This summer, the University of New Hampshire released a “Bias Free Language Guide.” Even the guide’s name itself is a slight euphemism – sugarcoating its goal of avoiding political incorrectness and the perception that the University of New Hampshire is anything other than a bastion of Liberalism. Perhaps they were trying to stress how inclusive they are, even with an 80 percent white student body, but in my opinion the guide went too far. It discouraged the use of words like “senior citizen,” “rich,” “poor,” “healthy,” and “freshman.” All of which were determined to be offensive or inherently discriminatory. Most controversially, though, it recommended avoiding the term “American,” citing a belief that the term is biased towards South Americans.
In principal, I support political correctness. But this guide is the perfect example of how political correctness (PC) can go overboard, particularly on college campuses.
PC has never eliminated biases; only changing people’s perceptions has ever eliminated biases. And a key part of changing people’s perceptions is the promotion of honest, free flowing dialogue. More important than any particular word is the context in which the word is used. For example, let’s say a student is trying to articulate a point about recent riots and continues to use the word “thugs” to describe the rioters. If his classmates respond harshly, pointing out that the word “thug” is politically incorrect, perhaps they’ll get him to change his word choice for the time being. In my opinion, though, it is far more likely the student will feel attacked and lack understanding of why his word choice was wrong in the long term, and simply adapt his language not because of a change in viewpoint, but because of societal pressures. In contrast, if the classmates simply ignore the PC debate for a moment and discuss the actual issue, conversations may end up being far more productive in changing people’s point of view. Now this isn’t a panacea, and it’s possible I’m misguided on this issue. Personal experience has led me to believe firmly though, that PC is not as important as perception.
The other place where aggressive PC annoys me is within the comedy industry. A slew of comedians – including Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock have discussed their disdain for playing college campuses because of the sentiment among college students that if something isn’t PC, it’s automatically racist or sexist. I don’t always agree with forcing PC onto everyday conversation, but I understand it. However, comedy isn’t everyday conversation. It’s intentionally offensive, farcical, and exaggerated. Using an offensive word on stage could be for shock value - it could be used sarcastically to mock the way of thinking associated with using that word. The key is, though, that comedy acts are not bound to the standards of everyday conversation. This isn't because comedians are superior, or get a free pass, but because they’re acts and as an audience watching their act we have given them permission to elicit laughs by any means, regardless of bluntness or political incorrectness.
Again, I can’t say I have any superior insight into this matter. And I can’t say I’m right. I personally think that society now, especially college campuses, have become too trigger happy with their attacks of anything not perceived to be perfectly politically correct. And I hope that at the very least, this article will provoke thoughtful conversation on the matter.
