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Politically Correct to a Fault

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Politically Correct to a Fault
Politically Correct to a Fault For the first time in our history, Americans have to be fearful of what they say, of what they write, and of what they think. There is an importance of using politically correct statements to address the diverse population. They have to be afraid of using the wrong word, a word denounced as offensive or insensitive, or racist, sexist, or homophobic. (Lind) The First Amendment is not supporting the theory of free speech currently because everyone from authority figures, to the schoolyard population is challenged by what they say.
Politically correct, or PC for short, is defined as: of, relating to, or supporting broad social, political, and education change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. In most recent history, the phrase “not politically correct” was introduced in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Chisholm v. Georgia, in 1793. (Blazquez) The term defined a statement that literally defied the U.S. political status at the time, and was therefore incorrect. Following the Cold War, the term described a challenge to social and political changes within the curriculum of American universities and high schools. (Beard) To deal with the changes, the American population decided to declare certain topics off-limits, and essentially ban the use of derogatory language. There are notions of political correctness that are concerned with aspects of language and power; however, such use is to do so with social groups who are in some way seen to be a minority and disadvantaged. This extreme protest to the progress of society and the education system is still felt by American citizens today.
A survey conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE last year found that more than half of college students at both public and private institutions believe that a student club espousing traditional beliefs about women 's roles should not be allowed on campus;



Bibliography: Atkinson, Philip. “Political Correctness.” Our Civilisation. 2008 <http://www.civilsation.com/pc.htm>. Beard, Adrian. Language Change. Kentucky: Routledge, 2004. Billings-Harris, Lenora. “Political Correctness and Diversity in Public Speaking.” The Sideroad. 2008 <http://www.sideroad.com/Public_Speaking/political-correctness.html>. Blazquez, Agustin & Sutton, Jaums. “Political Correctness: The Scourge of Our Times.” News Max. April 8, 2002 <http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/4/4/121115.shtml>. Bleifuss, Joel. “A Politically Correct Lexicon.” In These Times. Feb. 21, 2007 <http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3027/>. Closson, Don. “Politically Correct Education.” Leadership U. July 14, 2002 <http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/pc-educ.html>. Kuphur, Shanat. “The Dilemma of Public Speaking.” AdOne Publishing. Jan. 4, 2008 <http://www.adonepublishing.com/articles/4346/1/The-Dilemma-Of-Public-Speaking/Page1.html>. Lind, Bill. “The Origins of Political Correctness.” Academia. 2008 <http://www.academia.org/lectures/lind1.html>. Paulson, Kenneth A. “Politically Correct Speech.” Freedom Forum. Oct. 7, 2001 <http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=15083>. Robertson, David. A Dictionary of Modern Politics. Kentucky:Routledge, 2002. Smith, Wesley J. “Politically Correct Eugenics.” The Weekly Standard. 13.28 (2008) <http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/915cuzel.asp>. Tshelska, Maryna. “Teaching Politically Correct Language.” English Teaching Forum. 2008. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. <http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol44/no1/p20.htm Wheatley-Billeter, Martha Lou Wilson, John K. The Myth of Political Correctness: The Conservative Attack on Higher Education. North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1995.

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