Politically Correct

If you cringed at just reading those words, than you came of age in the 1990s (or were already of age and paying attention). As I am writing this from the skewed perspective of my own memory divorced from any research, I am sure to make some mistakes and would appreciate some correction in the comments. As I remember it, to be politically correct came about as a way for corporations to put a halt to legitimate discrimination lawsuits brought about in the late 80s and early 90s. Less lawsuits means more profits and it was worth dismantling the good 'ol networks.

American society has a love/hate relationship with corporations. We buy their products, and until recently most of us admired and tried to emulate CEOs and other "self-made men." But we also resent them for their advertising, for their love of the bottom line over their employees and more recently for their CEOs, now seen as ogres who like to eat bones.

So society took political correctness from the corporate world and injected it into all spheres of life. Education, politics, sports, leisure, movies.

Society assimilated some of the more common sense principles, like not calling black men "boy" and not calling women "sweet cheeks." That shit would now get you sued.

But then a backlash began. A certain segment of the population viewed inclusive language as the death of tradition and their culture. And so extreme examples by resentful persons started popping up in late night talk shows, movies, music, etc. (Ironically, gangsta rap also got big at this time, though totally parallel to what I’m talking about). PCU is the movie that most comes to mind for me. And though a great movie, what was an obvious exaggeration became gospel for a lot of anti-PC people. Like there was really some college out there de-funding math and science for bisexual Asian studies.

So now PC has become vilified, something to avoid. I believe that PC has turn a corner in its evolution. It has become a dodge, a cop-out, a shield for bigots to hide behind. Wanna exclude minorities? Make a claim that you are attacking PC or its alias, multiculturalism.

Just read any article, or post that attacks multiculturalism or PC; in education, in politics, in mass media. At the core of every argument is the lamentation that white males ages 18-45 now and through history no longer have the monopoly on all things cultural.