An example of political correctness is the changing terminology used to described handicapped people. In the past the term "crippled" was perfectly acceptable and not considered offensive. At some point, Americans like Senate Republican leader [[Bob Dole]] decided "crippled" was degrading and the preferred term changed to "handicapped." This, too, was eventually deemed offensive and "disabled" became the preferred term. Today, even "disabled" is considered degrading to some and "differently abled" and "physically challenged" are used by those people. The same can be said for the changing uses of terms for Black Americans: "Negro" and "colored," once perfectly acceptable terms, became offensive during the 1970s and "Afro-American" and "Black" came into use, which in turn gave way to "[[African Americans|African-American]]," and in broader usage, "people of color." One perceived problem with "Negro" is that many persons, especially Southerners, seemed to have trouble pronouncing it, enunciating it as "nigra."
The question of politically correct language has spilled over from the use of racially descriptive words and affected the use of traditional language. In 1999, an aide to the mayor of Washington DC described a budget decision as "niggardly" (a word meaning "stingy," unrelated to the racial slur). The aide immediately came under criticism and was forced to resign even though he had not said anything racially charged. However, his name was cleared within a matter of days and was offered to return to his previous position. <ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/williams/williams020499.htm</ref>
As well as language, political correctness discourages the use of racial or stereotypes in fiction out of concern that these stereotypes may become self-perpetuating. For example, frequently seeing the image black gang-members decked out in gold chains, carrying guns and listening to rap may pressure young black people into seeing this lifestyle as the more 'acceptable' choice for their racial group. The common image of female-dominated occupations (nurses, secretaries, care workers, etc) and of male-dominated occupations (IT workers, military, machinery operators, mechanics, etc.) can discourage individuals of either gender from considering those occupations traditionally belonging to the other. Additionally films like "The Siege" and "True Lies" have been criticized by pro-Islamic groups as having Muslims portrayed as terrorists, despite the fact that most current terrorists are in fact radical extremist Muslims. Thus, political correctness becomes the consideration of all public statements and media for their unintentional social impact.
==The Language Police==
Conservative scholar [[Robert Bork]] has charged that the educational system is a battleground where the future of America is being undermined and ill-served. He has counseled against the troubles which will ensue as a result of anti-religious policies in the schools, permissive attitudes toward [[homosexuality]] and [[abortion]], as well as welfare policies that have destroyed families since [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s War on Poverty. <ref> Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline. by Robert Bork published by Harper Collins (c) 1997</ref>
In her book "[[The Language Police]]", [[Diane Ravitch]] documents just how easy it is to get a word, phrase or idea banned from modern textbooks and references. Ravitch asserts that textbook producers are beholden to small non-elected educational boards in a few key states such as New York, Texas and California and that few citizens know anything about these boards or who holds the seats of power on these boards. It's not difficult for an interest group to mobilize a campaign to bombard the educational board. Meanwhile, the public is not even aware that their words or values are under attack from this corrupt system, while many ''elected'' Conservatives have rallied against this policy.
Presently, however, this may not be the case. In 2010, a group of conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education pushed the state to adopt educational standards that emphasized the role Christianity played in America's founding. Those educational standards also sought to counteract political correctness by removing parts of the curriculum that espoused political correctness and contradicted conservative values. As one of the largest states in the Union, Texas represents one of the largest markets for textbook publishers. <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/magazine/14texbooks-t.html</ref>
Once a big state makes a textbook purchase, it's very difficult for a small state or any municipality to make any changes. Thus, profound changes can be inserted into textbooks and reference books by putting pressure on a handful of educational administrators. The work of textbook selection committees is sometimes done privately, to avoid politicizing textbooks, but the reverse has happened. <ref>The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Children Learn by [[Diane Ravitch]] (c) 2003 published by Knopf</ref> Ravitch has documented "''bias guidelines''" for major publishers of texts and tests. These "guidelines" consist of advice to writers and editors about words and topics that must be avoided.<ref>http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003695</ref>
[[Ryan Sorba]] has proposed changing the terminology used to refer to [[homosexual]]s to prevent the politically correct language police from controlling the debate.<ref>[http://www.americanindependent.com/178239/christian-conservatives-discuss-strategy-for-fighting-war-against-gays-start-with-semantics Christian conservatives discuss strategy for fighting war against gays: Start with semantics], from [[The American Independent]]</ref>
Many blacks with Caribbean heritage (such as those from Jamaica or Haiti) have criticized the term "African-American" since they do not actually have African heritage. Additionally, in 2009, Paulo Serodio, a white male who was born in [[Mozambique]], [[Africa]] was harassed and ultimately suspended from a New Jersey medical school for saying he was a "white African-American". Serodio, who initially did not use any politically correct name to describe himself, only used the term when forced to classify himself as either "Caucasian", "African-American", or one of several other options. <ref>http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7567291&page=1 ABC News: "White-African American" Suing NJ Med School</ref>
Furthermore, even in [[Canada]], which is more liberal than the United States, blacks are not referred to as "African-Canadian". Instead, they are either called "black" or (depending on their heritage) "African" or "Caribbean". This shows that America's political correctness has now gone further to the left than Canada's.
* [[Professor values]]
* [[Zapping the Shrinks]]
* [[Fourth generation warfare]]
** [[Essay:World War III has already started]]
** [[Essay:The coming Islamic Tet Offensive in Europe]]
==External Linkslinks==
*[http://www.capc.co.uk The Campaign Against Political Correctness]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=8olE_futZogC&pg=PA378&lpg=PA378&dq=communist+%22socially+correct%22&source=web&ots=DYD85Lsf1G&sig=pkoUxDOLFJZsme40QO13zakFZw4 The Chinese Have A Word For It]
*[http://www.theobamafile.com/_opinion/PoliticalCorrectness.htm Political correctness] The Obama File
{{liberalism}}
[[Category:Political Terms]]
[[Category: Marxist terminology]][[Category : Hollywood Values]][[Category:Fourth Generation Warfare]]