That pesky little thing called ‘political correctness’

By Hannah Bleau | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Political correctness by definition: “The avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize or insult certain groups of people.”

It’s hindering the free exchange of ideas. When did Americans become so sensitive? I feel like no one can say anything anymore without coming off as “offensive.” The media only feeds this. Blacks are perpetually victimized. Gays can’t be called “gay.” Alcoholism is a “disease,” and “illegal aliens” is considered a derogatory term.

It’s literally madness.

I watched the speech Dr. Benjamin Carson gave at the National Prayer Breakfast recently. I was floored. It was so refreshing to see someone, a distinguished man who worked his way out of poverty, speak about real life issues. He’s literally a brain surgeon. His brother is literally a rocket scientist. (So those, “what do I look like, a brain surgeon/ rocket scientist” jokes totally don’t work.)

It was refreshing to see someone so humble. I’m so used to seeing politicians and their big-as-Earth egos talking out of their you-know-wheres. On top of that, he spoke in front of President Obama — boldly and confidently. I think it’s also safe to say that Obama looked miffed. But guess what? He should get over it, because Dr. Carson said things that he needed to hear. The government isn’t our daddy. We can make decisions for ourselves. Dr. Carson articulated the danger of political correctness in a way that made me want to shamelessly run up and bear hug him.

He said: “We’ve reached a point where people are afraid to actually talk about what they want to say because somebody might be offended … PC is dangerous because you see this country, one of the founding principles was freedom of thought and freedom of expression and it (political correctness) muffles people. It puts a muzzle on them and at the same time, keeps people from discussing important issues while the fabric of their society is being changed. We cannot fall for that trick.”

Of course, basically everyone who disagreed with Dr. Carson proved his point by saying his comments were “inappropriate” and “wrong place wrong time.” Seriously? It’s a prayer breakfast. It’s OK to talk about God and it’s OK to talk about real stuff in America.

Political correctness is dangerous. We’re creating a generation of little pansy wussies who get their feelings hurt if a teacher grades a test in red ink. Kids are brought up thinking getting awards for “effort” are equivalent to those who actually worked hard to earn it. They’re being brought up to think that everyone will have exactly equal results in life, and that just isn’t realistic. We’re starting to see this generation enter the real world (some seen defecating on cars, smoking weed, and commie chanting at the occupy protests) and the results aren’t pretty.

But with the media, anytime you challenge the stewards of political correctness, you get qualified as being hateful, racist, heartless or ignorant. I’m just thankful that there are real people out there who will boldly proclaim the truth with class and tact. It truly gives me hope for the future of the nation.