Political Correctness

Ever notice how the only people who bitch about political correctness are white? "Political correctness" is supposed to be some vast conspiracy to make people care about other people who are not like them. I don't get it. Nobody says they're politically correct. When people say they're politically incorrect, it's always an excuse to trash people. Listen. There is nothing edgy or rebellious about being "politically incorrect". When you say "I'm not PC! Racial epithet! Racial epithet!" it tells me you're an asshole, definitely white and straight, probably male, Protestant, able-bodied, etc. Do you want to give out that much info about yourself online? I could steal your identity.

Of course, you get the odd person who defends political correctness. Like The Angry Black Woman. She, of course, is black, female, and lesbian, so she benefits a lot from political correctness. It's still a good essay. She says a lot nicer than I would,

I feel that Political Correctness promotes tolerance because it forces people to think about what they say and who they are saying it to. It seems to me (and I could be wrong) that people who rail against Politically Correct speech are those who do not want to have to be polite or civil to folks different from them.

Hallelujah. Most political correctness is about respect. Being in three minority groups at once means you face a ton of prejudice. I'll never know what it's like because I'm in all the majority groups. Most people like me don't care about anyone else. If you care about other people, it makes you too "good", and if you're "gooder" than everyone else, Real Men can hurt you with impunity. This is the hell we live in, folks. As a straight white male Christian etc., I have a special duty to not be an asshole.

My complaint about political correctness is it doesn't go far enough. It only protects people the Democrats like. I've heard "politically correct" people say complete bullshit about Mormons. Conservative blogger Ed Driscoll says poor white people are safe targets because they're white. I've seen people say - seriously - it's okay to hate one group because all their members hate another group. The groups vary. People hate people who are different from them. People hate people who don't fit into their world view.