Political Correctness In America

Despite originating in early 1990, the term political correctness did not gain notable traction until more recent years. Today the term political correctness is aimlessly thrown about in the political arena from both sides of the aisle-but what does the term truly mean? Does it achieve its purpose? To fully understand the complexities surrounding this ideology, one must first examine the raw intention and foundation of the term. Political correctness is wildly accepted as the avoidance of expressions, actions, or microaggressions that can be perceived to offend, marginalize, or exclude specific groups of people who are inherently socially disadvantaged and/or discriminated against. However well intended the terms roots may be, political correctness in America has rose to a dangerously high level; the unwavering effort by the politically correct conscious to avoid offending any certain group or individual has lead to a highly sensitive, censored, and tip-toeing society.
Recently, MSNBC political analyst Chris Matthews dubbed several Republican politicians as “racists” after they openly discussed the presidents’ link to corruption in Chicago at the Republican National Convention (Rusty Weiss). Matthews suggested that because republicans related President Obama to the city of Chicago that it had to be because of his skin color-which therefore makes the word “Chicago” a racial charged hate word. However, Matthews fails to mention that according to the Census Bureau in 2010, the percentage of African-Americans living in Chicago is roughly 32.9% and the percentage of Caucasians is