by Lee Deltoro
Louis CK has a joke about news anchors who say “the N-word”. The gist is that it’s not fair because “nigger” is being placed into your head without being said aloud. There is something unsettling about that. Any message you would like convey you should be bold enough to voice. As a nation, we are “N-wording” our way through the day. Plain speech is rare. There are too many euphemisms, too many signifiers, too many air quotes. Language has become defensive. There are more qualifiers than statements. We are less concerned with ideas and more with their delivery. Debates are being held in the abstract as opposed to the practical. Outright propaganda is even being phased out and replaced by something more nefarious. Inception? Strangely enough this language is not wielded by those we generally associate with the subjugation of minority cultures in America, but by those who would be seen as our champions.
In the early-to-mid 20th century, "politically correct" was a term lobbed at Communists by Socialists, mocking their dogmatic adherence to party doctrine as opposed to moral imperatives. “Politically correct” in our modern lexicon began as a right wing pejorative for liberal academics. It is defined as an attitude or policy of being careful not to offend or upset any group of people in society whom are believed to have a disadvantage.
The designation of “minority” in America is an admission by everyone that you are at a disadvantage, whether that is due to sex, race, religion, health, etc. The problem with political correctness begins here. Minorities are not upset and offended because of language, we are pissed off by the disadvantage.
