What’s the difference between Target, Donald Trump, and college students?
That’s not a setup for a bad joke—the answer is political correctness.
There has been a lot of talk in news media lately about being politically correct, what it means to be politically correct, and if it’s a good or bad thing. Target recently made headlines after announcing the removal of gendered signs in their toy department, and many people took to Facebook to voice their opinions. One quick scroll through the comments section of any article about the change showed an overwhelming trend of people claiming that Target was taking “political correctness” to far and that it was contributing to the downfall of America.
Switch gears to presidential candidate Donald Trump—a complete one-eighty flip from Target’s situation. Trump has been making a splash in the political scene for several weeks now, mainly based around his comments concerning immigration as well as public female figures. Trump is definitely coded as someone who doesn’t think about what he says, and that lack of reservation in his speech has made him a popular candidate among Republican voters. While Target is being condemned for their attempts at political correctness, Trump is celebrated for abandoning it.
Now, how do college students fit into this whole web?
Within the last year, multiple articles have come out about our generation being too sensitive. Most articles cite extreme examples of what appears to be political correctness—for example, this article from The Atlantic mentions Harvard law students requesting for rape law not to be taught out of fear of distressing students. We millennials have a bit of a reputation for being unable to take a joke or too sensitive all because of the ever-growing idea among those our age—that being politically correct is a priority.
Why do we have that reputation, though? In its definitive form, political correctness sounds like a good idea. It’s defined as "the avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against." Ninety-nine percent of the world doesn’t wake up in the morning and say to themselves, “I’m going to exclude, marginalize, or insult someone today!” On paper, it seems like political correctness shouldn’t even be a choice. In reality, that’s not the case. The term itself is loaded with slippery slope accusations and assumptions, is often interchanged with negative words and used as a synonym for “whining” or “over-sensitivity.” Everyone has an opinion on political correctness, and the more we integrate it into our everyday behavior, the more that people seem to resent it.
So, who’s right?
As with everything, moderation matters. Too much political correctness is restrictive. To be truly politically correct is to be free of judgments, but sometimes, we need to be able to judge whether something is right or wrong—there's a reason why it's a human instinct. Actor John Rhys-Davies explained it perfectly in a recent podcast, saying, “We don’t want to be judgmental. Every other age that’s come before us has believed exactly the opposite. I mean, T.S. Eliot referred to ‘the common pursuit of true judgment.’ Yes, that’s what it’s about. Getting our judgments right, getting them accurate.”
On the flip side, too little political correctness is unfair. The majority of political correctness that most people will experience in their every day lives comes down to minority groups asking for basic respect that previous generations haven’t received. In an article for Vox.com, Amanda Taub phrases it as, “The truth is that accusations of ‘political correctness’ are a sort of catchall charge that's used against people who ask for more sensitivity to a particular cause than someone else is willing to give—a way to dismiss issues as frivolous in order to justify ignoring them.”
I think that it’s a fine balance between too much and too little. One of the best freedoms that we have in the United States is to express our thoughts without consequence, but within reason. However, I’ve never believed that one can hide behind freedom of speech as an excuse to be an asshole. So, whether you’re sharing your thoughts on a Facebook post, or you’re literally Donald Trump, remember that it doesn’t hurt to think before you speak, and when you do, make sure what you're saying isn't something that could potentially offend someone else. Giving someone basic respect doesn’t have to equal completely censoring yourself. Whether you decide to go fully politically correct or not, sharing your opinions and voicing what you have to say should always encourage discussion, not shut it down.
