According to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” Oppression and cruelty by the bad can potentially take many forms, and it is vital that the people are conscious of them. This is why the concept of political correctness should be considered. Political correctness is defined as the belief that language and practices that could offend political sensibilities should be eliminated. In other words, one who believes that people shouldn’t say or do something because it is offensive in any way is exemplifying political correctness. In several ways, this concept is similar to a more moderate version of the language of Newspeak in George
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In an article explaining political correctness, Jonathan I. Katz, a professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote political correctness entails, “that the truth should be suppressed because it might cause harm. This is a totalitarian impulse.… A democracy depends on the widest possible dissemination of facts, and the freest possible discussion of them.” Katz’s rational logic makes it clear that political correctness is disturbingly against the ideology that makes the United States a safe, free, and relatively prosperous place. That is not all, however, as evidence is against the legality of political correctness as an influential practice. In her work, “Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment,” Kathleen Anne Ruane gives indirect but key insight into the issue, stating, “the government, generally, is not constitutionally allowed to favor one type of content or idea by suppressing or otherwise burdening another type of content or idea” (Ruane). Hence, because the endorsement of politically correct speech limits more extreme and potentially indirectly offensive speech, the government cannot support it, and so the First Amendment does not apply. This means that fanatics of political correctness are engaging in unconstitutional practices because they …show more content…
Against political correctness are people of various occupations, from doctors to science professors to English students. Among them is a physician by the name of James Le Fanu, who wrote extensively on the subject of political correctness in scientific literature for the British Medical Journal. He cites two public health studies: Sir James Spence’s A Thousand Families in Newcastle upon Tyne of 1954, and the Black Report of 1980. Sir James’s report apparently found several connections between infant death rates and residential hygiene, whereas the Black report failed to report possible connections between the two, even though 1980s hygiene and infant death rates had improved incredibly from the 1950s. The Black report also omitted any facts relating to dysfunctional families, which were mentioned to have a possible effect on public health in Sir James’s work. Hence, the Black report demonstrates that “it is not permissible to even hint at the possibility that perhaps social incompetence might have something to do with the health problems associated with poverty” because of its adherence to political correctness (Le Fanu). Le Fanu’s article argues, “More serious [than just verbal hygiene] is the censorship of significant facts and observations from scientific writing and which in turn explains why there is
In an article explaining political correctness, Jonathan I. Katz, a professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote political correctness entails, “that the truth should be suppressed because it might cause harm. This is a totalitarian impulse.… A democracy depends on the widest possible dissemination of facts, and the freest possible discussion of them.” Katz’s rational logic makes it clear that political correctness is disturbingly against the ideology that makes the United States a safe, free, and relatively prosperous place. That is not all, however, as evidence is against the legality of political correctness as an influential practice. In her work, “Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment,” Kathleen Anne Ruane gives indirect but key insight into the issue, stating, “the government, generally, is not constitutionally allowed to favor one type of content or idea by suppressing or otherwise burdening another type of content or idea” (Ruane). Hence, because the endorsement of politically correct speech limits more extreme and potentially indirectly offensive speech, the government cannot support it, and so the First Amendment does not apply. This means that fanatics of political correctness are engaging in unconstitutional practices because they …show more content…
Against political correctness are people of various occupations, from doctors to science professors to English students. Among them is a physician by the name of James Le Fanu, who wrote extensively on the subject of political correctness in scientific literature for the British Medical Journal. He cites two public health studies: Sir James Spence’s A Thousand Families in Newcastle upon Tyne of 1954, and the Black Report of 1980. Sir James’s report apparently found several connections between infant death rates and residential hygiene, whereas the Black report failed to report possible connections between the two, even though 1980s hygiene and infant death rates had improved incredibly from the 1950s. The Black report also omitted any facts relating to dysfunctional families, which were mentioned to have a possible effect on public health in Sir James’s work. Hence, the Black report demonstrates that “it is not permissible to even hint at the possibility that perhaps social incompetence might have something to do with the health problems associated with poverty” because of its adherence to political correctness (Le Fanu). Le Fanu’s article argues, “More serious [than just verbal hygiene] is the censorship of significant facts and observations from scientific writing and which in turn explains why there is