The term politically correct first appeared in the 1960’s and since then it has evolved far beyond its original purposes. In his article “Apple Removes All American Civil War Games From the App Store Because of the Confederate Flag”, Tasos Lazarides informs people about Apple’s decision to remove the image of the Confederate Battle Flag the author does not take a strong position in the argument. He uses the article more for informational purposes, as opposed to using the article for an argument. Recently there has been uproar over the use of the Confederate Battle Flag. People find it offensive and therefore, it is being taken down everywhere. The flag is historical and does carry connotations; however, that is no reason to take down history.
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There have been instances when completely benign words in the English language have been deemed derogatory. The most apparent is the use of the word “niggardly”; which means to be stingy especially in reference to money. Yet, when people use the word they are immediately surrounded by people who think that they should not use the word. It is ridiculous that people think that a perfectly innocent word should be avoided. One of the most noticeable occurrences of this was in 1999 in Washington, DC. An aide to the mayor of Washington, David Howard, used the word niggardly in regard to the city’s budget. His use of the word caused outrage and as a result, his resignation was demanded. Two days after the incident, he resigns from his position. It is disgusting that people can no longer use a perfectly clean English word without negative effects. The circumstances that occurred in Washington DC are not isolated events. At the University of Wisconsin at Madison there was a similar altercation. During a discussion of The Canterbury Tales, a classic work by Chaucer, the professor used the term niggardly to describe the actions of a character. However, a student found the term offensives despite absolutely no knowledge of the meaning of the word: “He described him as being 'niggardly. ' I didn 't know what it meant. I found out later, but it didn 't take away from the offensiveness. I know the rest of the class …show more content…
Even in other countries in Europe people are not allowed to use “hate speech” and they can be sent to prison for it. Fortunately, the American constitution defends people’s freedom of speech, no matter how controversial it is. Political correctness diminishes people’s free speech. It may not be direct but even indirectly the knowledge that someone might have adverse consequences, such as losing a job, as a result of their speech is unacceptable. People have the right to state their opinions without others infringing on them, it was the principle in which America was
There have been instances when completely benign words in the English language have been deemed derogatory. The most apparent is the use of the word “niggardly”; which means to be stingy especially in reference to money. Yet, when people use the word they are immediately surrounded by people who think that they should not use the word. It is ridiculous that people think that a perfectly innocent word should be avoided. One of the most noticeable occurrences of this was in 1999 in Washington, DC. An aide to the mayor of Washington, David Howard, used the word niggardly in regard to the city’s budget. His use of the word caused outrage and as a result, his resignation was demanded. Two days after the incident, he resigns from his position. It is disgusting that people can no longer use a perfectly clean English word without negative effects. The circumstances that occurred in Washington DC are not isolated events. At the University of Wisconsin at Madison there was a similar altercation. During a discussion of The Canterbury Tales, a classic work by Chaucer, the professor used the term niggardly to describe the actions of a character. However, a student found the term offensives despite absolutely no knowledge of the meaning of the word: “He described him as being 'niggardly. ' I didn 't know what it meant. I found out later, but it didn 't take away from the offensiveness. I know the rest of the class …show more content…
Even in other countries in Europe people are not allowed to use “hate speech” and they can be sent to prison for it. Fortunately, the American constitution defends people’s freedom of speech, no matter how controversial it is. Political correctness diminishes people’s free speech. It may not be direct but even indirectly the knowledge that someone might have adverse consequences, such as losing a job, as a result of their speech is unacceptable. People have the right to state their opinions without others infringing on them, it was the principle in which America was