What are my issues with the PC Culture? What's wrong with political correctness? It doesn't solve anything. Yes, racism is an issue that should be resolved. It should not exist, but sadly, it does. That needs to change. Yes, sexism is an issue that should be resolved. It should not exist, but sadly, it does. That needs to change. Homophobia is an issue that needs to be resolved. It shouldn't exist, but sadly, it does.
But the PC culture where we fire and silence racism, sexism and homophobia doesn't solve anything and in reality makes things worse. If somebody says something that is ignorant and bigoted in nature, firing them and silencing doesn't help the situation. You did not change their mindset, and you probably made even worse. See, they were ignorant and already just didn't like someone or some sort of way of living. But now, because they said something, they have lost their job, their accounts are removed. What do you think happens next? Do you think they go "oh, well I learned my lesson. I need to stop being like that"? No! They get more angry at that group of people and anyone who defends them.
I'm not saying you don't reprimand someone for saying an ignorant, bigoted, racist thing. But if you immediately fire them and tell them off, no one has a change of heart, and they get more upset. Instead of firing them, you should try to educate them on why how they think is wrong. It won't work all the time, not even half the time, but you should at least try. Another issue with PC culture is the way people try to censor others and tell them what they can and can't say. They say you can't say certain words that are derogatory towards another person based on their race, religion, gender (identity), or sexual orientation (Provided that person is anything other than a straight white male). When you censor people's words, you're not eliminating racism, or sexism, or homophobia, or any sort of bigoted thought. You are just giving the racists, sexists, and bigots a road map. They can still be ignorant, but now they know where the landmines are. They know what not to say. So now, instead of fixing the person's stupid thought, they just don't say it, or they say it in a much different way that doesn't seem so offensive.
Another thing that needs to stop is this whole getting offended thing. The PC Culture seems to thrive on the fact that people are offended, feelings are hurt and everyone just seems to be overall offended by everything. This doesn't get us anywhere. This doesn't do anything. Crying "that's offensive" or "that's hurtful" or "you're really upsetting me" doesn't help create a narrative and makes discussions harder. This needs to stop, or no progress will be made. No one cares you're offended. Chances are, they knew what they said was offensive, and they just don't care. And besides that, how is that empowering? You're playing the victim when you do that. That does nothing for your cause. You are playing the victim.
Can I jump back to the whole censoring thing? There's a lot wrong with the way we censor people for saying certain things. For one thing, as I already said, you are just letting the ignorant people know what they can and can't say. Doesn't change their thoughts. And in doing that, you're looking at everyone who says those things as if they are bad and ignorant. There are people who say things because they actually don't know better, they don't understand why what they said is wrong, and there are people who just try to tell a joke and go too far. When you go after those people who made mistakes- stupid mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless, you paint them as real bigots with really ignorant, hateful thoughts and you essentially equivocate a bad joker with a real racist. See, it's not words that people use. It's the context they use them in.
The PC Culture has also created this idea that if you are a straight white male, life is automatically easier for you than anyone else. This is a horrible way of thinking. Firstly, you're eliminating support when you do that. There are plenty of straight white males who support causes that fight for the rights of all people and fight against injustice towards people based on their skin color, religion, or gender (identification). You're also making it seem like a white male can easily walk out of any bad situation, get any sort of job and any sort of education he hopes for. That's not the case. And you know what, at the end of the day, you only know what life is like through your own eyes. I don't care if it's your best friend, you were with them everyday, they told you everything good and bad, and you even read their journal/diary. You still only know life through your own eyes.
Look at it this way, everyone born here is given a sandwich made with dirt. No matter who you are or where you're from, you have a sandwich made of dirt and you have to eat it. You can't trade with anyone else, you can't go "you give me a bite and I'll give you a bite". You only have your own. You look at the sandwich of the person next to you and you realize his sandwich is made with a French baguette, while all your sandwich has is whole grain bread. It's easy to look at their sandwich and think it's so much better than yours. But don't forget, there is still dirt there. You don't know if that sandwich is really all that much better because of the bread that's on there, but it's really to assume just by looking at it.
So please stop saying "check your privilege" or "you're privilege is showing". What does that do? How does that solve anything? It doesn't. Those two sentences are full of assumptions that are only based in skin color and gender.
By the way, how is it not racist to assume a white male has it easier? You're making an assumption based on gender and race that things are a certain way for a certain person. That's what racism is. That's no different than assuming someone is cheap because you know they are Jewish, or assuming someone is a terrorist because you know they are Muslim, or assuming someone is a criminal because you know they are not white. The messed up part is that in the PC Culture, the only thing preventing that from being racist is the fact that it's happening to a white guy.
I know that racism, ignorance, and homophobia are real, and they are real issues, but PC culture isn't fixing it. And in some cases, it's making things worse.
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