Throughout my childhood and as a matter of fact, my entire life to this very day, I have always been reminded to be ever-conscientious of other’s feelings as to never insult anyone for something that they cannot personally help or change. Having lived in different areas where significant populations of minorities were actually quite prominent, I had experience from a young age in being, what I was to later learn, politically correct. This term of ‘politically correct’ was something that due to it being instilled in me throughout my upbringing was, and still is, a rather intrinsic value to my personality and way of thinking. Not to judge by the color of someone’s skin, or to mock others for physical or mental defects went beyond the measures of kind tact, but to the power of words since I first started to speak.
“They’re called African Americans, Randy” Ms. Nelson told me in the third grade. This was in response to me mispronouncing the word, African, and with all the spite and piss and vinegar that woman ran on, oh yeah, I’m really sure it mattered to her. It was always so puzzling to me as a child that so many people had different title. There were Asian Americans, African Americans and Native Americans that I can remember going to school with. My first thoughts, even at a young age were wondering why some of my friends were put in special categories when they were just like me. We went to the same school, drank the same water, breathed the same air and yet because of the color of their skin and because their ancestors came from a different place than mine, they automatically had to be separated from me. Not physically, mind you but there was a line drawn, even at a young age that placed a buffer between the kids in my classrooms. All the while being taught there was no difference, the power of words drove a spade between us. In an attempt to unify and respect, a game of “us and them” was created.
The blunt misuse of language and the clear prejudices that exist in today’s society will at times enrage me as they do for many. I have seen a variety of people from different walks of life speak in many ways that are not “politically correct”, but where do I draw the line? Where do we as a society draw the line? I realize that I tend to focus on the issue of race because that is the most prominent issue in regards to political correctness from my viewpoint. However, it is necessary to examine the roots of these deep-seated feelings. What really drives us as a society to be so damn stupid at times as to think that we can make a permanent boundary between right and wrong? I mean, I’ve seen some real humdingers in my seemingly short life thus far, but let’s all take a breath and calm the fuck down for a moment before I start my rant. That’s right, calm it down, you’re flying off the goddamn handle. And you’re a racist. And you’re a bigot. You are the majority of Americans. Oh wait, are you? Am I for that matter?
The fact that our very thoughts exist and persist through time even with the conditioning of open-minded considerations in public situations, remain the trigger of our fear. When we have studied or experienced something in anyway, there is a comfort that is sought. That comfort allows as individuals to them further judgments based off of previous experiences. But what if our thoughts mislead us into thoughts of prejudice because the only things we know are stereotypes? Is this the source of our fear of others that are different? What we don’t know scares us. As a safeguard to prevent feelings of uneasiness, we place an invisible fence around topics of great sensitivity. Instead of digging into the issue and learning more, we place more and more boundaries in our way for our “own good”. These boundaries are constantly being built to shut out interaction that lends to understanding, and why? Again, because we fear what we don’t know. The fact is that all of us possess these intrinsic prejudice dispositions, but how we act and communicate defines our personality and our effect on our surrounding environment and our little chunk of the world.
My early social interactions, as I previously mentioned, involved many people, mostly classmates and such that were of a different race. There’s a certain fragile innocence to a child’s mind that must be nurtured and taught well at that young and accepting stage to ensure that the personality of that child will grow into one that manifests respect for their respect for others. To be boastful of my parents is an understatement. I do not have one memory that was not in support of open-mindedness and respect for others. Treat others the way you want to be treated. The Golden Fucking Rule. Decent, but not that great. This respect boils down to words and actions. How do we as a society communicate with one another? Through the use of the English language. This powerful instrument has been around and has evolved in its use and continues to do so to this day. The immense power that is exhibited by the relatively small portion of words in our language, or in one’s vocabulary, can convey more than a thousand words and the close-minded feelings of many more. These words of hate, prejudice, injustice, intolerance, and bigotry plague, I mean absolutely plague our society. So is that why we use the term ‘politically correct’ to stamp out, a more less blanket effect over any word or term that might have a slight, tiny, incy wincy chance of offending anyone of any sort of minority or race or gender? Is that why there is so much strife amongst our classes?
Now, are we to define and restrict this term that is supposed to protect others from scrutiny to just race? How about gender? How about handicap? Don’t we need some common thread to say, “Hey, since these words hurt others, just use a different word to replace that one to make others magically think that you’re really not thinking the bad word in the first place” Shouldn’t that be common sense or perhaps even human decency rather than ‘political correctness’? That, my friend, is a fuck. We use words to communicate. If a word offends someone, don’t use it. Go to the root of things, search for the common sense, the decency, the tact to place yourself in the shoes of others everyday with every word and every action. Don’t even think the goddamn word because when you do, oh whoa, you’re now just as bad as the other guy. You’re now the prick standing in the grocery check out aisle going, “Hey, what the fuck is this, you call these bagels you little Jew, this is bullshit! Well, fuck you, asshole!” And then people are watching this thinking, “Well, SOMEONE forgot their meds today.”
So what good is a word that only replaces one that is intended to hurt? If there exists anything in my soul that I absolutely hate, it is the string of terrible terms of racism, prejudice and bigotry. Why the hell don’t we just get rid of those words? Then we find the common argument that ‘If blacks can call themselves niggers, if gays can call themselves fags, then why can’t I?’ I’m a straight man with Scandinavian roots, so boy oh boy, I’m really fucked out of that deal! I can’t call myself anything but whitey. Well, shit. So what do I say that can be culturally acceptable to my friends? “Say there my fair skinned friend, how’s about you and me go out back and drink us some koskov, mo-fucka?” No, I can’t say shit like that. I am by all means the mass-consumer-white-man. Go ahead and mock me and my ‘group’ for that and see if that makes you feel more comfortable about your place in the world, relating to everyone else. But that insult is limited to mild banter over vernacular. Enough of that bullshit. Seriously, there exists an undefined line of what is and what is not politically correct. The deeper root problem that I’m getting at is the location of the eminent ‘line’. Where and when do we cross it? I don’t have a goddamn clue. I like to think that I have a great sense of tact and respect for others, but well, actually, I think I do now know where the line is. It is undefined by normal standards. There is no billboard on the side of the interstate saying, “You are about to cross the line of tact, and the almighty politically correct”. Nope. Nada. You my friend, if you have not experienced either a life of respectful treatment of others, or are not from a diverse background, or perhaps even both, are fucked. Best of luck.
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