All good people agree
And all good people say,
All nice people, like Us, are We
And every one else is They.
–Rudyard Kipling
“We and They”The term “political correctness” is such a familiar piece of moral shorthand that it is easy to forget that the phrase has been with us for only about a dozen years. “John or Mary or the University of Lagado is so PC”–it’s never a compliment, but exactly what does the charge of political correctness imply? To a large extent, the familiarity of the phenomenon has bred, if not contempt, then at least an unhealthy indifference. Political correctness–the phrase and even more the idea–has had a curious and circuitous career, and the more we know about it the more distasteful and alarming it seems.
Indeed, we are often assured that political correctness–whether or not it posed a threat in the past–is no longer a menace. It has, the argument goes, either been defeated or simply faded away like a Cheshire cat with a scowl. Oddly, however, this soothing assurance generally comes from people who approve (or approved) of political correctness, so their relief at its disappearance is both disingenuous and unpersuasive. They succeed only in making one feel like the female water-skier on the poster for Jaws II who is unaware of the huge shark surfacing behind her over the words “Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.” MORE
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