A PC America

Political correctness creating climate of fear, silence

(Published July 20, 2003, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington)

If there is one thing that could cause the downfall of democratic America, I'd lay my bet on PC.

Politically correct. It sounds almost benign. Its original intent was certainly laudable. "Support a program of broad social, political and educational change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender and sexual orientation."

The problem is we lost control along the way, and PC has been running amok since. The result is a citizenry that is confused, virtually clueless and afraid to say anything that could possibly offend any member of our various PC-protected groups.

Take my case for example.

One Saturday morning, I was running errands and chasing down store specials as usual. I chatted with a couple of people I know and exchanged small talk with the librarian, cashiers, grocery baggers and latte junkies.

When I reached home and looked in the mirror, I nearly died. My hair was a mess. A thick clump was bunched at the side of my head with a scraggly part sticking up. I looked like an escapee from a Stephen King nightmare.

I thought of all the nice and friendly people I had just talked with. Not one of them had indicated by word or gesture that there was anything amiss with my appearance.

Can't say I blame them. I am a brown-skinned woman who speaks with the lilt of the tropics and the warm exuberance of my Spanish forebears. My tongue is used to the flat vowels of my native language and occasionally trips on tricky English words. In our overly PC-vigilant society, who would dare say anything to me that could be misconstrued as disrespectful or prejudicial?

In another world and time, any one of those people could have said, "Honey, are you aware that you hair is all messed up?" Or if I were a young man instead, maybe someone would have said, "Hey dude, what's up with the hair?" Or even, "Cool, man, you are sooo with it!"

However, I am a person of color, a minority, a member of an under-represented group and therefore to be treated with utmost caution and only with a 10-foot pole.

In our zeal to ensure equality for all, we are quickly losing the capacity to be direct and forthright. We couch our language in politically correct and euphemistic words, as though calling the blind "visually challenged" or the deaf "hearing impaired" makes their situation more palatable.

Even more worrisome, political correctness has crossed over from mere cosmetic words to public policy and actions verging on the ridiculous.

For instance, have you heard about this community in Texas where the county commissioners unanimously designated "Heaven-o" as the county's official greeting? "Hello," is no longer acceptable to them because the first four letters spell a word they'd rather not hear.

And remember the furor when a certain mayoral aide used the word "niggardly" to describe the city budget? This raised the ire of many people because it was close enough to the "n" word that we're not allowed to say it anymore.

Never mind that "niggardly" was most appropriate to the meaning being conveyed. Nor that it is a thoroughly respectable English word meaning stingy or miserly. And never mind that the message had nothing to do with race or color or ethnicity.

Some segments of our society heard what they wanted to hear, and raised a mighty outcry. "Off with his head," or words to that effect. Poor guy didn't know what hit him. He had to apologize most profusely and was forced to quit his job over a word. Imagine that.

In our bizzarely schizophrenic society, the "F-word" and the "B-word" are acceptable, and in some settings even cool. But heads have rolled and blood has been spilled over some common words and phrases that are suddenly no longer acceptable.

And that's part of the problem. Who's keeping tabs on "inappropriate" words and their politically correct alternatives? Is there a PC primer or self-help book where ordinary, God-fearing citizens who don't want to lose their jobs or be sued out of their pants can go for guidance?

If help doesn't come soon, we will devolve into a society of insincere wimps, afraid to say or do anything that would bring down the ire of PC vigilantes on our heads - and an army of gleeful lawyers behind them.

My advice to Saddam, Osama and all those lovely folks who hate us? Wait. A few more years of this PC environment and you won't have to lift a finger because we will have done it to ourselves. A nation paralyzed by the fear of offending. It would be the ultimate PC world - a Permanently Catatonic America.

(Belma Villa of Tacoma writes once a month as a guest columnist for the Perspectives page.)