Does being Politically Correct restrict free speech...

[Laurel]

Why is it so awful to be polite?

Todd, you get so upset when anyone here says anything even slightly demeaning about Christianity, yet you scoff at the idea that people should be respectful of other people's race or ethnicity. Hypocritical?

We all want OUR beliefs and OUR views and OUR religion to be treated with oh so much respect and dignity, but get so bent out of shape when anyone so much as suggests that we be respectful of others. What this world lacks more than anything is sensitivity and understanding.

Free speech doesn't have to mean you should let every rude, disrespectful thing fly out of your mouth. It DOES mean that if you choose to do so, someone else will tell you exactly where to stick it.

Sure, you're free to say nigger spic kike dyke, but how is that meaningful? How is it restrictive to Free Speech to phrase your argument in a way that isn't going to immediately offend others? What good does it do if you state your opinion, but no one listens to you because you sound like a racist, sexist, intolerant asshole?

 

[Sephiroth]

Does anyone remember the guy who had to resign from his job after using the word "niggardly"?

It wasn't his fault that so many idiots, both black AND white didn't know it meant. It's not even a racial slur. He certainly shouldn't have lost his job over it. What do you think?

 

[Laurel]

THAT was stupid.

 

[Problem Child]

Laurel has sunk to my level and now is calling people stupid....flat-out.

It's a sad day in LitLand.

*sniff*

 

[Todd]

Todd, you get so upset when anyone here says anything even slightly demeaning about Christianity, yet you scoff at the idea that people should be respectful of other people's race or ethnicity. Hypocritical?

Just a thought here, but the reason I get so upset when someone trashes "Christianinty" here is because they lump them all up in in one ball, Catholicism, Protestanism, Charismaticism. That is what upsets me.

Its like if I were to see Laurel is female. Well I read a female once murdered a baby. So therefore Laurel is a baby murderer. I know that is not true but that is what the gross generalization of christianity is like.

That is what I see when someone trash on christianity. Its politically Correct to call all users of a Bible Christianity. Its Impolitically correct to say the truth, like, the Baptists murdered millions of lives in the crusades and the inquistion.

But being politically correct and fair its alright to say the "Christians" are all murders because of the crusades. Thats what gets my dander up a little.

I also believe there is a difference in respecting a persons race and causing further racial segregation by the forced labeling of "Whatever-American". Its like p_p_man the Nazi's forced the Jews to where the golden Star of david as identification. At the present time we are heading in that direction once again. It statrted slow but the ball is rolling and it is pciking up speed.

 

[Weevil]

I've never thought of it as restricting free speech. Mainly because it doesn't really stop you from saying anything important, simply asks you to change the way you say it.

 

[Laurel]

Laurel has sunk to my level and now is calling people stupid....flat-out.

It's a sad day in LitLand.

*sniff*

Noo! I wasn't saying HE was stupid - I was saying that the person who fired the guy for saying "niggardly" was stupid.

 

[Problem Child]

Noo! I wasn't saying HE was stupid - I was saying that the person who fired the guy for saying "niggardly" was stupid.

Well, thank God for that. I thought you'd finally lost your tolerance for idiots.

What? You say you HAVE lost your tolerance for idiots?

garsh...

 

[Laurel]

LOL!

Just a thought here, but the reason I get so upset when someone trashes "Christianinty" here is because they lump them all up in in one ball, Catholicism, Protestanism, Charismaticism. That is what upsets me.

...

I also believe there is a difference in respecting a persons race and causing further racial segregation by the forced labeling of "Whatever-American". Its like p_p_man the Nazi's forced the Jews to where the golden Star of david as identification. At the present time we are heading in that direction once again. It statrted slow but the ball is rolling and it is pciking up speed.

So...you don't think all Christians should be lumped together, but you do think all minorities should? Ah, gotcha.

Frankly, I think the whole "Politically Correct" brouhaha is bogus. The same people who get all pissy about not being allowed to say "nigger" are the very same ones who bust a vein if you're insulting to their religion/politics/etc. People want to be treated with respect, but if you suggest they treat others with respect then you're stomping on their fargin rights.

And like lavy said, it's not a law. You're free to be as offensive as you want. I'll fight for your right to say nigger, no matter how misguided and intolerant I believe to be. But I don't think there's anything wrong with being polite and sensitive to others, especially if you expect them to treat you with respect and sensitivity.

 

[morninggirl5]

Okay, everyone who has been trying to be PC using the term Native American or American Indian, hold out your hands for ruler swats.


The politically correct term for those people who are descended from the people inhabiting the area now known as the US when Columbus arrived is NOW --- Nations' First Peoples. The hardest part of the year to teach isn't December with the various religious holidays or even October with Halloween controversies. NO, it's teaching about Columbus and Thanksgiving. The forces of political correctness are still arguing about what we can teach and what's no longer appropriate.

I agree with Problem Child to a great degree. We have allowed political correctness to go far beyond the desire not to be offensive.

Mentally Challenged, no those people are Mentally Disabled. Or at least that was the Special Ed term last year, it may change to Intellectually Disabled this year, they go back and forth between the two. And every time it changes, the paperwork must be reprinted for each student. Talk about destroying trees.

Political Correctness is a mine field, one false comment and you're history. There was a teacher who lost her job teaching first grade last year because in the course of a conversation with two students discussing why the N word is innappropriate, she used the word. She was explaining why it was wrong, and how do you ensure six year olds know which word you're discussing without using the word?

 

[Todd]

LOL!
So...you don't think all Christians should be lumped together, but you do think all minorities should? Ah, gotcha.

Seeing as denomination "christianity" is a coporate organizization yes they should be distinguished, liek you would any other business. Just like, Pizza Hut, Pizza Delight, and Tony's Pizza don't want to be "Pizzians"

Where did I say minorities should be grouped together, thats what Political Correct "Whateva-american" does. As human beings there is only one race, that is the human race. We just look differnt is all. Man, woman, Boy, girl, "insert location orign here", "insert melanine color here", "insert language here" we are all human, each and every one of us.

Slavery was fought to prove that we are all humans, all equal, all valuable. Political correctness is fighting to tear all that victory apart and build up the walls.

"Insert language here" should not be offended by being called "Insert Language here", "Insert skin color here" should not be offended for being called "Insert skin color here", "Insert location here" should not be offended of be called "Insert location here", "Religious organization" should not be ofended of being called "Insert religious organization here".

But with political correctness we are offended to be white, black, red, green, french, martian, japanense, indian.

There is a difference of being called what you are and being insulted for what you are. Wheter you use African/Arabian/Egyptian American or Nigga/nigger it is still an insult to what people are.

As you said if the repect is there than a politically correct segregation label is not needed, and we can all get to gether and love one another regardless of skin, language, location, diety affiliation.

 

[Problem Child]

Laurel, can I change my name to Difficult Offspring? All this PC talk is confusing me.

 

[morninggirl5]

Laurel, can I change my name to Difficult Offspring? All this PC talk is confusing me.

No, No, No, you can't be termed difficult, that is as damaging to your self-esteem as being a problem. You're a challenging offspring.

 

[Problem Child]

You're absolutely right! No wonder I was so depressed.

God, I feel better now.

 

[Laurel]

LOL! I think I'm totally confused now.

Obviously, there's a certain amount of oversensitivity regarding semantics. The "niggardly" situation, for example, where a DC staffer was fired for using the word to describe how he'd have t o manage a budget. The word "niggardly" has no linguistic ties to the word "nigger". It was an obvious overreaction by over-sensitive people.

However, I think we can all agree that calling a Black man a "nigger" or a "darkie" isn't too cool (or at least I hope we can). Yet not too long ago, those were perfectly acceptable terms. Should we just say, "fuck 'correctness', let's call em spics and niggers?" Should we call slow people Retards? Would that make you all feel better?

It wouldn't make me feel better.

I call Mexicans Mexicans. But I don't call every tan-skinned person a Mexican because they may be from Guatemala or Brazil or any other country in Latin America. To call them all Mexicans just isn't accurate. To lump them all together as "Mexicans" is insulting, because they are culturally very different.

Now, would I go so far as to go wild crazy with the hyphenations? Well, as with anything you have to use common sense. It's not an all or nothing situation. You have to use your head. Critics will point to the ridiculous extremes of any situation and use that as argument against any implementation of the idea. "Folks are being fired for saying 'niggardly'. This means that sensitivity is bunk, so let's call em all niggers."

Common sense, people. And sensitivity. Is it really that difficult?

 

[Problem Child]

Laurel, you sound like your pal Rush Limbaugh...using extreme examples and trying to make them sound as if they are the norm.

You've brought up the word nigger in two or three posts now. I think everyone except those on the far outer fringe of society would agree that nigger is not an acceptable term when being used to refer to African-Americans in normal conversation (see, I said African-American even though it goes against the logic of my previous argument). It hasn't been acceptable for a long time now, and it's specious to act like people that are against PC labels want to return to the days when blacks were referred to as niggers.

My argument is not that I don't want to address people the way they want to be addressed just because I'm stubborn or racist, which I'm not. I am happy to call black people African-Americans, and Indians American-Indians, or whatever any other group wants to be called. That is called being respectful and courteous and I agree that it's the right thing to do.

The basis of my argument is what is at the root of these name changes. The word nigger was an accepted term in this country, but it was a term of derision. Colored was also almost universally accepted, but I don't think it was nearly as insulting as nigger. Of course today, most people wouldn't dream of calling blacks colored, much less nigger.

But I don't really think the term black has ever been considered one of derision by most people (at least in my lifetime), that is until African-American came along. So why does it all of the sudden seem so terrible? I have heard many black people say they feel more comfortable with that term than African-American.

I don't care much what people choose to call themselves. I just think all this hyphenation and constant revision of titles is A) divisive, and B) not helping the root problem, whether it be racism, or disability, or whatever.

Like I said before, is calling a retarded person a mentally challenged person going to raise his IQ? Is calling a Mexican a Hispanic instead of Mexican going to get him out of the lettuce field and into a white collar job? I really doubt it.

All it does is make people that are really concerned about labels feel better about themselves.

 

[sexy-girl]

its like calling a canadian an american i guess or other way round you wouldnt like it


people who are called "blacks" can be from completely different parts of the world completely different cultures ... calling them black and lumping them all together i can understand would feel somewhat insulting


whats wrong with letting them have the free will to express their cultural and ethnic background by saying i want to be called african american that doesnt cause racism theres nothing wrong with them being proud of their identify or history ... they are proud to be american and african at the same time

 

[Juspar Emvan]

Balls

 

[Laurel]

Laurel, you sound like your pal Rush Limbaugh...using extreme examples and trying to make them sound as if they are the norm.

Uncool! What did I ever do to you?

You've brought up the word nigger in two or three posts now. I think everyone except those on the far outer fringe of society would agree that nigger is not an acceptable term when being used to refer to African-Americans in normal conversation (see, I said African-American even though it goes against the logic of my previous argument). It hasn't been acceptable for a long time now, and it's specious to act like people that are against PC labels want to return to the days when blacks were referred to as niggers.

My point (obviously missed) was that what was once considered "correct" at some point in time is now considered insensitive and out-dated. Therefore, what we NOW consider to be okay may in the future be considered archaic. That's life.

You agree that it is not now common practice to call Black people "niggers". But at one time it was. Maybe Black will be replaced by another term. Who knows? If it is, are you going to have a tizzy? Or are you going to be like those people who still in the year 2001 use the word "nigger" as interchangeable for Black? (And yes, they do exist).

Times change. Language changes. Deal with it.

But I don't really think the term black has ever been considered one of derision by most people (at least in my lifetime), that is until African-American came along. So why does it all of the sudden seem so terrible? I have heard many black people say they feel more comfortable with that term than African-American.

I don't recall mentioning the term African-American. I'm not going to argue about African-American with you because I think it's a bad label. Not all dark-skinned Americans are from Africa. What about people of Jamaican descent born in America - are they African-American as well? If you're going to argue with me, it might be helpful if you argued with what I said, rather than some made-up argument. Unless you WANT to argue with yourself, which is fine by me. Just don't attribute stances to me that I haven't taken.

I don't care much what people choose to call themselves. I just think all this hyphenation and constant revision of titles is A) divisive, and B) not helping the root problem, whether it be racism, or disability, or whatever.

Did you not read my post? Because I addressed the overuse of hyphenation. I said "use common sense". For saying this, I was compared to Rush. Real nice.

Like I said before, is calling a retarded person a mentally challenged person going to raise his IQ? Is calling a Mexican a Hispanic instead of Mexican going to get him out of the lettuce field and into a white collar job? I really doubt it.

All it does is make people that are really concerned about labels feel better about themselves.

It's not about making people feel better about themselves. It's about not sounding like an insensitive assshole. If you don't care about that, then go ahead and call kids with Downs Syndrome retards. Who cares about their feelings, right? And call every dark skinned person you meet a Mexican, regardless of whether he's Guatemalan or Brazilian. Why be accurate? That's too hard.

It's all about being Honest, I see. In your honor, I'll start calling the guy with one hand at the 7-11 a cripple. I'll say, "Hey you crippled freak, the Slurpee machine's busted." And then I'll pass out while holding my breath waiting for him to help me.

It's called being polite. If you have no use for politeness, then I don't really have anything else to say. Personally, I think this world would be a much better place if everyone showed a modicum of manners and respect for others, but what do I know.

 

[Siren]

Well, actually PC

 

[Todd]

its like calling a canadian an american i guess or other way round you wouldnt like it


people who are called "blacks" can be from completely different parts of the world completely different cultures ... calling them black and lumping them all together i can understand would feel somewhat insulting


whats wrong with letting them have the free will to express their cultural and ethnic background by saying i want to be called african american that doesnt cause racism theres nothing wrong with them being proud of their identify or history ... they are proud to be american and african at the same time

If it were the "African American" that were cryign out to be called "African American" I wouldn't have a problem, but I have not ever heard one real life "African American" call themself or want to be called by that title.

It was designed by and for the white people, who saw that the people were starting working together and they saw it as a threat so they created it to cause the sepreation that was once prevelant.

 

[Siren]

Ah Todd, it is dangerous to act as if you know something when you dont

 

[Todd]

the first time I heard it was in 1986 I was eleven, and it was spoken by a white politician. I wish I remember who, I remember telling mom, "Mommy that man is trying to make slaves" she said, "He's not making slaves he is freeing slaves." That s all I remember about that time period.

But I succeed Siren's is right, All hail the all knowing Siren.
{I do this cause i know as a lawyer you can go to the books and find the "A-A" who coined it at 09:34 July 17th, 1754, thus proving me wrong as always.} Although I still maintain I have not heard an "A-A" refer to themself as such unless he was a politician.

 

[Siren]

God damn no wonder you are so ignorant

 

[Problem Child]

sheesh.

just sheesh.