Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 12, 1993 TAG: 9309120294
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MIKE KENNEDY THE KANSAS CITY STAR
DATELINE: KANSAS CITY, MO. LENGTH: Long
Or, as some of its proponents might say, PC is becoming "terminally inconvenienced" terminology.
Witness the new "Politically Incorrect and Proud of It" bumper sticker. Or listen to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh make a career of PC bashing.
Critics argue that the PC push has become counterproductive, chilling free speech and obscuring important debate.
"It is a contradiction," said Dinesh D'Souza, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and author of "Illiberal Education," a critique of political correctness on college campuses.
"Liberalism is a philosophy of openness and commitment to free speech. . . . Political correctness is a pretext for shutting down a discussion of legitimate issues of political protest."
Despite the growing onslaught, PC defenders maintain that its original goal - to rid our daily language of racism, sexism and other offensive connotations - remains honorable.
The problem, advocates now think, is that conservatives have co-opted the term for political purposes, making it either meaningless or a label for derision.
But some PC people aren't abandoning their efforts.
"I applaud any linguistic movement that gives us a vocabulary for treating each other with respect," said Catharine Stimpson, professor at Rutgers and a former president of the Modern Language Association. "We are a better society for treating each other respectfully."
After being politically correct became, well, politically correct several years ago, it became downright bewildering trying to choose words that accepted diversity and were sensitive and inclusive.
People began arguing over whether Columbus encountered Indians, Native Americans or indigenous peoples. Or whether a person in a wheelchair was handicapped, disabled or physically challenged. Or if a large person was obese, differently sized or horizontally challenged.
And no one risked laughing. Political correctness is a minefield. One misstep and - boom! - a career could go.
PC has critics on the left and right, but generally arguments fall along ideological lines: Advocates often are characterized as liberals and critics as conservatives.
Critics see those who espouse PC, particularly on campuses, as marching mindlessly to the drum beat of multiculturalism.
"I think the PC gang ends up being the sensitivity police, deciding which words are acceptable," said Michael Bauman, professor of theology and culture at Hillsdale College in Michigan.
Bauman, who co-edited a recent collection of essays titled "Are You Politically Correct?" decries what he calls the "tyranny of the sensitive."
"The general public tends not to want to say anything that might be incorrect," Bauman said. "They automatically go along with what they see on television. Donahue, Oprah, the media in general, tend to be politically correct."
Intellectual honesty has suffered, too, Bauman argued.
"Authors have to choose words based on their meanings, not on the supposed sensibilities of their audience," he said. "I won't permit other people to have a veto over my language."
Yet PC advocates maintain that its critics' persistent use of the PC label has done even more damage.
"All the razzmatazz about PC language has deflected our attention from deep and serious issues," Stimpson said. "People now talk about whether something is PC or not, rather than the deep underlying social currents. "The backlash has hobbled our efforts to achieve common goals of equity and social justice. The funny thing is, why are people so resentful of having to treat each other decently?"
Even those who poke fun at the issue acknowledge that applying the PC label to someone or something was the kiss of death.
"To tag something as PC is to make it something undesirable," said Christopher Cerf, co-author of the tongue-in-cheek "Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook." "A lot of good things can be tarred."
Others are worried that the PC push is making our language lifeless.
"In many respects, it has become a parody of itself," said David Guth, a journalism professor at the University of Kansas. "Politically correct speech is like hospital food: It's good for you, but it's bland and tasteless. It takes the joy out of life."
In their spoof, Cerf and co-author Henry Beard took joy in digging up silly examples of PC terms: knowledge-base nonpossessor [ignoramus]; deficiency achievement [failure]; nondiscretionary fragrance [body odor]; hair-disadvantaged (bald).
Stimpson acknowledged that many PC advocates have been heavy-handed, which hasn't helped.
"Some of my colleagues have been self-righteous and want to constrict freedom of speech," she said.
PC critics particularly targeted college campuses, chiding language "guidelines" that purportedly restrict freedom of speech.
"It's very common on campuses," Bauman said. "They dictate what words a professor can or cannot say."
But many in academia maintain that PC horror stories were exaggerated by the media.
"The reliable evidence is that no such thing is happening to universities around the country," said Robert Willson, professor of English at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Still, critics continue to single out Smith College in Northampton, Mass., as a PC hotbed after students were given a list of terms that described "manifestations of oppression."
Smith officials say that "The List" led many to mistakenly accuse the college of imposing a speech code.
"It was distributed at an orientation session to generate discussion," said Stacey Schmeidel, the college's director of media relations. "It was not a list of rules."
The University of Missouri-Columbia received similar criticism after the School of Journalism's Multicultural Management Program compiled a "Dictionary of Cautionary Words and Phrases."
Included were potentially offensive words such as "airhead" or "Dutch treat."
"People have picked on it," said Sheila Pauley, the management program's secretary. "But it's done some good. You would never use those words, but it makes you think about the kinds of words you use and think about the people you're using those words on."
Others fear that what may be lost in the PC backlash is appreciation for the harm that hateful words can inflict.
"Words break more than bones," said Gerald Margolis, director of the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. "The old saying our mother told us - we knew secretly it was a lie."
Margolis said that the museum continues to feature an exhibit where people are accosted by recordings of racial, ethnic and religious slurs. It's unsettling and purposefully so.
"We hope after people experience that, they will think twice about saying those things."
by CNB