America has become a society that fears diversity. The country that was once unified is now divided. How did it come to this? Though, there are several possible answers to this question, one stands out in particular, political correctness. The Oxford Dictionary defines political correctness as “The avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.
Even though there are times in which political correctness is needed, more often than not, political correctness is over dramatized. The American society has become so politically correct, that no one is able to speak their mind without facing major judgment or discrimination. On the other hand, political correctness is viewed as a way to make this country equal. The people who believe political correctness is for the best, feel that if everyone keeps the rude or discriminating comments to themselves, society as a whole will run more smoothly.
They will say it has taught the country sympathy towards minorities (i. e. The LGBT community, African Americans, Hispanics, etc. ), and it has stopped religious conflict (i. e. Christian beliefs opposing those of other religions or non religions). The stated points aren’t completely true though, because the sympathy is essentially being forced instead of taught, and religious conflict has been around since the beginning of time. Therefore, political correctness causes more problems, than it resolves. Today’s society forces people to think twice before they say how they feel.
One cannot simply state their beliefs, in a group of people, without greatly offending others over their own personal opinion. Society has created a monster that forces people to hold their tongues against subjects regarding racism, abortion, gay rights, literature, and so much more. Society has become too soft. Was America not founded over a difference of opinion? The founding fathers did not like how the British Government handled situations, so they left and fought for the independence of their country. What would have happened if the founding fathers were worried about offending the King?
But in the times of today, people are shunned for speaking their opinions because they are offensive to people who disagree. The American society is more concerned about being extremely polite, rather than having self-expression. Is this a type of society people want to live in? Instead of creating a polite and quiet society, political correctness has destroyed it more than helped it. No one can speak their mind, without getting harsh looks thrown at them. Since no one can speak about how they feel, there is hardly any diversity in speech, anymore.
The new more of this society only allows people to speak certain terms and words. But for anyone who feels like they want to say something else, they are often viewed as sexist, racist, hypocritical, and/or conservative. If a person does not like an opinion that has been provided for them, by the laws of political correctness; they are automatically called one of those things. Ben Carson stated, in his book One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future: Many well-meaning Americans have bought into the PC speech code, thinking that by being extra careful not to offend anyone we will achieve unity.
What they fail to realize is that this is a false unity that prevents us from talking about important issues and is a Far Left strategy to paralyze us while they change our nation. People have been led to become so sensitive that fault can be found in almost anything anyone says because somewhere, somehow, someone will be offended by it. Ben Carson is right, everything that can be found slightly offensive, is found offensive. Today every generation is taught to think of others before they can even speak.
This society is now teaching the next generation, that other people’s feelings are more important than how they feel over any given situation. This is one of the worst things that could ever be taught to children. When will enough be enough? Society needs to stop being so sensitive to things that aren’t even offensive to them. Another problem this country faces with political correctness is that neither businesses nor organizations can pick a side of an ongoing debate, without the fear of losing customers or members. Churches and Christians are often put in the limelight, when situations arise.
When a church or a Christian tells society their views, they are automatically hypocritical and/or bigoted. Is America so politically correct that no one can even state their own religious belief? Businesses, on the other hand, have just as hard of a time as religious groups. A business, is never able to place their view on any subject without losing customers. For example, Chick-Fil-A placed their view on gay marriage and lost a ton of supporters, because of their religious views. Even businesses, like Nike, who support Planned Parenthood, lose customers daily due to people who don’t support Planned Parenthood.
When small businesses’ see these things happening to big businesses’, they get scared, and will stay neutral so that they can remain in business. People constantly think that their opinion is the right one, which causes them to not support anything that goes against them. Businesses’ are only here to make money, not run the country. America has a ton of big businesses, that being said, they should have the right to place a view on a debate and shouldn’t have to fear losing money or customers. Political correctness has also corrupted our schools.
School systems across the country are banning books, like To Kill a Mockingbird, because of offensive content within the text. Though the book does say the “N” word numerous times, it was just a commonly accepted word used back then, when the book was written. People only focus on that word and don’t realize that the book isn’t about how everyone should discriminate against black people, but about how they are people too. It’s ridiculous that school systems would not let children read it, since the book talks about and describes life back when blacks and whites were segregated.
Some people even want to rewrite the book, to make it politically correct. This is wrong, that is changing history, whether people like it or not, that was the norm of that time period. Another issue that this culture faces is political correctness in colleges. Nguyen quoted Barack Obama in her article who stated: I’ve heard of some college campuses where they don’t want to have a guest speaker who is too conservative. Or they don’t want to read a book if it has language that is offensive to African Americans, or somehow sends a demeaning signal towards women…
I don’t agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of views. Our colleges are not only meant for education but for diversity. It’s as if College students are looking for things that offend them. In college, students will meet thousands of other students who don’t agree with them. Debating with peers is wonderful, but to pull out the political correctness card every time someone has an opposing view is terrible. Sieczkowski quoted Jerry Seinfeld, in his article, who said “I hear a lot of people tell me, ‘Don’t go near colleges.
They’re so PC, they just want to use these words: ‘That’s racist’; ‘That’s sexist’; ‘That’s prejudiced. ’ They don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. ” College is a great place to grow as a person and understand other people’s viewpoints, but it has now been corrupted by political correctness. Political correctness has also started erasing our history. History is a big part of every culture; it is what people learn from. Even if the facts of a past time period “offends” a people group doesn’t mean it’s ok to throw away that part of history.
A big scar in American History, is the Civil War. Monuments of battlefields, generals, and soldiers are placed throughout the country. Even though, America is no longer pro slavery, people are still so greatly offended by the idea of slavery, that they started asking the government to take down these monuments. Hogan stated, in an interview with The Daily Record, “We can’t pretend as if there wasn’t a Civil War and we’re going to remove every Civil War person from our history books. ” These monuments represent major events in American History.
Those empty fields are significant, men died on those battlefields for something they believed in, they should never be ripped up because it offends people who were not apart of that time period. No one can change what happened in the past, no matter how horrible it was. If society changes history in the name of political correctness, this nation is bound to return to its vomit. This society needs to learn that being politically correct, is not always correct. As you can see, though political correctness may seem right, it isn’t. Political correctness meant to unify the country, but it doesn’t.
It corrupts the minds of the people, it changes how college education should be, it makes it difficult for businesses to keep customers, and it’s trying to erase history. This society has become too concerned with how other people feel, or how a comment or gesture offended them. As a society, people need to realize that not everyone is going to feel the same way as they do, but that shouldn’t offend them. Opinions are great, people should get to express how they truly feel, and not have to worry about getting shunned for it. America has become too politically correct, but that doesn’t mean this society has to stay that way.