Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

If you agree the term has been hijacked, then I suggest you think again about defending what a great thing PC is.

Whatever it was, it is now an evil without which our society would work a whole lot better.

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

But by attempting to do so it actually escalates some of it.......eg:

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

PC, in theory, is a good thing. In practice, however, it has been hijacked and seems to be being used by people for their own ends.

Take, for example, where I work. A couple of years ago, we employed a new guy. He knew his stuff. However, that is not why he was employed. He was employed by the Uni purely because he had had a row at his previous employers (BA) and cried Racism. IMO, he should have got the job on Skiils, not colour.

Note, I actually think it was a good thing that we did employ him (he was good at the job), but the fact he cried Racism when he got into trouble at work, IMO, cheapens the plight of those who do geniunly suffer racism.

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

I agree with damien that is becomes a bit of a semantic game, in that anti-racism is good and pc not, and therefore everything bad is pc.

The wider issue, I think, is that many will agree there is no place for racism/abusive terms where these are clearly seen as abusive by the receiving party. It becomes different when others try to decide what certain groups might consider offensive without consulting these groups first. This has become known as the negative form of PC, and is something that many (including me) object to.

I do agree however, that the media tend to hype these stories, and the practice is not as widespread as some of them might like us to believe.

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

Actually, I'd argue that the word 'Paki' wasn't originally used in a derogatory manner (at least not where I grew up). Originally, it was used purely as an abbreviation of 'Pakistani' - it's only in (comparatively) recent years that it's taken on the racist connotation.

As for 'Nigger', I seem to remember a thread a while ago that discussed the fact that the black community were, to one degree or another, 'reclaiming' the word, so can it still be seen as racist?

The trouble with 'Political Correctness' is that anyone can use it either as an excuse to do / not do something, or as a stick to beat someone else with when they do / don't do something.

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

Care to list a few of those examples?

The thing is, I think you are confusing outright terms of abuse with things that some would deem 'non PC'. It may well be non-PC to call a black person a nigger, but we didn't need the bleeding heart brigade to tell us that. The word has been regarded as an insult for my entire lifetime at least (30+ years). AFAIK the term 'political correctness' has only been in the public consciousness for maybe half that time.

Political correctness is not so much about banishing the outright offensive, it is about redefining the innocuous as unacceptable, the Orwellian idea being that if you change the name of something, you change the way people think about it. Thus you get blackboards renamed chalkboards, because we have apparently become so immature as a people that we are not to be trusted at all with any use of the word 'black' as it may be racist.

Once you accept this premise, of course, the logical progression is to find ever more petty examples of things that 'could be' offensive and so ought to be changed. And to return briefly to that example (the fabled winter lights), it may not have been council policy, but IMO it betrayed at least the petty mindset of the person who coined the phrase.

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

Actually a lot of negitive words where in fact positive at first. In the early days of American words where used which are deemeds offersive now.

By the way the defination of PC is:
A noble aim! In some cases it may have been abused but the core is still good

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

And the problem with that definition is the use of the word 'perceived'. Perceived by whom? For what purpose?

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

exactly, where the 'victim' decides what is acceptable is where the concept of, what is 'PC', breaks down, rather that definition should say 'avoidance of expressions or actions that are intended to exclude etc etc'

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

Apparently 'nigger' or 'niggers' is classed as offensive, but 'nigga' or 'niggerz/niggaz' isn't, according to a discussion forum I was reading last month.

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

Which is weird, considering that, unless it was written down (and dependant on the particular accent used) how would you know if someone said it to you :shrug:

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

Whatever it used to be defined as, it has long since become a completely different monster: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness

And some further searching found http://www.capc.co.uk/ - check out the 'Your Stories' section to see what people think PC is all about.

BTW - if you're the wrong side of 30 you might appreciate: http://www.lauramidgley.com/TO%20ALL...20SURVIVED.doc

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

Last year my son was in a fight with an Asian boy at school and when he was asked why it happened his reply was "That Paki lad hit me first." He wasn't being racist, he just didn't know his name and used the first identifiable thing that came into his head! Result.. a weeks suspension for racist remarks. If the shoe was on the other foot and the Asian boy had said "That Brit lad hit me first" nobody would bat an eye lid and why should they? It's only an abreviation.

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

Thanks

I am going to become a member. :tu: Greeny on its way

Re: The slow march of the PC plodders
 

I think, simply, that Political Correctness has an image problem. It has been associated, especially in the reactionary right wing press, as an attack on free speech, etc. For me I am happy to live in a world where respect and good manners are paramount, which at its core is what PC is all about. Of course there are always going to be examples dug up by certain media elements to show 'political correctness gone mad', but these are only minor indiscretions when compared to the fact that, for example, we live in a culture where public bodies scrutinise themselves and their behaviour (even if common sense does sometimes need to be applied).

It's easy to dismiss much of the good that PC has done, such as helping to banish offensive or insulting words, or even making sure that local authorities provide translated material etc. (I never see that in the paper!), as nothing to do with PC as it 'would have happened anyway due to legislation', but this is to deny the fact that PC has at least had a part in informing the policy makers.

Let's not forget what the aims of true PC are and remember what the world was like before, and of course apply a little common sense.