Political correctness

[TLSnell1981]

Political correctness has nothing to do with evolving as a society. It is about limiting speech in order to promote a leftist ideology. The political left simply cannot win at the ballot box — who in the world would vote for less freedom, less money, less opportunity, more risk, and less reward? So they've taken the battle to the culture and political correctness is an important front in that battle. By "outlawing" — according to the "laws" of political correctness — certain speech, they believe they can fill the void with their leftist orthodoxy.

All discussion of religion is outlawed in schools, but "cultural studies," such as the study of Islam, is encouraged.

Abstinence education is considered moral teaching — that's bad — but Planned Parenthood "educators" will come into the schools to discuss "women's health issues," i.e., abortion.

Conservative students on college campuses are coerced into "diversity training," where they are told that their conservative values are racist, sexist, etc.

"Multiculturalism" means cultural relativism, in which we are supposed to accept and never criticize such "cultural differences" as stoning to death women who want divorces, or marrying off 12-year-old girls to 50-year-old men, but mentioning you vote Republican in an American workplace can land you in the aforementioned sensitivity training.

One of my favorite books is written by one of my favorite political commentators, Tammy Bruce. She is a openly gay democrat and former president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Organization of Women. After years as an active and ardent democrat activist, she became disillusioned by the left's vicious strong-arm tactics in demanding total adherence to its politically correct ideology, and she became a conservative. Like Reagan, though, she insists that she didn't leave the democrat party, it left her.

Anyway, her book is called: "The New Thought Police: Inside the Left's Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds" and it's a great primer on political correctness from someone who had a real insider's view.

 

[alizesmom]

You really think the term "mentally ********" is ok....really.

so i guess deaf and dumb is ok with you

Negro must be perfectly fine, as it was completely accepted for years.

why dont we just shorten it to "retard"

How about midget, does that work for you.

We are evolving as a society, and becoming more aware of our diversity. It is the reason why the terms ******, wop, mick, ****, kraut, jap etc. are no longer acceptable after being universally acceptable in this country at one time.....Why does that growth bother you so much

Growth doesn't bother me in the least. You tell me a good description for a 5 yr old who has the mental ability of a 2 to 4 month old. He's not going to catch up so he is not delayed. Mental retardation is a medical term which describes my son. Retard is an insulting word that labels my son.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I don't do political-correctness either.
It really has run amok...

I agree with a lot in loco4dis' post!

I loved the post above about trying to describe someone without being politically incorrect!!!!

If people see things like a person's racial heritage, or their physical limitations as such a horrid negative that they can not even pass ones lips, then THEY are the one who are showing their own negative judgments. They must be so phobic themselves that they are trying to accuse anyone who uses a legitimate descriptive term as being 'wrong'... If I say somebody is 'short' or their skin is what one might call 'black' or whatever... that is not a negative label.. it is an obvious fact....

To say that a simple term like 'black' or '********' is wrong, inherently makes the judgement that there must actually be something wrong with being dark skinned or developmentally disabled, or whatever...

Those who hide behind supposed 'political correctness' only show that they are the ones drawing lines and who have any problem.

Nobody in this country can be truly considered equal and free until we embrace whatever facts may pertain!

Corryn, I think I understand your posts, and I understand what you are saying.. I see no reason for anyone to flame you.

 

[alizesmom]

I brought this issue up for a simple reason. To show that people are different and no two think or feel alike. I personally want some simple, accurate and clear ways of describing myself and my children. I hate that when I do, I end up insulting or upsetting someone. The terms that I use are meant to convey what we are. Me: I'm a short, fat, middle-aged, white woman with glasses. Now most of you can visualize me. My children are precious to me and I would never want to cause them unhappiness but as I mentioned my son's abilities are extremely low. With him, tone is all that matters. The terms I use are for others. To say he is intellectually challenged or developmentally delayed does not convey the profound damage he has faced. I do describe my daughter as delayed because she has every chance that someday she may catch up with her age group. This issue is very frustrating for me. If someone out there can give me terms that are benign but still give an accurate picture of my children then tell me and promise me that next year I won't have to change them.

 

[alizesmom]

I don't do political-correctness either.
It really has run amok...

I agree with a lot in loco4dis' post!

I loved the post above about trying to describe someone without being politically incorrect!!!!

If people see things like a person's racial heritage, or their physical limitations as such a horrid negative that they can not even pass ones lips, then THEY are the one who are showing their own negative judgments. They must be so phobic themselves that they are trying to accuse anyone who uses a legitimate descriptive term as being 'wrong'... If I say somebody is 'short' or their skin is what one might call 'black' or whatever... that is not a negative label.. it is an obvious fact....

To say that a simple term like 'black' or '********' is wrong, inherently makes the judgement that there must actually be something wrong with being dark skinned or developmentally disabled, or whatever...

Those who hide behind supposed 'political correctness' only show that they are the ones drawing lines and who have any problem.

Nobody in this country can be truly considered equal and free until we embrace whatever facts may pertain!

Corryn, I think I understand your posts, and I understand what you are saying.. I see no reason for anyone to flame you.

Someone always comes along who says it all much better than I did. Thank you.

 

[Michelle67]

I'm not making fun of your son.

We don't go around laughing at people with disabilities.
On the contrary, having family members with a wide spectrum of disabilities makes us sympathize with those who are in the same situation.

To laugh at a movie and to go up to a person and laugh in their face are two different things.

I understand that the view of a brother rather than that of a mother are two totally different views. As a mother, you are the protector My husband, as a brother, was also a protector but he felt the way to cope with the situation was with humor.
I feel the same way. When life is just crazy, really crazy, the only thing I can do to make it more normal for me is to find the humor in it.
That is not everyone, obviously. But that's the way I deal with it and you have no right to tell me that my way of dealing with something is the wrong way.
That's the way I deal with what goes on in my life with my family.
You deal with it differently, and that is your right.

I got that, and just wanted to tell ya that about ten years ago a friend of mine died MUCH MUCH too young from cancer. She was 20 years old when she was told that she was terminal. We laughed a lot, because the alternative was to cry, and since neither was going to change the situation we (she) decided to live with humor. I bought her a comb for Christmas when she had no hair. We laughed at her and called her Darth Vader when she turned up at school wearing and talking through her blue mask because her doctor said she really didn't need our germs and she refused to drop out of college. Later when she lost function on the left side of her body due to the latest metastises (sp?), which was to her brain, we asked her to put things she said to us in writing (she was left handed). It got harder to laugh when the tumor in her brain started to take "her" away, and there were days she didn't know who any of the rest of us were. But we managed to laugh the day she found her truck keys while her girlfriend was gone, then managed to get herself into the truck and drive away---with only one functioning arm and leg, mind you---even though her house had no wheelchair ramp, and the truck was a stick shift. Even funnier was listening to her tell us about the cops who ended up bringing her home, who no doubt pulled her over for a DWI when they saw her weaving around the neighborhood, only to find out they had an even wackier situation on their hands, and a young woman who had NO idea where she lived. For the life of her she just couldn't remember her address. But hey, she still had a valid driver's license!

For all that long drawn out stuff...my point is that cancer is NOT funny. Pulling (or watching your friend pull) out your hair by handfuls until it is all gone is NOT funny. Going from a vibrant young lady charging full speed around campus to being stuck in a wheelchair is NOT funny. Dying barely into your 20s is NOT funny. But humor and grace got her---and those who loved her---through a horribly UNfunny situation, and taught me lessons I will cherish all my life. It's not what you deal with in life that defines you, it's how you choose to deal with it. For that, I'll take humor over sadness any day.

 

[Goofyluver]

Corryn, I think I understand your posts, and I understand what you are saying.. I see no reason for anyone to flame you.

I wasn't "flaming" anyone...if you were referring to my posts.

In fact, if you read my original post on this thread, I stated that I thought that "intent" behind a message could affect the message. The only term I don't use, is MR. And that's a personal choice. But, when used correctly and not in a derogatory manner, it can be perfectly acceptable. I also said that.

What I referenced was making fun of others for their disabilities. I'm sorry. I don't find that acceptable.

My son is what he is. Like I said: a label doesn't tell you all the wonderful things that he is.

I don't care if you (not you personally) are up to the hilt with political corectedness. That's not what I was referencing. I was speaking of the acceptability of poking fun at others due to their disabilities.

 

[Tasha+Scott]

Well that may be the case at your office, but at the office I work in it is used as a diagnosis code for billing insurance companies and it is worded "Mentally ********". Must work different for each doctor's office.

This is true. ICD-9-CM coding books do have mentally ******** as a coding diagnosis. The new updates come out each October so they should be out soon (I haven't even ordered mine yet) but I highly doubt they will update or delete the term in there this year. They didn't last year.

HOWEVER, you can also look the same diagnosis up under "Developmental delay" and it will give you the same codes as the Mentally ******** category. There are different subcategories for the codes depending on what type of delay/retardation it is. As long as you look it up correctly, though, both will lead you to the same code. That is the great thing about coding, they try to add a way to look things up with all the different terms because of the fact that people do call it so many different things. So, yes, some dr.'s offices may code it as mentally ******** while others code it as developmentally delayed. The code is the same either way.

Ironically, I have an interview tomorrow for a medical insurance billing job.

As far as Polictical Correctness goes, I don't think this would even be an issue if others didn't make it that way by making degrading remarks. For example, would people really mind the term ******** if people hadn't started going around making fun of others by saying, "You are SUCH a retard!" KWIM? There is nothing wrong with the word, IMO. It is the people that use it in a degrading way that are the problem.

Oh, and my brother and my neighbor are deaf as well as many others I know. My sisters' mother is an interpreter for the deaf. I have been known to use both deaf and hearing impaired interchangeably. I have yet to find one deaf person that has a problem with either term. Maybe I just know some laid back people or something?

 

[Corryn]

I got that, It's not what you deal with in life that defines you, it's how you choose to deal with it. For that, I'll take humor over sadness any day.

Sorry about your friend
Without posting a very long out thread on the reasons why we (me and my family) laugh, I have to say that you summed it up.

When you're 12 and neither parent wants custody of you, so your grandfather takes you in - only to be confronted by your grandmother, who doesn't want to control her mental illness with medicine so you have to learn how to deal with her when she's not lucid; and then a little while later finding out that your little sister is really out to kill you because she is bipolar and cannot control herself so she becomes violent, chasing you with knives whenever she got the chance, overdosing three times - once taking her last breath in my arms on the way to the ER, having her run away time and again, etc. etc. etc.
Waking up each and every morning and praying for a "good" day, where I could actually try to live a normal teen-age life, was a daily prayer, and during my grandmother/sister's lucid moments, we laughed about their non-lucid moments. We made fun of them, they made fun of themselves. It was the way to get through it.

Instead of my DH's family using step-brother's condition and labeling him as disabled, his family made him do whatever every other kid in the family did on a daily basis. He had chores and he had to perform just like all the other kids in the family. He went to school every day and he had a pretty normal childhood for someone being mentally ********. Of course there were many many obstacles and they dealt with it, also with humor. To this day when we're sitting around talking, he will bring up all the naughty things he did while growing up and we laugh about it - him too.

In the opinion of many Americans, Political Correctness is Not Correct. Those who want it can have it. Those who don't want it shouldn't be forced to adhere to the wishes of the other side. That is our right as American Citizens. I choose not to.

 

[Goofyluver]

Sorry about your friend
Without posting a very long out thread on the reasons why we (me and my family) laugh, I have to say that you summed it up.

When you're 12 and neither parent wants custody of you, so your grandfather takes you in - only to be confronted by your grandmother, who doesn't want to control her mental illness with medicine so you have to learn how to deal with her when she's not lucid; and then a little while later finding out that your little sister is really out to kill you because she is bipolar and cannot control herself so she becomes violent, chasing you with knives whenever she got the chance, overdosing three times - once taking her last breath in my arms on the way to the ER, having her run away time and again, etc. etc. etc.
Waking up each and every morning and praying for a "good" day, where I could actually try to live a normal teen-age life, was a daily prayer, and during my grandmother/sister's lucid moments, we laughed about their non-lucid moments. We made fun of them, they made fun of themselves. It was the way to get through it.

Instead of my DH's family using step-brother's condition and labeling him as disabled, his family made him do whatever every other kid in the family did on a daily basis. He had chores and he had to perform just like all the other kids in the family. He went to school every day and he had a pretty normal childhood for someone being mentally ********. Of course there were many many obstacles and they dealt with it, also with humor. To this day when we're sitting around talking, he will bring up all the naughty things he did while growing up and we laugh about it - him too.

In the opinion of many Americans, Political Correctness is Not Correct. Those who want it can have it. Those who don't want it shouldn't be forced to adhere to the wishes of the other side. That is our right as American Citizens. I choose not to.

First...although we have disagreed on this thread...I"m not a heartless person who has no feelings for your situation. I would throw up a hugging smiley (here)...except I don't want to offend you by being too PC ...so I'll just give you a figurative "slap on the back" and say: I'm sorry for your situation. My brother is bipolar, as is his daughter, and I can't even imagine what life must have been like for you.

And although I have stated my beliefs about "making fun of those with disabilities"...I can assure you my DS does not skate through life. In fact...I'm one of those tough mommies who expects him to be a contributing member of society once he leaves my house (God willing)...just like most mothers out there that I know.

You're never going to get me to say that I think it's acceptable to make fun of others for their disability.

Do we laugh through life here in my house?

Absolutely? Because if we didn't laugh sometimes, we'd be crumpled on the floor crying. My DS has a life-threatening condition...and we choose to enjoy life and party our way through it...we do things like go to Disney !!

Laughing through life is different than making fun of others for me. That's not about being PC...it's about being a kind person in my home.

Again...you're not going to get me to say I agree with you. But, I will say I'm sorry for your plight.

 

[darlak]

One of my DD's has a profound hearing loss. We're fine with the terms "deaf", "hard of hearing", or "hearing impaired". I will admit that I cringe when I hear someone refer to my daughter as "deaf and dumb", because a great many people don't know that "dumb" also means mute (many seriously don't know that!). Plus my daughter isn't mute by any stretch. I don't really get offended though and neither does she. Some people just don't know better and don't mean to be offensive.

Quite frankly, I believe I can generally tell when someone is being intentionally offensive and if the intent isn't there, then being angered by what amounts to an uninformed innocent statement says more about the person who is offended than the one who innocently made the statement.

 

[TheGoofster]

For most of her life, my wife has been short. Now they are trying to tell her that she is vertically challenged?
The next person who says that to her better watch out, or she might just punch them in the knee cap.

 

[Briarmom]

That is the one that drives me crazy. It seems to be the media who loves the term so much (although apparently “white” is OK). What do you call white people from Africa, and the many black immigrants from South America or the Caribbean? Why the need to distinguish between “African Americans” and “regular Americans” as if they’re different? Unless someone is a new immigrant from Africa, I think it’s a stupid term.

This one is hardest to teach little kids, I think. My daughter spent a year of her life in Africa so she doesn't really get what 'African American' means. Last year in school she was telling me about her friend. She said 'He's African American, like my cousin!' Well, no, he's not. He's French or Belgian. But I don't think he's African Belgian. Add in our friends that are from Jamaica/other islands and it gets really confusing for them.

 

[legalsea]

I love when these type of threads pop up.

"I don't understand political correctness" quickly leads to "Only a barbarian and thug would continue to use that word!"

Also: 'If you use that word which I find offensive, then you obviously think that it is alright to hang hobos from a tree, to tar and feather cats, and you suck eggs. However, I otherwise generally agree that political correctness has gone too far."

Why, even Rush Limbaugh has made an appearance! "It is the wacko liberals who use politically correct speech to try to muzzle ME, your fuzzy teddy bear!"

By the way: the term mentally ******** is still widely used in medical circles. In the Social Security Administration it is still used in disability cases (for instance, Section 12.05 of the Listing of Impairments). Also see DSM IV.

I will also note that when people file for disability payments on behalf of their children, trying to obtain Supplemental Security Income benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, they have no qualms about using the 'mentally ********' wording. At the hearing in front of the administrative law judge all parties freely use the term: claimants, judge and medical expert. In my 20 years of doing my job (which includes listening to the hearing tapes) I have yet to hear any parent object to that term to the judge's face. I guess when you are seeking monthly payments you will put up with the term.

 

[SandraVB79]

You really think the term "mentally ********" is ok....really.

so i guess deaf and dumb is ok with you

What is wrong with deaf???
OMG, when they give you the stamp in your passport when entering the US, they should also give us a list of not-to-use words, because I would never have thought deaf is not to be used. We use it all the time.

This one is hardest to teach little kids, I think. My daughter spent a year of her life in Africa so she doesn't really get what 'African American' means. Last year in school she was telling me about her friend. She said 'He's African American, like my cousin!' Well, no, he's not. He's French or Belgian. But I don't think he's African Belgian. Add in our friends that are from Jamaica/other islands and it gets really confusing for them.

No, over here there is no such thing as "african belgian".
If you are a Dutch-speaking Belgian, you say "een zwarte" which is the translation of "a black" and the French-speaking Belgians usually use the "un Black", which obviously means "a Black", with capital B.

Like I am called "white", which unfortunately very true, because I am very white!

 

[Kteacher]

Sometimes people trying to be PC can go a little to far (especially where I live). I made some flamingo costumes for an elementary school musical-the kids were doing a song from The Lion King. A staff member complained to me that she didn't like the fact that all the flamingo costumes were pink.

 

[Andy B]

Like I said...I teach my son it's horrible to make fun of anyone...in any circumstance. Because someone tries to sink it in "comedy" doesn't make it right.

Doesn't all comedy make fun of someone?

 

[Andy B]

You're never going to get me to say that I think it's acceptable to make fun of others for their disability.

I read it as Corryn saying they laughed at the situations that the disabilities created not that the person has a disability.

 

[Aisling]

You really think the term "mentally ********" is ok....really.

so i guess deaf and dumb is ok with you

******** means slow.
Dumb means unable to speak.

I worked in a microbiology lab, and we would use chemicals that would "retard" the growth of bacteria.

The words in themselves are 100% accurate.

 

[Took]

My experience with "af-am" terminology is that virtually none of my colleagues or students "of color" cares a bit about whether I call them "black" "African-American" or "people of color" or almost anything else remotely repsectful.

I tend to use all of the terms inter-changably. In one sense, words are very, very powerful, and, in another, they mean only what we allow them to.

AT least, by showing we are conscious of multiple terminologies, it shows we're conscious of the power of language. Perhaps, that's the real lesson.