by Daniel Cubias
When I was in college, my editor at the student newspaper called me with an assignment: I was to cover a speech by a radical professor who, my editor breathlessly said, was brilliant “and so PC!” I asked what that meant, and she said, with some amazement at my naivety, that it indicated “politically correct.” I had never heard this term before. Of course, it wasn’t long before those juxtaposed letters entered the language and, in the process, went from leftist praise to conservative insult.
Even then, I was suspicious of PC’s supposed excesses. For example, I never heard or read of a handicapped person actually being called “differently abled.” Yet, I frequently saw this term highlighted as an example of political correctness gone mad. My suspicion is that people annoyed at the words “African American” made up the mythical example.
In any case, PC is still with us. But far from taking over the American mind, PC has become an easy punching bag. Political correctness has not had a chilling effect on freethinking and debate. In fact, it is people who dismiss concepts as PC who adopt the intellectually lazy way to argue. It’s both quick dismissal and banal observation.
Damning something as PC allows people to cover their prejudices by invoking a convenient boogeyman. For example, Marvel Comics recently announced that the new Spider-Man, Miles Morales, is half black and half Latino. Soon after this announcement was made, internet commentary buzzed with indignation. Yes, there was outright racism, but that was expected. The more interesting condemnation was the claim that Marvel had caved to PC pressure. Of course, if an ethnic minority becoming a superhero is PC, it undermines the idea that race doesn’t matter. This is because many Americans argue that we live in a “color-blind society” where greatness is simply a matter of hard work. However, these same individuals then turn around and condemn any racial or ethnic minority’s accomplishment (even the fictional achievement of becoming a superhero) by claiming that it’s all just political correctness.
As such, invoking PC becomes the self-righteous way to hide one’s discomfort with a changing world. But of course, sometimes this ploy can be so transparent that it’s laughable.
For example, a few years ago, a sportswriter referred to the offensive line of the New York Jets as politically correct. Sadly, I don’t recall the context, which must have been bizarre. However, it stuck in my head that this term had hit the tipping point. PC no longer meant anything, if it ever had.
So let’s make it clear: The safest, least controversial position in the world is to claim that you’re not PC. After all, what freak would actually proclaim, “I’m very PC and I’m proud of it!”? Saying that you’re not PC is the easy way to insist that you’re edgy, without having to back it up with an actual provocative or original idea.
Please don’t it. You just look silly.
To learn more about Daniel, visit Hispanic Fanatic.
______________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of
the author and should not be understood to be shared by Being Latino, Inc.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
About Eileen Rivera