Politically Correct at Your Expense

American Heritage Dictionary
politically correct
adj. Abbr. PC

1. Of, relating to, or supporting broad social, political, and educational change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.
2. Being or perceived as being overconcerned with such change, often to the exclusion of other matters.

I'm sitting here on a conference call and for the third time today someone asked if something was "politically correct." It seems to me that all of this hoopla about being politically correct that has reached a point where its doing more harm than good. People are SO afraid of offending someone that they fear to speak up about very real issues that need very real solutions.

The extent of the problem reached new highs a couple of years ago when the US Department of Agriculture brought out their report on hunger for the year. Apparently though, the word "hunger" makes people feel bad and has negative connotations so nowhere in the entire report is the word hunger or starvation used. The issue is now referred to as "Food Security" if you're not hungry and "Food Insecurity" if you're hungry or starving. I just don't get the problem! If a person is starving you say they're starving and either find a way to help them or ignore them, don't hide behind fancy words and phrases!
(ref: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err11/err11.pdf)

Going back to the definition at the beginning it refers to an ongoing attempt to fix a historical inequity OR the condition of being overly concerned with these terms to the exclusion of other matters. Both of these ideas are at the root of the problem. People who have lived in this country for years are afraid to speak up when they see their rights and their culture being subverted into something completely different. Why? Because just stating that "English is the official language of the United States," although fact, can get you labeled as a racist.

I don't believe that when I walk into a store in Chicago and I can't understand the cashier and I ask them to speak English and I get aggravated because they say "NO! YOU speak Spanish!" I should be considered to be the one at fault. I am not socially intolerant, I just realize that our founding fathers and those people that followed them came here to found a new culture. An American culture. I should not be afraid in my own country to defend those very ideas!

I can't be the only one to have felt this pressure, if you've felt it feel free to let the rest of us know about it.

Good luck to us all!