by James Smith

Created on: June 19, 2007

Has Political Correctness Undermined Free Speech?

Wikipedia defines Political correctness as a "term used to describe language or behavior that is intended or said to be intended to provide a minimum of offense, particularly to racial, cultural or identity groups".

Political correctness was meant to be socially progressive and originated in the late 1970's. Its intent was to prevent people from being offended through use of language. People on the left of the political spectrum used the term politically correct to dismiss views that were seen as to rigid and to use care to neither say or do anything that may offend the political sensibilities of others. In the 1980's, the political right taking on the concept of political correctness at face value latched on to the term and used it as an object of ridicule. Progressives defended the concept as a worthy one and for the last three decades, cultural terminology has changed in a somewhat perplexing way.

Having now defined the concept of political correctness and its origin, the question to be answered is whether this concept and how it is used today in society has undermined free speech.

In its purest form, political correctness is to restrict words and ideas. People have become fearful of what they say or what they write and of what they think. They have to be afraid of using phrases or words that will be deemed offensive. The result is suppression of thought and less honest and less rational public behavior. (This is not to say that in its purest form free speech entitles a person to say anything or to verbally assault a fellow citizen. Free speech carries its own responsibilities in a free society.)

In the last several decades the ramifications of being politically correct are seen throughout society. Public displays of religious holidays have become increasingly restricted due to the possibility of offending others. Religious references on the dollar bill are under review as well as other religious references on public historical documents. Many people speak with an awkward desire not to offend and use language much more carefully and sometimes say things that they think would be politically correct to say and not really what they mean to say. This often leads to inherent dishonesty underneath a blanket of innocent sounding prose.

After September 11, 2001, an historic photograph of the New York City firefighters raising the American flag over the ruins of the World Trade Center was going to be made into a sculpture as a memorial. But history's revisionists used political correctness to insist that other minority faces replace some of the real faces in the historical photograph. Due to the public outcry and the anger of the firefighters, this did not occur.

Yes, political correctness is undermining free speech and can be a very dangerous concept. History cannot be rewritten in its name. People cannot live in fear of offending people by restricting thought with carefully selected phrases. Responsible free speech must be the standard in a functional free society and not marginalized by political correctness.

Sources:
Definition - Wikipedia

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