Political correctness is a movement that seeks to eliminate phrases and words from the common use in certain groups. It includes the elimination of certain statements, racial slurs, stereotypes about certain people, and jokes regarding a certain group (Rosenberger). The movement also tries to do away with art and music that could be considered offensive in education and replace them with other works of art that may be considered less offensive. One of the challenges with the movement is that what is considered offensive is not well defined. While the politically correct movement has a good intention, it has gone too far with the intention to delete certain words or phrases that may be considered offensive. The politically correct movement has also created a greater degree of tension and division among certain groups. Political correctness should be redefined in order to overcome the challenges it has created in the past few years. In order to solve the challenges raised by political correctness, it is important to identify its advantages and disadvantages and to redefine it.
Advantages of Political correctness
Political correctness was introduced in the United States to talk about inclusion. The topic was centered around what people are saying to the social and ethnical minorities. It was meant to ensure that they have an equal place in modern society. One of the ways to ensure equality was through eliminating phrases and terms that can show a level of inequality from one individual to the next. For instance, the terms “African-American” and “person of color” were used instead of a term such as “negro” which is used to undermine ethnic minorities (Sierra 3). The ethnic and social minorities tend to prefer the use of inclusive language when one talks about them.
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Another advantage with the politically correct movement is that they try to raise issues regarding language that has been used throughout the years to oppress the minorities. The motive of the political correctness movement is with good intentions as they try to identify ways to treat and to talk to other human beings with respect. The movement has the intention to advocate for the rights of individuals that cannot express themselves in society.
Disadvantages of Political Correctness
While the Politically Correct movement has good intentions of trying to eliminate issues of prejudice, it has resulted in a division among various people as it follows various political movements. Some of the messages that are passed by the PC movement have created a greater degree of antagonism among various groups. The movement does not have the aim of showing how various individuals can be united together and learn from each other. Instead, the movement tries to make one group feel guilt while the underprivileged group to feel a sense of empowerment. This creates antagonism and divisions between the majority and minority groups.
Another disadvantage of the Political Correctness is that they consider a greater degree of censorship which can squash freedom of speech and dangerously restrict public debate on some social issues which are critical (Longley). The movement started with good intentions but has moved on to have a high degree of extremism. The group has gone ahead to create an offensive language which none existed before. The group started with an original idea to remove any words that have any form of possible controversy. All these efforts undermine freedom of speech and freedom of choice. The common of restrictions regarding slander and public decency should be decided through the common law method and not by the interests of a liberal group.
Redefining Political Correctness
Political Correctness should be redefined to involve considerations and respect regarding the circumstances of another individual rather than shutting down conversations with anger or judgment. It should involve letting the other individual know that what they said was offensive, harmful, or the participation in the oppression of a certain group. This will allow for an individual to act as a considerate citizen that lives in a culturally diverse group. Individuals that are corrected or told that they have stated something that may be considered offensive should simply choose to apologize(Arends). Political correctness should go above trying to remove certain phrases and words. It should be about understanding that different individuals have different experiences, backgrounds, and struggles and respecting the differences.
Political correctness should not be passed into law but should be used as a form of respect among people of different cultures and ethnic groups Redefining political correctness will be important in taking away the current shame and demonizing aspects that are associated with the politically correct movement. Political correctness will be a way of creating new dialogues and not the creation of policies. It should be used to create discussions and not end one by demonizing individuals of different groups.
In conclusion, redefining political correctness is important to remove the nature of offense and conflicts associated with the movement. The politically correct movement has tried to remove certain words that can be considered offensive but resulted in issues regarding freedom of speech and freedom of choice. It has also resulted in divisions among the different groups. Redefining political correctness will ensure that it promotes freedom of speech and freedom of choice. It will promote the understanding of different groups by ensuring that different groups have respect for each other.
References
Arends, Emma. "The Take: Redefining Political Correctness." http://www.dailyuw.com/ . N.p., 2019. Web. 25 Mar. 2019.
Longley, Robert. "The Pros and Cons of Political Correctness." ThoughtCo . N.p., 2019. Web. 25 Mar. 2019.
Rosenberger, Peter W. "Stigmatized Words: A Defense of Political Correctness." (2016).
Sierra, Juan José Martínez. "Dealing with the N-word in Dubbing and Subtitling Django Desencadenado: A Case of Self-Censorship?." Ideas . Vol. 3. No. 3. 2018.
