It probably depends on the social group in which you use the words. There may be people who get upset that anyone fails to use “African American,” (Spike Lee went through a phase of sounding off on the issue many years ago, although I have not seen anything from him on the topic recently), but most people whom I have heard “rebuke” anyone for not using “African American” have been people on the Far Right who were trying to be sarcastic.
Agreed. I also remember a very, very brief time when being told that we should say “differently abled” not “disabled” but I never heard anyone actually use the term “differently abled” except to somehow make fun of “political correctness”.
No. There’s also the reason of “not knowingly making these people uncomfortable/angry at you”. So much of what goes as “politically incorrect” these days is right-wing hacks using the general fear of being “politically correct” to avoid backlash for saying things that would otherwise mark them as racist, homophobic, sexist, or otherwise bigoted douchebags. See also: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/2783-Correctitude Ignorance is an excuse, mind you, but in most cases… It’s not ignorance, they’re saying this BECAUSE it resonates with their excessively bigoted audience.
But, you’re a Canadian. What do you call black Canadians (I know there are some)?
To what word or words?
Complaints about “political correctness” are just bigot code for “I’m no longer allowed to oppress, dominate, enslave, or exploit people who look, think, eat, speak, or live differently from me, and that just pisses me off.”
Not all of those are slurs though, and that gets at the root of the political correctness debate.
Right now, the term in vogue is “African American”. Prior to that, and still in common use is the term “Black”. Prior to that was Negroes, and before that Colored. None of them are really slurs, in that at one time they were the preferred terminology, but are now out of vogue.
Yet if you use anything but African American or Black, you’re looked at as some kind of bigot, ignorant person or fool, even though you may just be set in your ways or unaware that the term du jour has changed. For example, my 89 year old grandmother still uses “Colored”, mostly because that was the polite term when she grew up, not because she’s bigoted. I’ll probably continue to end up using the term “Black” for much the same reasons, even if the term in 2040 is “Melanized Americans” or something equally strange to our ears.
A lot of the ridicule and frustration is that the terms change as the groups change, or one faction of a group likes one term and another faction likes another and sometimes they seem way too euphemistic and silly for what they are; “differently abled” is probably the best example I can think of. The term “Disabled” is accurate and not insulting, but “Differently abled” implies that there’s something different, not just something missing. It’s not like that guy in the wheelchair can’t use his legs, but he can levitate- he’s simply disabled. Similarly, the word "crippled’ is kind of harsh, but again, accurate.
It’s the combination of euphemisms perceived as silly and changing terminologies based on those euphemisms that anti-PC people find so silly, not the concept that people should be called what they want to be called.
Steely Dan Fan,
Look through this thread and there is plenty of confusion on African American vs black vs what do you call black Canadians. Obviously well meaning people have justifiable concerns on using correct terminology, but there is a bit of a moving target there.
Yet, you find it so simple to boil it down to one line? :dubious:
When used by the majority of people complaining about it, yes, absolutely. When googling “Political correctness”, the very first non-definition hit I get is “Political Correctness Watch” website, which has a header image complaining that white power groups are called racist, and going on about how “american leftists are just communists”. It describes GLAAD as “Lethal enforces of the left’s tolerance mob”, something pretty amazing considering how many LBGT people are killed for not being straight.
So yeah, when the first googling of a phrase brings up a website dedicated to defending hate groups, I am inclined to accept the phrase is primarily used by hateful people.
Oh? Can you point to a post where someone indicates that it is not acceptable to call a black person black?
Czarcasm, it seems to me this thread amounts to your saying, “I refuse to believe there is any legitimate complaint about ‘political correctness,’ and if you show me one, I’ll simply deny it.”
When the case of David Howard was mentioned, you dismissed it, saying that the aide was immediately hired back. In fact, although he was offered the position back, he declined, believing he would no longer be effective, and accepted another role in the city government – not a promotion, I might add.
That case has had discussion here on the SDMB, with many people validating the original reaction – saying, in effect, that the actual meaning of the word was irrelevant: because it was a near-homophone to the offensive racial slur, it should be shunned.
An elementary school teacher was formally disciplined for using the word niggardly in a discussion about literary characters. (Note that Chaucer uses that word in the actual text).
I argue that this is an indication of the pejorative version of “PC.”
I agree that those cases were examples of the pejorative version of “politically correct”…but are they anywhere the norm, or are they rare aberrations?
Could you please provide a cite for that conversation? I think I remember that the overwhelming majority of people posted to the contrary to your “many”.
You know, there was a time when taking care to avoid using language that might offend or insult people was known simply as “courtesy.”
Someone please show me the posted dictionary of the correct terms? I think it clear that everyone here wishes to use decent courtesy, but what one considers decent courtesy may not be another’s understanding. The fact is that language takes time to change, to be heard, to be understood.
If someone were to get on to me for using African American, for example, my concern would not be that that person is being overly PC, but that person is being an ass.
I will easily concede that many who complain of PC are those defending inconsiderate speech, but not all. Differently-abled, for example, reeks of just stupid to me. Crippled, on the other hand, while once perfectly acceptable, I can accept as insulting. Handicapped seems a good compromise.
My problem with the whole PC movement is when it goes stupidly overboard.
Illegal aliens or people in the country illegally vs “undocumented immigrants”?
I think that is one of the key examples of what is currently in the realm of “political correctness”. I liken the latter to calling a bank robber someone who has made an “unauthorized monetary withdrawal”
Undocumented immigrants is a bit stupid. Mexicans, as an example, have documentation…from Mexico. US immigration papers on the other hand? Not so much. I see no issue with illegal alien because both terms are true and legally based.
Good example, I think.
Of course, someone will be along shortly to point out why it isn’t.
You can get the Straightest Dope on Conservapedia from RationalWiki (which was founded in response to it, more or less).
“Impermissive” would be a better word. Stresses that it’s not just a matter of paperwork, they’re in the country without official permission.