PC madness.
Today, I received a comment on my recent post regarding Dear Leader and his Chicago-way style of thuggery, which I entitled “ You can take the boy out of Chicago” which you can read here, which elicited this comment,
I know the reference about taking the boy out of the city… But surely you are aware that there is a long and ugly history of using the word “boy†when speaking to or about a black man is a racially demeaning term. I hate political correctness but I also careless communication that nullifies any thoughts that may have otherwise been transmitted to the widest listening audience. And even if you only intended to preach to the choir, by using unwise language, you sully the whole
The commenter is right that there are old connotations to the use of the word boy, and I assure you that such a cheap slur was not my intention. In fact, if I wanted to be pedantic I would argue that Barack is as much black as he is white, but I digress. To the point in hand. I appreciate the commenter taking the time to respond but I must say that I also detest PC nonsense and will not be cowed by it. All political correctness ever does is limit or stifle speech. Certain people are outraged by virtually anything, and the slightest opportunity to accuse someone of racism is gleefully seized in order to stymie and halt any further argument. To suggest monitoring the content of one’s thoughts in order to appeal to
to the widest listening audience
is an exercise in futility. Surely it is better to raise the level of discourse to a point where we do not have to tiptoe around certain words lest we offend those who are desperate to be offended, anyway. I am reminded of two recent incidents that demonstrate this folly well. In the first, a white member of the black Mayor of DC’s staff was forced to resign because he used the word “niggardly.” A word he used correctly and in the proper context, yet he was forced to resign because of the ignorant screaming of a permanent victim class. You can read that whole story here, and learn that the word derives from a Middle English word for miser.
Secondly, there was the story of a man who got into a lot of hot water and risked being fired from his County job,
Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections “has become a black hole†because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.
All hell broke loose even though he,
 shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term. A black hole, according to Webster’s, is perhaps “the invisible remains of a collapsed star, with an intense gravitational field from which neither light nor matter can escape
He kept his job, but the underlying ignorance of the English language, coupled with the fear of being tarnished by the “racism” brush, is deterring meaningful dialog. That story is here. As a new blogger, I certainly appreciate feedback and respect the commenter’s opinion. But I also reserve the right to speak as I choose, as surely as I accept the consequences of my actions.
Some thoughts on racism that I thought echoed this old post of mine over at Big Hollywood.
May 29, 2009
Tags: Political correctness Posted in: Uncategorized
One Response
Good for you.
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