In his novel “1984,” George Orwell imagined a future world where speech was largely constrained. He called it “Newspeak,” and it bears a remarkable resemblance to the political correctness we see in America today.
Recently, “South Park” took a jab at political correctness with its latest season opener. The start of the 19th season introduced a new character, PC Principal, a new commander-in-chief for South Park school who wants rid the town of its overwhelmingly prejudiced ways. This includes calling the only student of color “Token” and using the word “retarded.” The objective of the PC Principal is not only to make the students of the school more politically conscious and sensitive, but to change the entire town.
From the outset, political correctness was intended to provide a linguistic safeguard for minority groups and to encourage multiculturalism and diversity. In most cases, this does more prohibiting than accepting.
Political correctness is a form of political violence, not progression. In its most common form, political correctness employs the usage of euphemistic language and places it under attractive headings such as “equality” and “social reform.”
It not only perpetuates social normativity, but creates an even greater distance between the dominant groups and the PC Police. For example, politically correct Nazis are quick to correct the ignorant one who speaks of a “crippled” person instead of a “physically disabled” person.
Whatever you call a person, be it acceptable or unacceptable, does not magically change the conditions they are subjected to. Softening the language does not transform the existential experience of minority groups. They are still treated the same way, looked at a certain way, and there is nothing language can do about this.
In every case, political correctness is either over-sympathetic or hyper-sensitive. The PC Police’s tendency to over-sympathize with minority groups objectivizes them in the other direction. Political correctness at its core seeks to make the underrepresented the overrepresented.
For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states it is illegal for employers to discriminate against criminals because it has a “disproportionate” effect on minorities.
In August 2013, government workers in the city of Seattle, Washington, were instructed to avoid the terms “citizen” and “brown bag” as they were deemed potentially offensive.
The problem is this is a fake acceptance. Romanticizing and placing people on pedestals for being “different” is not accepting them. It is acceptable ostracizing.
Observing social formalities is like following any other rule. If your actions are only in compliance with a rule, aren’t you just following social order? Following rules doesn’t imply a true change of heart.
On the other end of the same coin, we have PC police who do not tolerate people who disregard political correctness. The self-righteous and sensitive are ready to berate those who are insensitive to others and are always on PC patrol. Therefore, intolerance is not tolerated.
The best way to handle intolerance is with tougher skin. The world should not stop every time someone is offended or hurt by someone who doesn’t follow the rules. Instead of spending time trying to enlighten these people, flip them the bird and move on with your life.
People think by changing the language somehow they are changing reality. This is absurd. Language does not constitute reality.
Eli Minor is 19 year-old philosophy junior from New Orleans. He can be reached on Twitter @eliminor_TDR.