(6 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
Loading ...I’m sick of political correctness.
I’m sick of wondering if the term African American is the only one available to me or is it ok to call someone a ‘black guy.’ […]
Original post: I’m Sick Of Political Correctness
I’m sick of political correctness.
I’m sick of wondering if the term African American is the only one available to me or is it ok to call someone a ‘black guy.’ […]
Original post: I’m Sick Of Political Correctness
You can offend whoever you damn well please. My personal opinion on this one is that words have been taken way too seriously throughout human history. That is most of human history from a westerncentric veiwfinder is misconstrued at best. I know I’m a white trash cracker piece of shit, and that is in no way self-deprecating. I’m going to visit my homo friend now.
Have a nice day.
I love being white and a guy. What’s our stereotype? Rich? Powerful? Capitalist pigs?
Beats the hell out of being ‘gangsta’.
I’m a gay chica, and it’s cool to call us queers gay. In fact, I prefer it to “lesbian,” which just sounds like I’m some adherent to some fringe, activist political group. Oh wait…
I’m also from the rural Deep South. No, I don’t like my food deep fried. I’m actually a health nut. I also happen to attend a strict Baptist college. Chuckle.
Yeah, I’m considered “white,” but my dad is registered Cherokee. We’re considered “well off,” but I know what it’s like to go barefoot, wear hand-me-downs, and not have money for candy during recess.
And I like sci-fi/fantasy novels, am pale enough to pass for a recovering goth, and am a computer geek. I keep track of current events, go shopping a lot, and have a network of really cool friends. I love gourmet dining, metal (the music), and ladies.
And my girlfriend is multiracial. So did I fit your stereotypes? :)
Wow, I didn’t even read the entire article, my eyes just instantly jumped to this little phrase: “Nigger. There, I said it.”
Wow VA, for the first time I’m disappointed in you, I thought you’d be mroe intelligent than that. Such a cliche phrase, it seems you’re trying too hard. Just try searching for that in Google, see how many results come up. You’re not the first to say that, and each time some “badass” says it and thinks they’re sticking it to the man by saying it… they eventually realize how pointless the entire thing was.
I have to admit, I am one of those (white) pussies who is scared to ask questions of certain other racial/ethnic groups due to fear of offending. I say “black” and “gay” and “Asian” but then I wonder, is “queer” okay or is that a bit too…familiar? Is “Asian” too catch-all or should I attempt to distinguish between Chinese or Japanese or Korean or Vietnamese etc etc, even if I can’t tell the difference myself?
Behind the anonymity of the Internet, I’ll say that if these minority groups want more racial and ethnic tolerance, maybe they shouldn’t get so damn offended when us ignorant white folks try to open a dialogue in the best way we know how.
its the black people that make this word illegal though they even use it for white people. just say it. cause we are different. not black or white is better, but different. so accept it
Smooth. Technically, races are blending. As a global society, combinations of ethnicity will eventually create a particular tribe of people. Not black, white, yellow, gray, high yellow or dirty white. I forgot red… shame shame. As for the nomenclatures V described, what’s in a name? Why has a sum of individuals fought for their dignities and place on this world? Why is it a shame to have ‘mixed’ culture families? Tolerances have changed drastically these few hundreds of years. When one group is granted more, other groups begin to lose. If I am insulted… perhaps it’s true. Or, perhaps I don’t care what others believe or think. Plus, since when do most people allow outside influences to dictate their lives and lifestyles? I believe that society has to allow each group to identify, clarify and mature into whatever they wish to become. As a world of diversity, variations create stronger strains of life. Dr. Hawkins has been in a wheelchair for quite some time. If someone called him a gimp, retard, or idiot, do you believe he’d be offended. No. Why? Because he accepts his position. Hindered by his physical body being diminished, he embraces and overcomes obstacles that ‘normal’ people would be frightened of. And, he’s the foremost authority in Quantum Physics today.
Just because someone calls you a FROG doesn’t make you one.
But, if you become offended by it, you might want to consider why it does.
Food for thought - excellent blog.
I’m gay and I don’t mind that term, or even “queer”, but calling me “fag” or “faggot” is on the same level as would be calling a black man or woman “nigger”.
I wonder why she left out “cripple” as a currently incorrect word?
All I can say is ‘damn freaking straight!’ I’m so sick of PC bullshit. People staring at you open-mouthed, thinking ‘I can’t believe she SAID that!!’ just because you dare to use a term that they wouldn’t utter in 100 years in case they get their asses kicked.
The whole double-standardness of it annoys the shit out of me. You can’t be a white person walking down the street calling people ‘niggers’, yet you can be a black person and call every other black person you meet ‘nigger’ and no one bats an eyelid.
Where I live, the Maori’s call us white people ‘Pakeha’s’ which roughly translated means ‘white pig’… yet we have to bow down to them and refer to them as Maori and very little else, because to call them by a colour is offensive to their delicate sensitivities.
What a crock of shit. We’re just breeding disharmony, discontent and a generation of people too afraid to speak their mind for fear of insulting others. The sooner the age of PC is over, the better off we’ll all be.
@ #7
Hawking. That cripple is named Hawking.
My question would have to be why do you WANT to offend people? Do you get off on it? It’s fine if you do, but what do YOU get out of it little sister?
Answer me this. How are YOU helping anyone… anyone at all?
Give me some objective ‘as possible’ evidence that your goddamn
silliness is actually serving any greater ‘good’. Now remember I already
told you I am a white trash cracker piece of shit. Am I helping anyone?
I haven’t claimed to. If Blogs are inherently stupid, why do you have one?
WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACHIEVE? You tell me. Explain yourself in plain english. Present your genius in laypersons terms. JUST FUCKING DO IT.
@ #10, thank you.
Thought it was incorrect. Wasn’t sure the proper spelling.
Circles
Or Spheres
yep. Acccording to wordpress I am posting comments to quickly.
Sorry Wordpress if you’re to slow for you’re own good.
@ #11
I don’t think it’s anything like people WANTING to offend other people just for the hell of it. I believe it’s more that these days people get offended over the slightest of things. People become too scared to say ANYthing in case they inadvertently offend someone else.
Sooner or later the word ‘food’ will become offensive to anorexics… *shrug*
I’m a gay white man. “Gay,” “Queer,” or even “Fag” do not offend me. I fail to understand how single words can be offensive without context. In fact, I’d probably bet that the most hateful offensive things I’ve ever heard or said didn’t contain any of those words or any profanity at all.
As far as the stereotypes go, most of them are pretty off-the-wall caricatures. Anybody who took half a second to look around would find plenty of counter examples.
I’m not effeminate, nor do I speak with a lisp. I do not prance around talking about shoes nor am I particularly interested in fashion. That this is an oft-portrayed stereotype doesn’t bug me. It doesn’t make me cry myself to sleep, fire off lawsuits, write angry letters or picket.
In my opinion, political correctness isn’t the problem. The problem is people who have some kind of addiction to being outraged that take the smallest slight as some sort of attack against all that they hold dear. These people should get over themselves and get a life.
@17
I agree. I just thought it’d be cool if V wrote about what makes her happy instead of what offends other people. I mean is there any blame to be passed in an ‘offensive’ situation? I’m not talking about wars of aggression here. I’m talking about person A saying something and person B getting offended. To me it seems like a 50/50 transgression. I’ll say it again. I may be the only person on this board that would rather hear about what makes V happy than what she’s sick of… or what pisses her off. So your sick of political corectness. Didn’t that end with the 90s anyway? Didn’t we ‘transcend’ the age of political correctness as soon as GW took office. We seem to have given way to the age of unfettered cynicism. I long for the days when you could get by simply by substituting a few words for a few other words. Now all we have is the proverbial dollar sign crushing the proverbial peace symbol. That is the new political correctness… as the power players sit back and say “Fuck em if they can’t take a joke.” You’re absolutely right V, in that the easily offended are obsolete. If someone is offended by a word in any language, then that individual is by definintion selfish, narcassistic and arrogant. There truly is so much more at stake than any one, or any group of individuals, personal feelings. There is also so many levels of the word ‘offensive’ itself.
I’m sick of typos. When does everyone get a self correcting keyboard?
@ emerild: switch to firefox.
if V is an angry woman, why the hell would she write a flowery post about butterflies and watermelons?
the whole point of her blog is what pisses her off in the world - and it’s a reflection of what most of us are pissed off about, but she states it so much better and does justice to truth where so many of us can’t/won’t go…
you miss the boat, so may as well jump ship.
…won’t kill you because you’re already dead.
:)
otherwise @ 4 -
you exemplify exactly what is wrong with the world, all in one small post you’re able to show exactly what V is talking about. you didn’t even read the article, and yet are posting about how disappointed you are in how bad ass V is trying to be. you’re retarded.
stop taking everything so damn seriously, and relax.
maybe you’ll be able to enjoy life more.
V FOR PREZ!!!
@ 21 you’re right. I should prob’ly just stop reading. I guess I’m not as pissed off as ‘most of us’… and you’re right on again… what can an undead wanderer do to actually ‘fix’ what is ‘broken’ in the world. Hell, I don’t even need a life preserver.
*walks the plank*
*jumps*
catch ya’ll on the flip side
; )
I completely agree with V’s post. I’m white, hispanic, and apache but I am always just “white” to anyone who looks at me. And that’s fine with me because you know what we’re all just AMERICAN. (Or Australian or British or whatever). I was watching tv the other night and a black author was saying that Barack Osama isn’t black because he was not born in this country, that black was a word reserved to decendents of American slaves. So therefore he is African but not Black and not African American. I don’t know what that even means. He’s american, she’s american, we all are.
*applauds*
political correctness bothers me like nothing else. They are black, just like I am white. I would never dream of asking someone to call me “Caucasian American” or some shit like that.
It is SO lame when black people try to play the race card. Or really, anyone else for that matter. They take away the credibility of their entire group…when someone truly is racially discriminated against, and they try to talk about it, all the rest of us who have had bad experiences of being falsely accused of racism by crazy people who don’t mind taking low blows…we all roll our eyes and assume it’s another false alarm.
I have mixed feelings on calling things gay. I do it all the time. Am I wrong? I don’t know. But it seems that in popular lingo, calling something or someone “gay” has nothing whatsoever to do with homosexuality…it has taken on a meaning of its own…i.e. the most common situations where I, or others, say “Oh that’s so GAY” is when a heterosexual couple is being too lovey-dovey. Now, taken literally, this is actually the opposite of gay.
In print, there is a simple solution…you spell it “ghey”…but out loud, there’s not really a difference. I intend to keep calling things gay (ghey, whatever). I just don’t know if I should proudly and defensively proclaim this, or feel ashamed of myself. After all, homosexual discrimination is a very real and serious problem.
my thoughts on gay/ghey.
i agree this can be a touchy subject. i class it with the word retarded.
now, once upon a time gay meant happy. (and it still does).
and not just happy - but that flowery, giggly, stoopid kind of happy.
so to me, it makes sense to call something gay when it’s that kind of lame. i couldn’t care less if someone gets offended.
the term was stolen from a specific type of happy - just like the damn rainbow!
once upon a time retarded meant slow or delayed. (and it still does).
people chose to use the word to describe people’s mental abilities - but that doesn’t take away from the fact that retarded means slow!
so if someone is acting in a way that is unnaturally thick in the head - i have no problem calling them retarded. while i probably wouldn’t use the word to a person who’s actually challenged - it’s a valid comment on their mental capacity. it’s not wrong, or mean. it just is.
i go back to thinking that intent and content is more important then the words themselves. it’s the spirit in which you speak.
we all know that words only make up a small percentage of communication…so take back the words you want to use, and make them what you want them for.
…at least that’s my opinion. :)
A question occured to me today. Which of the following is more insulting?
“Niggers are people just like everyone else - no worse, no better. We’re all the same and deserve the same respect and equal treatment.”
“African Americans are a lower race, evolutionary remain, little better than animals, meaning they’re a cheap workforce to use and manage as the white people please.”
Well, people-who-invented-political-correctness (or anyone else for that matter)? I think this question would be nice to put on a card and give to any bitchy black/brown/whatever client who plays the race card based on “wrong” word used.
I’m Argentine, and in Argentina we use race colors in a odd way. For starters, the word for “nigger” and “black” is “negro”. It’s used to describe a color, a person, also it means “dark” as in a low light situation.
It’s a REALLY versatile word, isn’t it?
Now consider that we use “negro” to say “dude”, even to WHITE people. Many people are a mix of the indigenous people and the spanish that came here hundreds of years ago. We don’t call them “indians” but “negros” too, but they have NONE african ancestors.
Me? I’m (partially) of jewish descent. My last name’s pronunciation sounds heavily russian. My nose is stereotypically jewish.
Was I ever insulted by that? Has anyone ever told me ANYTHING about that (except for my last name, it is really hard to type)? Nope. Not at all.
People do insult poor people, thought. But they don’t use the word “negro” to insult them because… it lacks punch. Here it’s a so common word that you have to say something else. Like “negros de mierda”, de mierda meaning shitty.
But never meaning to insult each others skin, only how much money they have on the pocket, lol.
Hey, does it mean that in Argentina there is no racism? No, of course. Racists are everywhere. In Argentina ther is tolerance. Not only to people, but to words.
If you call me judío, negro, loco, fiera (jew, nigger, freack and animal respectively) I won’t be offended. Most people won’t be, at least in this country.
They are just words. We care so little about it that we don’t even use them properly. I’m whiter than milk, and some people still call me negro when talking to me.
There are a few groups that are very racist… People related to our military and elderly people from fascist Italy. However, they are a minority.
In this country, slavery was abolished in 1813, more than fifty years before it was in USA. That could be a reason.
When you live in a country that is so full of ethnicities, most people can’t hate others for they color… They need someone to hate thought…
In Argentina there is discrimination towards immigrants of all colors. An odd case where there is discrimination without racism…
Anyone who feels the same way should check out:
Mark Cryer Presents “99 Questions You’ve Always Wanted to Ask an African American, but Were Too Afraid for Fear They’d Break Their Foot Off in Your A$$”
“Actor, Playwright, and Associate Professor Mark Cryer has created an insightful, funny, poignant and powerful piece that addresses what we think and what we know about African Americans in his new multi-media play, 99 Questions you’ve always wanted to ask and African American but were too afraid for fear they’d break their foot off in you’re a**.
Created in response to a racial slur written on a college student’s door, 99 Questions hopes to break down the barriers and begin the long overdue conversation about race. ”
He lives on the web at: markcryersactthree dot com
On the subject of “African American” this phrase is over used and incorrect 99% of the time. Unless you just popped off the boat or plane and emigrated from Africa, then you are not African American. An African American can be white! You have to be the first generation from country to carry this title.
Example:
1. Man (William) born in Scotland….gets off plane…becomes a US citizen…he now can say he is Scottish American.
2. William has a son (Bob) here in USA…..Bob is an AMERICAN!
The same rule applies to every black, brown, white, red, and yellow skin person out there. The only reason we say African American instead of black on job forms, credit card applications, or etc is because some people feel the need to freak being called BLACK. They call me WHITE so get off it. From here on I would like to be call Scottish-Irish-Polish-American. Calling me white is just racist. Now how stupid does that sound???
So to all my black friends reading this please inform every person that uses the term African American to please use it correct manner in the future.
#23, that black author was not only ignorant, he was wrong. Obama was born in Hawaii. Last I checked, Hawaii was one of the 50 United States. His mother is white and his father is African - from Africa, not from anywhere in the US. So, technically, I guess he truly IS African American, since his mother is an American citizen and his father an African citizen. But, anyway…he’s one of the few in the 21st century that can honestly claim that as a heritage.
Theresa Heinz-Kerry got a lot of shit in ‘04 during the campaigns because she said SHE was African American. And you know what? She was right. She may be white, but she was born in Mozambique, which is in South Africa. Technically, she is African-American, since she is a naturalized American citizen. But, there was an uproar of extreme proportions when a white woman dared to call herself African-American.
Anyway, that was just my way of saying I agree with V. It’s crazy the way we are expected to speak and act in order to not offend anyone. I was called a white chick not too long ago. I laughed, because - well, it’s true. At least I hope it is true.I’m white. I like to think of myself as a chick; it’s nice to be 40 and still a chick and not a ma’am or other age related, politically correct reference.
Obama is not African American
Obama born in Hawaii
Hawaii is in America
Obama = American
Simple as that…..
@31
nice.
@32
thx
Obama was born in America to an American mother. But, his father was an African citizen in the US for school. He (Obama) has African citizenship because of that. How is he not African, then?
Yes, he’s American. But, he is also African. The physical location of his parents does not change their citizenship.
Being born on US soil does not make you solely American. How many people from Mexico cross the border simply to give birth to their child on US soil so they can be citizens? What about people on vacation who happen to deliver early, or whatever?
Yes, being born here makes you a US citizen, but it does not make you ONLY a US citizen, and it does not make you American.
So, Obama’s family in Africa? Are they to relinquish all heritage as far as he is concerned because he was born here? Is he to be removed from their family tree simply because their son went to the US for an education and got a wife and son out of the deal as well?
Don’t bother to answer. I am pretty sure I can predict all the “arguments”. None hold water, but I can predict them.
I’ll answer anyway.
So…
Can we call him Barack?
Barack is an African citizen
AND
Barack is an American citizen
Arguments can’t hold water… they are not physical objects.
They can be valid, invalid, sound, unsound etc…
Yes, he is both. And, that was my point. He’s one of the few who can truly claim the moniker “African-American”. Or, if your sensitivities prefer, “American-African”.
Arguments are usually just that; arguments for the sake of arguing.
Agreeing or disagreeing is almost never the point. Usually the point is confrontation and someone spewing crap for sake of doing so.
True
Voices In The Hall…
[…] Its not prettified and cleansed for safe viewing. These are the raw issues that huge portions of the people wont even think about. V brings up a topic and the community tears into it. No definitive result comes out of it. Butfor every open-…
@34
TMR
I understand what you are saying, but I’ve never heard him claim duel-citizenship. Can you claim duel citizenship and still run for president of the United States? I can’t find anything saying no; just you have to be a natural born citizen, 35, and lived here in America for 14 years.
If he claims duel citizenship I will retract my statement, because I see the angle and point which you are coming from on the title of African-American based upon paper work. If any of the few have an argument it would be Obama. If he doesn’t have duel citizen he is just as “American” as me.
But I’m sure we all can agree that anyone who claims to be African American and both sides of the family have been here for several generations….they are just plain old Americans. Correct?
Rage-On - He has never claimed dual citizenship as far as I know. What I was getting at was that he is technically one of the few true African-Americans by definition - not political correctness. His African ancestors include his father, not someone 5 or 6 generations back. Yes, he IS American; that isn’t in question. This post from V was about the term black versus African American and other PC forms of our language. I was simply supporting the concept that African American is not really a valid form of reference for everyone. SOME people ARE African-American. Some people are Norwegian-American, as my grandmother was. Being born in America does not make you only American, particularly if your parents are not Americans. I worked with a woman married to a Swedish man. They both live here in the US. He has Swedish citizenship and is a legal alien in the US by way of his job and marriage. They have two children. Those children are American. But, they are also Swedish. Not by citizenship, but by genetics. They spend summers in Sweden, speak Swedish, and incorporate of a lot Swiss elements into their lives. All of their father’s family are in Sweden - they are Swedish. They are Swiss-Americans. As Obama is African-American. Obama’s wife and children have American parents, so they are simply American’s.
That is what I was trying to emphasize. I obviously didn’t do a very good job of it. The term African American is the politically correct way, supposedly, to refer to dark skinned people who claim African heritage. I don’t believe that is appropriate because it sort of invalidates those who are truly of direct African AND American descent.
And yes, if you are 2rd or 4th or 20th generation, you are simply American. First generation is a different story and that is pretty much exactly my point.
My grandfather was born in Hungary in 1913. He moved to the US when he was 6 months old. He became a US citizen. But, he was Hungarian. That made him Hungarian-American. He married my grandmother, who was born in the US, as were both of her parents. She was completely Norwegian by heritage, but already the 2nd generation to be born in the states. She was, simply put, an American.
Technically, my mom was American as well, since both her parents are citizens. But, she could also claim to be Hungarian-American, since she was the first generation of my grandfather’s family to be born here. But, his US citizenship kind of made that redundant.
Obama’s father was not a citizen of the US. He was a citizen of Africa, who just happened to attend school in the US. That makes him African, regardless of his residence. And, that makes Obama African-American, regardless of his residence or citizenship.
His children, as I said above, are simply American.
TMR
Ok then….so you give the title to the second generation and not the third? So basically if someone is a descanted from another country’s immigrant they are XXXX-American?
My grandmother and grandfather both were born here in America to Polish immigrants. They’ve never once claimed to be Polish-Americans, just Americans. They take part in Polish activities, speak the language, cook the food, and live in a Polish community. Plain old Americans.
On the subject of genetics:
So then the earliest form of man walking up right can be traced back to Africa….at the moment….does this make us all African-Americans? By genetics technically….yes
The question I’m asking is where the cut off line is for XXXX-American?…generation wise When do we just call ourselves AMERICANS?
I do agree with you 100% on the “The term African American is the politically correct way, supposedly, to refer to dark skinned people who claim African heritage. I don’t believe that is appropriate because it sort of invalidates those who are truly of direct African AND American descent.”
HAHA 43 is aimed @41 got one in on me before i refreshed!
@42
Agreed 100%
I was basically just being a smartass on the whole “So then the earliest form of man walking up right can be traced back to Africa…”
I haven’t read any of the above comments…. I just want to say that when I worked retail, I had several black people get mad at me for using the term “black”! They had no problem calling me white (or honkey or cracker) but thats another story. Hennyhow, I tried to be PC, or so I thought, and vowed I would start using the term african-american. The second or so time I used it, I had a VERY angry BLACK man confront me, screaming “african-american??? Are you stupid or something? Africa is a HUGE continent comprised of many, many countries. Should I call you European-American??? That is so damn stupid!!!! Lady, I’m BLACK”!!!!!
I also had some BLACK people refer to themselves and other BLACKS as “colored” but yeah, thats another story too….
Here is the point about political correctness.
If you were playing cards and you had a handful of trumps you wouldn’t give them up would you. Thats what political correctness is . If you can keep your job by claiming the boss is racist feminist homophobic ageist or any of the others you will pull the trump card.
Politicians jump on any bandwagon carrying the right cargo. Look how hard it was to get the Tory party leader Cameron to say he had smoked canabis, thats a wagon he wants no part of for obvious reasons.
So don’twaste your time on the argument. I can’t wait till they set up the correctness for short arses and fat bastards, I’m on both those lists. Sorry gingers, I agree, you should be in there already.
my 8 yr old gr.son came out with… “Damn I look like a lil Nigga” in reference to his tan……HAHAHAHAHA… My daughter almost fell out, I had to laugh, because for once he didn’t hear it from me…..( it was Television…)
( Yes I was chastised by her for saying the word in general conversation within earshot of him ( actually he is like radar)….I didn’t call anyone it just said it in reference to the Imus thing…)
I looked this word up when I was in school… It means or meant before the language police got ahold of it, “Poor Ignorant Person, and/or Uneducated person”.
It was reference towards blacks because of their slavery, ( they were uneducated and poor).
Now it has become such a taboo ….People fallout when they hear it…..Almost like whispering…”the emperor has NO Clothes”
I can ask you anything I want?
How come all republicans are hypocrites?