Being polite and understanding is always a good thing, but when it comes to learning in an open environment, political correctness is not always often the best thing.

Many School districts ban certain books from being read in their classrooms, let alone in their libraries.

For example, “Catch 22” Is banned at many schools for quote unquote objectionable language. Yet this novel teaches many lessons about the cold harsh nature of war. Black Boy, by Richard Wright, has been banned in many schools for hints of atheism and racist language, but the language used in the novel only portrays the realities of the time period. Black Boy is an authentic novel that depicts the hardships that African Americans had to endure in America.

In certain extremely religious schools, Harry Potter is banned for promoting themes of dark sorcery. While Harry Potter does indeed mention magic numerous times, it also feeds the mind and fosters an innocent creativity in children.

Schools in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Florida have banned LGBTQ+ books from being read and discussed. LGBT Book Censorship in an attempt to be bigoted and politically correct at the same time can damage the self-esteem of LGBT kids, if they are raised in an environment that bans something relating to their innate personhood, simply for an attempt to remain neutral and politically correct.

Being politically correct, in the Webster’s dictionary definition, means to remain neutral, towards a subject. So by the technical definition, political correctness can foster a sense of apathy.

Fostering a positive attitude and refraining from insulting people has nothing to do with not being politically correct. You can be anti-pc and still completely respect people, their ethnicities, and their pronouns. The fact of the matter is that the PC movement knows no breadths. To what extent will this movement surface? Being politically correct means you cannot call someone out on being misogynist, racist, nor bigoted, in fear of not only upsetting them, but stepping outside of neutral boundaries. Being politically correct not only hampers freedom of speech, but restricts people from calling out truly harmful adversaries.

Donald Trump prides himself for being very against political correctness, but what he really should be patting himself on the back for is being a narcissistic, homophobic, sexist, racist. Being anti politically correct and being ignorant are not mutually exclusive, which is why many associate Trump’s idiocy with being anti-P.C. In fact, all those words I just used to describe Donald Trump (homophobic, sexist, racist) are not P.C.

Being PC can be amazing when addressing a person one on one, or talking to someone who has been through a sensitive topic. But the hype of PC hampers freedom of speech and education. In environments where people are meant to grow and discuss, they must be open to all topics and ideas.