This semester has been interesting to say the least. If you have been following my blog, you know that I have been writing about a specific line of inquiry on a weekly basis. The topic I am referring to is, “Is there a correlation between political correctness and limits on free expression?” I have found some great sources throughout this process that have enlightened me on this issue, and now I believe I am truly able to take an informed stance on the subject. Within this final post, it is my goal is to show people, especially people my age, that whether you support political correctness or not, it is an issue worth your concern. It is my belief that while political correctness gets plenty of attention as a topic of discussion, it is not receiving much concern from those who are influenced by it the most. When I say this I am specifically referring to college students. I want to show you, my peers, that this issue is extremely important. I want to show you that it affects us on a personal level, whether we realize it or not. I want to show you that although political correctness is a fantastic concept, it is extremely dangerous. I will provide information that I have previously referenced in past blog posts in an attempt to accomplish my goal.
Political Correctness Is DANGEROUS
Think about the amount of money you are spending or have spent to go to college. Now what is the purpose of going to college at all? To obtain an education that will help to further progress you in your goals. What if I told you that the concept of political correctness is potentially inhibiting your ability to receive this education that you are spending so much money to obtain? According to Jonathan Haidt, a Professor of Business Ethics at NYU, political correctness is harming the healthy learning environments of many colleges and universities around the nation. The ideas of micro-aggressions and trigger warnings are becoming increasingly popular on college campuses, and this is limiting the information that professors can teach their students. Students have arrived at a state where they feel they need to be sheltered, and this is limiting the learning process (Haidt). It is terrifying that people my age, possibly those close to me, are dismissing new ideas entirely because those ideas might offend or upset them in some way. We cannot expect to truly learn if we only accept a single viewpoint, and that is just part of how political correctness is limiting free expression. I should not blame my peers, or other college students nationwide, for the fact that we have become so influenced by political correctness. We have grown up within a society that accepts this ideology openly, and due to that, we have never questioned the concept of political correctness because we view it as completely normal. However, I have come to the realization that it is necessary to blame ourselves for this issue because it is our job to question societal norms, learn their purposes, and dismiss them if they are harmful.
And the Danger Continues......
Another possible danger of political correctness is the fact that this ideology has been used to directly limit the free speech of others. Jonathan Chait, a writer for New York Magazine, provides specific examples of this situation in his article Not a Very P.C. Thing to Say. According to Chait, there have been multiple instances where speakers have been uninvited or removed from college campuses because certain students did not agree with the messages that these individuals would present. Some of these speakers include Bill Maher, Christine Lagarde, Condoleezza Rice, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Robert Birgeneau (Chait). My previous blog post, titled Comparing Different Views, discusses another event where an individual's right to free speech were diminished, and this action was justified by political correctness. Every single one of these individuals I mentioned had something that they wanted to share with these students, and every single one of these individuals were denied that right. My question is, what about the students who wanted to hear what those speakers had to say? How is it fair that a group of students can completely eliminate someone else’s right to hear these individuals speak?
Is Political Correctness Necessary?
At this point all I have discussed are negative aspects of political correctness, but I would like to take a moment to discuss how political correctness was created for beneficial purposes. I have previously mentioned an article written by Laura Jensen, but I would like to restate her thought on political correctness. She believes that this ideology was created to promote safety and respect. Political correctness allows people to live in the same environment, be themselves, and feel safe while doing so. This form of societal manners also attempts to dismiss unnecessary hurtful language and negative stereotypes. Lastly, Jensen believes that we can use political correctness to expand our language, and therefore expand our right to free speech, by finding new words and phrases to replace those deemed politically incorrect (Jensen). I now understand that those who created political correctness had good intentions. This ideology was made to promote diversity and reduces divisions within society, it was made to bring people together.
We do not need to use negative language that isolates and hurts others, and political correctness attempts to combat that, but as I have shown you and will continue to show you, political correctness has been greatly corrupted.
Media Corruption
Hopefully all of you remember the infamous Charleston shooting that occurred this past summer, if not refer to my previous post on The Abuse of Political Correctness. The significance of this horrible event in regards to the topic of political correctness is related to social media. I have previously referenced the writing David Sessions, a doctoral student in history at Boston College. It is his believe that the media uses ideology, such as political correctness, to create stories that generate profit. The fact that stories that illustrate hate and racism touch on the insecurities of others is very beneficial to the media (Sessions). I can illustrate this through the same example I have previously used, and that is the online warfare over the Confederate Flag that was spawned by the Charleston shooting. Following this event, stories were pushed into social media that questioned the political correctness of the Confederate Flag. This was a strategic move that was intended to generate views, likes, shares, clicks, and subsequently create profit. This is just a single example of how the media has corrupted the ideology of political correctness to make money, and it is simply another reason why political correctness has become ineffective and dangerous.
My Final Stance
If I am being completely honest, whenever I began my research I did not believe that political correctness could be beneficial in any way. This process has allowed me to view political correctness from an entirely different perspective, and I have discovered that it was created with the good intentions of protecting society and promoting diversity. Although I have come to believe these things, I have also discovered and shared many of the ways in which this ideology has been corrupted greatly. For the reasons I have stated throughout this post, I have made the decision to believe that there is a direct correlation between corrupted political correctness and limitations of free expression. I have also decided that I will stand by the true intentions of political correctness, but not at the expense of free speech.