The myth of political correctness is pervasive and persuasive in American society because it has become a fight to maintain the wrongs to which we grew accustomed. When, mainly, conservatives, libertarians, and so-called far-left liberals, who in some cases have now gone so far left they are far right, have joined together in the criticism of so-called political correctness, we need to take a closer look. This effort to raise their heads above the fray has laid the groundwork for a move backwards not seen since the Reagan era. Defending the abolishment of fairness, which has been sanitized as amorphous DEI (because what fair person can be against the idea of diversity, equity, and inclusion) or gay rights or women’s rights, has become a rejection of the adage, when you know better, you do better. When my kids were young boys, my generation took play guns out of their hands because we saw it as insidious grooming. Not that I am blaming the glut of guns in America on a Roy Rogers toy holster and cap gun, but making it a plaything reminds me of a scene from the movie The Terminator 2. Young John Connor asks the Terminator, while watching two young kids wrestle over guns, “We are not going to make it, are we?” People, I mean.”’
At one time in America, the character ‘Otis,’ the town drunk, appeared on the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. Jokes were made about him drinking and driving or drinking himself into mindless oblivion. The town sheriff, Andy, smoked regularly and never used a seatbelt. To his credit, he was the sheriff without a gun. Americans laughed uproariously when the Honeymooners’ Ralph Kramden threatened his wife, Alice, weekly with a trip to the moon after an uppercut to the chin. I confess, as an old boomer, I laughed just like many other Americans. Fortunately, now, reasonable people deplore drunk driving, denounce smoking, and detest abusing a spouse. Laws were adjusted to correct our attempts at self-destruction because we did better when we knew better. From 1619 to 1865, enslavement existed in the United States née the Colonies because it was an accepted norm. Following the realization that slavery was not only inhumane but morally repugnant, segments of the population still wanted to maintain the ‘cultural norms’ derived from it. Political dominance was maintained by denying voting rights to minorities. Education, places of business, domiciles, and public accommodations were segregated, and ‘good people ‘ignored their moral deprivation because it was convenient to be superior. Women could not get credit, and gay people could legally be denied housing or a job because the status quo was an excuse not to do better. Working our children in sweat shops and deplorable working hours were all changed because sanity overcame cruelty and avarice. The current moves by the Supreme Court to roll back voting rights, affirmative action gains, and a woman’s bodily autonomy are being punctuated by masked troops on our streets, disappearing people like something from a bad Soviet movie script.
Lest you think my fears are unjustifiable hyperbole, examine the current state of affairs. I was raised by a great-grandmother who was the granddaughter of an enslaved man. She told me stories about being born in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, between 1900 and 1903 (she was not sure of the exact year). I was a child, and her stories of being warned to stay out of the way of the “white man” to stay alive were not appreciated by me at the time. Her stories of lynching and fear are now over a hundred years old. A few days ago, the Trump administration sought to remove the onus from nooses and swastikas on military bases( the Coast Guard), reclassifying the obvious displays of hate as “potentially divisive.” Fortunately, after public outcry, the Coast Guard clarified its policy, “Divisive or hate symbols and flags are prohibited,” the latest Coast Guard policy, released late Thursday, declared before adding that this category included “a noose, a swastika, and any symbols or flags co-opted or adopted by hate-based groups.”
The fight against political correctness, in most cases, is a fight against accountability. Hurling racist, gay, and misogynistic epithets, denying human rights, and camouflaging it with words like “woke” is not politically correct persecution; it is just wrong, and we know better, so do better.
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