includes the time period. For example the term “bad” is used to describe somebody or something

“Why not? I killed myself and that guy in the pizzeria and that other dude whose name I don’t remember. And I almost killed eighty-six. Plus I also threw that old ladies off a bridge. That deserves smiting. Can you smite the dead? Huh. Extermination. Yeah, it deserves extermination”

Political Correctness (Revision #1) In “Not a Very P.C. Thing to Say”, Jonathan Chait explains how the meaning associated with political correctness has changed over the years. In the 90’s, political correctness was first seen in academics and has now made its way to popular culture and social media. Debate is now seemingly impossible because people are afraid to be criticized for what they have to say. Audiences also choose to perceive a speaker’s message based on his race and gender.

In recent years, America has become softer as a country. The term recently that has come to light is politically correct, or as it is commonly referred to “PC.” In today's society people have become so focused on what's PC that the smallest offensive action can result in a massive lawsuit. America's recent development of political correctness is essentially a train the too many people hopped on, and then the train caught way too much speed. This trend has obviously spread like wildfire in the liberal college environment, and has even inhibited colleges from hiring commencement speakers. The point is, everyone in this country has a right to his or her own opinion, and this right should be honored unless it directly threatens the safety or well-being

The “Politically Correct” movement’s purpose is to bring historically condescending terms, offensive music and art, and controversial educational content to an end and replace them with more positive and less-offending references. Offensive and demoralizing efforts are wrong, but the censorship and deletion of words and phrases that do not contain the intention to demoralize are taking political correctness too far. Politically correct (or “PC”) antics have created a social decline that is growing worse with each generation, specifically regarding areas of art, education, language, and our right to freedom of speech; the degradation they have brought to the American psyche has even led to

They contribute to a prejudiced and limited perspective of Asian Americans that does not reflect the group’s heterogeneity. Not all Asian Americans are smart, nor are they all quiet, short, and unacculturated. There are more than thirty ethnicities categorized as Asian American, and they need to be portrayed in the media with characters that celebrate this grand diversity. Many Asian American students, myself included, waste time and energy worrying about whether we are acting in accordance with these stereotypes and consequently divert our attention from our studies to less productive activities. We internalize these stereotypes and often feel alienated from mainstream society because our culture, an integral part of our identity, is constantly being made a caricature, to the extent that Asian Americans themselves propagate these stereotypes and degrade their own culture. Microaggressions that accumulate conversation after conversation, day after day, year after year, question our sense of belonging and erode our individuality. Some Asian Americans, desperate to avoid fulfilling stereotypes, attempt to act “white”. Having only white friends becomes a sort of a

Contemporary society still does not fully accept one another; they will still call an African American a Negro –even though that is socially unacceptable. Whenever society sees a Muslim man or women they will automatically assume that they are terrorists. They will call a homosexual person a faggot, and would act as if the person were abnormal. Although we have evolved as a society, there are still many things that we do not accept. When people are conversing there are various moments at which individuals are unable to convey what they are implying. However, it would be preferred that they refrain from using that language; there are much better ways in which one can use more appropriate language without offending the person they are speaking

It is of my belief, that this has strongly influenced PC, or politically correct, culture. That you need to be perfect, and even if you are right in saying something, if it offends someone you shouldn’t say it. This is an absolute mockery of Western Values. The ability to have an open discussion amongst people is key.

“Don’t Be Offended But….”, is a phrase that defines many of our interactions with people and reveals how we are perceived by them. This common phrase is never followed by a pleasant comment and almost commands to be followed by an insulting label. This human fault to empower themselves at the jeopardy of others’ confidence perpetuates the enforcement of social discrepancies through ignorant language, evident throughout time in literature like Shakespeare's The Tempest and current issues.

When offensive speech and topics are censored on campus it can prevent teachers and students from discussing controversial topics that may interest them. Wendy Kaminer discusses this in her article “ The progressive ideas behind the lack of free speech on campus.” In this article she shares a firsthand example of when she had a debate with another student in class about the use of racial slurs in the book “Huckleberry Finn” and had accidentally mumbled a racial slur when quoting the book. She described later being attacked on campus and called a racist for her remarks. She states “I described what I thought was the obvious difference between quoting a word in the context of discussing language, literature or prejudice and hurling it as an epithet.”(24) I found this story to be interesting because the author was criticized for using offensive language even though the racial slur was used in the context of the book rather than using it to be offensive. This shows how speech regulations have prevented her peers from being able to think about offensive topics through an academic lens. She claims “they're often talking about the threat of unwelcome speech and demanding protection from emotional disturbances sparked by unsettling ideas. It's not just rape that some women on campus fear, its discussions of rape” (24). I agree with the statement made here, Often times the fear of being marked prejudice prevents people