Political correctness is a really touchy subject for lots of people. Some dislike discussing with others about politics and religion, and somehow this covers both of those, racial and gender issues, and whatever other social injustices a person can think up. It’s a big broad umbrella covering all the ways that people tend to generalize and stereotype each other. I have heard about way too many ways the world today is messed up, and there is plenty of evidence supporting that. Yet, it is surprising to know that in this day and age that people still cannot play well with others. There are those who view political correctness as something to help with that, while there are those who view political correctness as leading the world to turn on each other fists raised, to where nobody can say anything without offending someone else.
Granted, at times it may get ridiculous.
An officer, a father, my coworker, someone able to vote, offhandedly mentioned to me that, “America needs to kill all Muslims, because they are all ISIS.” I was aware that this level of thinking already existed way before this point. Even when I was younger, I heard other kids say that America should nuke all of Iraq because all Muslims are terrorists. I just was not expecting this from someone older and capable of rational thought. Granted those kids probably got their views from their parents, and so it should not have astounded me just how ignorant of a statement that was. I never thought that I would have to explain to another adult that the statement, “All Muslims are ISIS,” may be riddled with errors. Yet the part that still bothers me the most is that I could not persuade him to think differently. He got angry and upset. His face turned red, and he yelled at me for not letting him have his own “opinion.” I attempted to point out that you cannot have an opinion on something contrary to fact. No matter how hard you believe that grass is blue, it still is green. You cannot believe that all people of a religious faith fall under a category of an extremist group claiming that faith. That would be like stating that all Christians are a part of the Westboro Baptist Church. He then got angry again and accused me of being a Hillary supporter. Attempting to explain his side, he gathered himself and said, “Look, it's like how all black people think that white people are racist,” while grinning widely as if he said something that was very clever and strongly supported his case. When I disagreed, he made the undeniable point, “Black Lives Matter.” I immediately realized that I was getting nowhere with him, agreed to disagree, shook his hand, and moved on… or I may have busted out laughing to the point of tears and called him an idiot to his face. Either way, I did not get my point across.
It truly bothers me how this guy is a father who is going to pass on an extremely wrong worldview filled with statements contrary to fact connected wildly with other blatantly racist statements to his young child. It bothers me that there are people this blind who feel so strongly that they are right that nobody can convince them otherwise. Yet what I am most confused by is the political association. Why is it that political correctness is associated with being a Democrat? Granted, Republicans traditionally hold more conservative views, and so it can attract people that do not support gay marriage, but not all homophobia, racism, sexism, or political incorrectness can be attributed to them. On more than one occasion I have been shunned by people for pointing out political incorrectness by being called a liberal, a democrat, or a Hillary supporter. Not that it is shameful to be that, but it baffles me why that occurs so often. On the other hand, when I state that I have more conservative views, it carries with that a negative stigmatism of hating everyone else but white straight businessmen.
In a nutshell, the issues splitting the Democrat and Republican platforms are of government involvement in businesses and social programs. Democrats wanting more government involvement with Republicans wanting less. Logically, just because a person believes that the best approach to government is by restraining its reach and power does not automatically make that person a bigot. Political correctness should not be associated with either political party.
Political Correctness should just be called common sense, and yet it is not even that common. Way too many people oppose it because they view it as being too liberal and being a conflict of interest. When in reality, it is above and beyond the two party system. It is just attempting to be a decent human being by being inoffensive, unbiased, and nondiscriminatory. If someone believes that all homosexuals of Asian descent are pathological liars and starts campaigning this idea with the slogan “The Gaysian Fabrication,” those views would not be Republican or Democrat, they are just wrong because they have no basis in fact. People act this way, because they jump to conclusions and make generalizations about an entire race or group of people that are different from them. Then they feel justified in their wrong beliefs by stating that they are entitled to their own opinion.
