Preview

Political Correctness Has Gone Too Far

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1156 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Political Correctness Has Gone Too Far
Political correctness has gone too far

The "Politically Correct" movement's purpose is to bring historically condescending terms, offensive music and art, and controversial educational content to an end and replace them with more positive and less-offending references. Offensive and demoralizing efforts are wrong, but the censorship and deletion of words and phrases that do not contain the intention to demoralize are taking political correctness too far. Politically correct (or "PC") antics have created a social decline that is growing worse with each generation, specifically regarding areas of art, education, language, and our right to freedom of speech; the degradation they have brought to the American psyche has even led to name-changing.
The PC mindset has also discouraged artistic expression. Imagine being to be so sensitive about offending people that we let the art we create be determined by the offended. New art would be restricted and old art would be censored. The creative ability would be limited to what is considered acceptable by everyone. We would be like the fool who tries to please everyone. How would music and art exist if the free reign of creativity ended? If art and music continue to face influential restrictions on content, then the quality of art will fall into artistic mediocrity.
PC policies have also compromised the accuracy of educational content in textbooks. Material close to being offensive is removed or adjusted to satisfy the super-sensitive or to avoid any unforeseen complaints. For example, American Indians can't be depicted with long braids, in rural settings, or on reservations, even though many American Indians do have long braids and live in rural settings or on reservations. If the depictions of our historical figures are incorrect, then the new PC textbooks should ensure their historical accuracy and footnote each change appropriately. In addition, if the information is correct but is being altered to satisfy sensitive



Bibliography: Fialkoff, Francine. "The Word Police." Library Journal 118 (1993):25. S.I. Hayakawa and Alan R Hayakawa, Words with Built-in Judgments. Language Awareness, Readings for College Writers. Ed. Paul Escholz, Alfred Rosa, Virginia Clark. Bedfort/St. Martin 's: Boston, New York, 2004. 229-234 Wikipedia the Free Online Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowman 2004

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    This is in effect the eighth edition of Basic Hayakawa--in 1939 and 1940 duplicated spiral-bound editions were tested in college English classes, and in 1941 the book became the best-seller Language in Action. In 1949 it was revised extensively and expanded into Language in Thought and Action. Further editions appeared in 1964, 1972, 1978, and 1990.…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Arlov, P. (2007). Wordsmith: A guide to college writing (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall.…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Speaker: the speaker and author of this article is Deborah Tannen who is a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington DC.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The politically correctness of language is infringing on our First Amendment rights, but is it right to protect our freedom of speech when it causes verbal harassment to others? There is no way to limit what can be said, no way to restrict language used by others. Yes, we can state that it is politically incorrect, but that will not stop people from using words to hurt others. It is a vicious cycle that has no…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every one hundred years dialects change and what is considered “politically correct”, or socially acceptable, changes. “David Bradley argues that ‘if we'd eradicated the problem of racism in our society, Huckleberry Finn would be the easiest book in the world to teach’” (Zwick, Jim. “Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned?”). If we, as a nation, make it a point to rule out all books that could possibly offend students, then every hundred years or so our library of American Literature will be completely different. Even today, modern day authors use vulgar language, lurid sexual content, and racial slurs to get their point across. If The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is taken off of required reading lists across the country, then that could create a never-ending cycle of books being taken off of school shelves every time words and ideas become unacceptable. If this is the way that American society is turning then something must be done, and the Superintendents, Deans, and Principals of every High School around the country must take it upon themselves to do it because the students will not.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in their article “The Coddling of the American Mind”, a disturbing pattern is arising in which certain ideas, words, and actions are being censored based solely on claims of their “being offensive” or “triggering”. The authors argue that the culture of censorship originates from a good intentioned protectiveness imposed by baby boomers who had developed a more watchful way of raising children. However, this protectiveness has since devolved to be “vindictive” in nature. Students have started to abuse the power they hold in the academic world to bully both teachers and administration, creating a culture of fear of bringing up certain controversial, yet important issues. This has in turned allowed college aged students to believe that if there is a topic which they “cannot handle”, they can either remove…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why I Use Trigger Warnings

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A common debate in many American Universities has emerged regarding the necessity for trigger warnings in class syllabi as an attempt to warn every student of offensive and triggering material that they may not want to discuss. Although it may seem important to give notice to students of scandalous or offensive material, the addition of trigger warnings in syllabi is excessive and will only leave students unable to develop intellectually. This form of censorship only coddles the students, keeping them from learning that there will always be upsetting topics that they cannot control. By censoring college curriculum, we are allowing students to rely on trigger warnings to be there during every uncomfortable situation they may face. Students must be able to see those topics at an intellectual level in order to move past them, instead of wanting to be shielded from any controversial ideas. Just as Jonathan Haidt argues in The Coddling of the American Mind, campuses have become safe places "where young adults are shielded from words and ideas that make them…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dahyanna Robinson

    • 765 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “America- It’s a free country. Part of that freedom is the right to listen to the music you love. But music can hurt, too. Some songs have lyrics that put down different races or groups. Some songs celebrate drugs and violence. What happens when music offends?” Music has always been a basic form of expression. From Antonin dvorak, to Eminem, to even ancient, tribal music, it has been a way through which individuals convey their thoughts and expressions. Everyone has the right to listen to what they want as long as they do it with consideration to others. Everywhere we turn, everything we do and say is being scrutinized, no longer are we all allowed to think freely, openly. All the censorship out there is a way of stopping our right of free expression because it doesn’t fit their description of what is decent and moral. What they fail to realize is that we all have our right to be free as long as no one is being out in danger, and I don’t think music has ever hurt anyone. Music shouldn’t be censored.…

    • 765 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This is because everyone has a different way of considering what is politically correct and what is not. A comment or word which might be very offensive to a person may not be even considered to be insulting at all to another. This leads to arguments, and it is really hard to choose what kinds of things they should get rid of in educational literature, since there is not a specific person who draws a line in which is politically correct or wrong. An example of this is Shakespeare. To many people, Shakespeare is considered to be the best playwrights ever, and is very educational to read. However, there are many others who believe that he was very sexist and racist. Thus, is Shakespeare's literature politically correct or wrong? If so, are schools and universities supposed to get rid of his plays in their textbooks? In this case, I struggle to believe that political correctness is that…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Political correctness meant to unify the country, but it doesn’t. It corrupts the minds of the people, it changes how college education should be, it makes it difficult for businesses to keep customers, and it’s trying to erase history. This society has become too concerned with how other people feel, or how a comment or gesture offended them. As a society, people need to realize that not everyone is going to feel the same way as they do, but that shouldn’t offend them. Opinions are great, people should get to express how they truly feel, and not have to worry about getting shunned for it. America has become too politically correct, but that doesn’t mean this society has to stay that…

    • 1907 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Censors on the left side of politics wish to create an idealized vision of the future, or utopia, with egalitarian views. These liberal censors promote equality among all races, genders, and class structures, and censor ideas that conflict with these views. The Council on Interracial Books for Children (CIBC) represents a liberal group that utilizes these methods. They strive to eliminate racial bias and gender roles from literature and textbooks. By doing so, they hope to mold the minds of young students into thinking with a leftist view of society due to the idea that literature serves as a mental role model. A writer for the Heritage Foundation, David Asman, comments on the actions of the CIBC, “The Council on Interracial Books for Children…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Art Censorship

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages

    What is censorship? Many have asked this question and it seems to be a controlled idea or form of sorts of information within a society. Censorship has been a staple of many countries throughout history, especially United States. Through the inspection of art, books, films, radio, music and television programs and news reports for the purpose of suppressing or altering ideas found to be offensive or objectionable that is how censorship is controlled. Normally, art is just viewed as sculpture or paintings, but, on a larger scale, art is also music and literature. A major issue in the United States is censorship, and we need to take notice right away.…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The term “Political Correct” has been in this world’s vocabulary for some time now, but it has adjusted the way that Americans view life and the way that each of us interact with one another. Politically Correct is the thought of people being careful to not use terminology or behave in a way that could provoke a specific group of people. Society today is dictated by political correctness in our everyday lives. Today, individuals have to be careful with the words that they say because many people sometimes take it as being offensive or discriminatory. In other words, some Americans are taken political correctness to be too serious.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    that violent toys can lead, and often do lead to violence if the children are…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Work Plan English

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages

    | Insight into language acquisition strategiesPractice in the use of monolingual dictionariesLearning precise grammatical terminology and phonetics; grammar and punctuationMore work with literary analysisInsight into literary terminology and how to use terms in written work…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays