Dodger Logic: #102: Politically Correct = Respect

I never thought I’d be writing a blog entry about political correctness as a top issue, but here we are. There are an astonishing number of people who agree with 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump that we should completely stop being politically correct and tip-toeing around people’s feelings. And of course, there are people on the opposite end of the spectrum that say Trump is wrong, and that political correctness is important. Google’s definition of political correctness is “the avoidance, often considered as taken to extremes, of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.” Lately, the argument over political correctness is that some people are unhappy that the new trend is to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” and that many people are pushing to do away with phrases such as “In God we trust” or “God bless America” (particularly when it comes to keeping those phrases on U.S. currency,) in order to keep from offending non-Christians. The pot has been stirred by incidents such as Starbucks removing all Christmas decorations from their seasonal holiday cups, so as to make their company more inclusive. A lot of people are not ok with this & consider this a “war on Christmas.” Plenty of people in the world do not embrace change and don’t want to alter their speech or actions, because they’ve never had to do that, and they feel like it is silly. A lot of these people feel like other people are overly sensitive these days. In backlash to these “overly sensitive” people, for instance, Sheriff Jolley of Harris County, Georgia posted a sign on government property that reads “WARNING: Harris County is politically incorrect. We say: Merry Christmas, God Bless America, and In God We Trust. We salute our troops and our flag. If this offends you… LEAVE!” This sign has received ample praise & criticism from both sides of the issue. So I’m here to try to clear things up a little bit and see if we can’t find some middle ground here.

For anyone who doesn’t really understand why people are so upset about political incorrectness, imagine you are the minority. You moved to a different country – let’s say, for example, a country that allows religious freedom but happens to be majority Islamic, such as Mali. You are a Christian surrounded by all of these Islamics, and around their holidays, they are always telling you “Eid Mubarak,” while not taking into account that you might not celebrate that holiday, because you are a Christian. You are completely overwhelmed by all of the decorations around town that are in celebration of these holidays, and you understand that that comes with the territory of moving to a country that is majority Islamic, even if everyone has a right to their own religious beliefs. So you shake it off. Everyone is just trying to be nice to you and spread Eid cheer. But then you see a sign on government property that says “WARNING: The city of Bamako is politically incorrect. We say: Eid Mubarak, Allah Bless Mali, and In Allah We Trust. We salute our troops and our flag. If this offends you… LEAVE!” Would you feel comfortable living there? Or would you feel like your beliefs & values were being undermined by the majority?

What a lot of people don’t understand is that it’s not always about what random people say in daily life. If someone tells me Merry Christmas, I’m going to say thank you and move on with my day. Even if I didn’t celebrate Christmas, I would realize this person was just trying to be nice and spread Christmas cheer. I believe that’s the way most people see this issue. For instance, I had a professor in my last semester of college who was Jewish. Right after graduation, I was still working as a server at a restaurant. That professor and his two kids came to my restaurant, and surprised to see them, I served them. At the end of the meal, the professor’s small daughter told me “Happy Hanukkah!” Now, I don’t celebrate Hanukkah, but do you know what I said back? “Happy Hanukkah to you too, sweetie!” While I realize that’s not really comparable, because Christianity is the majority in the U.S, while Judaism is the minority, this is the best comparison I can give.

But the issue doesn’t lie there. The issue lies in the government or any government personnel pushing an agenda of Christianity on everyone in this country, forgetting about religious freedom and separation of church & state. It’s the issue of sheriff speaking for an entire community, putting a sign on government property that essentially asserts that any visitors or residents will not be accepted in the county if they do not prescribe to that county’s collective religious beliefs. It’s essentially telling them that their differences will not be respected there. It’s an issue of a company being persecuted by Christians who believe they have a right to drink their morning beverages from cups that have emblems of their religious holiday plastered all over it, while completely ignoring people with different beliefs. It’s an issue of a man who hopes to hold the highest office that this country has, who is saying whatever he wants, no matter how prejudiced, bigoted, or just plain rude, thus pushing an agenda to allow the people of the majority to be openly misogynistic, racist, religionist, and homophobic without any consequences. It’s saying things that you know might be hurtful or rude to another person. Try going up to your boss at work & saying exactly what you think of him/her, and let me know how that works out for you. Every other human being in this world deserves just as much respect as your boss does, even if other people can’t fire you from your job.

It’s about respect. THAT is what political correctness is. It’s admitting that you are not the only person in this world, and your religion is no better or more deserving than that of anyone else in this country. It’s speaking and acting in a manner that says “I may not agree with you, but I respect you as an equal.” This particularly refers to the government and the way they treat people that are not apart of the majority. However, everyone can practice political correctness. It doesn’t mean that you have to tip-toe around overly sensitive people’s feelings. It’s the basic respect and manners that I know all of your mothers taught you growing up. It’s doing what we’ve been doing our entire lives thus far, and NOT listening to an outrageous presidential candidate who wants to take us back to a time when minority religious persecution was an everyday norm.

By the way, so everyone is clear, a lot of people are upset about the idea of political correctness and think it will destroy America, because they think political correctness’s advocates want to destroy their freedom of speech. No one is calling for that right to be taken away. We are just requesting that everyone be more mindful & respectful of other people. You do and always will have your right to be as rude & bigoted as you want, no matter how many times we ask you to be nice. It’s your choice which side you want to be on.