Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Fox News pundits use “political correctness” as a blanket to cover any opinion they dislike.
Progressives are enamored with political correctness, however, and despite my distaste for Fox News pundits in general, I think that even properly defined, political correctness may do as much harm as good.
Merriam Webster defines “politically correct” as “conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated.”
That definition works for me.
Political correctness, in my humble (admittedly debatable) opinion, prevents honest dialogue that we need to have to solve some serious problems.
There are pockets of racially homogenous people in our nation where bad things happen more often than they do in other places.
These bad things don’t happen because the neighborhoods are racially homogenous. They happen because these communities tend to be isolated and poor, beset by joblessness and hopelessness leading to rampant drug abuse, crime and violence. These negatives feed on each other to become a cycle.
It is true that generations of racism reinforced by laws and attitudes drove large minority populations into isolation from jobs, education and opportunities, and that isolation resulted in the development of a culture separate from the culture most white folks like me grew up in.
To address the problems in minority neighborhoods, however, it is necessary to associate them accurately with people who happen to share a race, but political correctness prevents this honest discussion.
The minute we identify a race that dominates a poor minority neighborhood, the racist flag goes up. We back off.
The minute we mention that the most vicious people in these neighborhoods have more in common with predatory and scavenger animals than humans, the racist flag goes up again. And we back off, even though the most vicious people of any race have more in common with the same species than humans.
If we try to blame the culture of a minority neighborhood, rather than failed schools, for low achievement, the racist flag goes up. We back off.
The problem of political correctness is further complicated by the racism rampant within many minority neighborhoods.
Many whites think it is unfair that racism within minority neighborhoods is tolerated, but racism in “our” culture is not.
Example: I can’t use the N-word (nor would I want to), but many in minority neighborhoods can call me a “cracker” with impunity.
Ideally, racism should not be tolerated in any neighborhood.
To resolve the issues of race, however, we must learn to talk frankly about race without raising the specter of racism.
That is obviously much easier said than done, especially in current times when outrage overwhelms reason.
I think a post-racial society remains an admirable goal that we must keep striving to reach, but we’re not there yet. We still must step carefully.
For now, I think — reluctantly, we’re better off practicing political correctness, properly defined, to excess.
Steve Hansen writes about our life and times from his perspective of a retired Tucumcari journalist. Contact him at: