Do you think people take political correctness to far at times?
I do.
For example, to describe a black person, I often here people refer to them as: African American.
With all due respect, I have to wonder, when did it become offensive to call them Black?
Back when I was growing up, we used it all the time, and no-one got upset by it.
In fact, the word Negro, was a very respectful and dignified way to address a person of the black race, back when my Dad was a kid.
And yet you hardly, if ever, hear anyone use that expression anymore.
And how about for members of the gay community?
For example, many call them LGBT.
But when my Dad was a kid, they were called: Homosexuals.
Even when I was a kid, people still used that statement.
And technically, using the word "Gay," to describe someone who is homosexual is not correct.
Webster defined the word Gay as another word for happy.
And when you think about it, the word homosexual is not derogatory in itself, but merely describes a gay person's sexual orientation.
The same way the word: "Heterosexual," describes a straight person's orientation.
So after considering these two examples, what is your opinion?
DISCLAIMER: This thread is not at all meant to insult, or otherwise offend anyone of a certain race, creed, or sexual orientation.
All this is is just asking a simple question, and citing some examples of how are common vernacular has changed, due to society becoming more concerned about being politically correct.
Comments
Yes, yes they do. And, in my "incredibly conservative" outlook on PC, saying terms like "African American" is going too far already. Term "Caucasian" makes me wanna vomit. Caucasus Mountains is a relatively small region, but calling white people "Indo-European" (if "European" does not suffice) is too much trouble, it seems.
To cut this short, my opinion is this - don't use slurs or (actually, not just because of the political correctness) offensive words, use neutral terms. If you use some convoluted terms to describe a person, deliberately avoiding a direct description, that is the sign that you're going too far with PC.
Why is it that the overwhelming majority of people I see railing against "political correctness gone madddd!!!" are indignant, white conservatives? A modicum of political correctness is rarely a bad thing, it's part of being polite and. respectful.
Homosexual isn't a slur at all, and I'm offended at people who are offended. It the technical term from the Greek. And we all know the Greeks were anything but homophobes. I've always said gay, but I'm young. The weird one is queer - it went from being normal, to offensive, and now it's like ??? Literature departments teach 'queer theory', but, being from Boston, "You friggin Queuh" is probably always bad.
Though some things honestly just change with time. Like the example you gave with Negro. Yes, it used to be a respectful term and was used in a lot of speeches during the Civil Rights era. I don't know, it's the same thing as Oriental. The word literally means eastern, but over time it's just become offensive. It's one of those things were if it's been changed, the new one sticks, and the old term is consistent offensive, it's just a good idea to change; why offend others meaninglessly?
I'm sticking with black though. If you want a new term, it has to be one or two syllables. African American is seven, and that's just not happening. Political correctness does not trump laziness.
It's strange to not be allowed to call someone black when he obviously is. It's not an insult or anything. If someone called me white, I wouldn't go 'Light-skinned European!'
I also don't know why 'gay' is still an insult, even around adults who should know better.
Cool picture man!
I don't think people say "African American" or "LGBT" because the alternatives are considered offensive. I think people just say it to sound more formal and sophisticated. "An African American individual" or "an LGBT youth" sounds a lot fancier than "a black person" or "a gay kid." And for LGBT, the term is a bit more inclusive since it includes bisexual and transgendered people as well as gays and lesbians.
People with whom you are addressing should be referred to what they want. It shows proper respect.
Negro is not in any way respectful, it is an offspring off Nigger, which is what the white slaveowners called their black slaves.
Negro is Spanish for black.
It's not considered respectful anymore; but you have it backwards. The word 'nigger' is derived from imitating the Southern pronunciation for negro, which is from Spanish for black and was originally considered a respectful term (negro I mean).
oh, i guess I'm wrong then, but it is still not in anyway okay to call an African-American person a Negro or a Nigger