The Growing Need For The Aware :: essays research papers fc

We as Americans need to become more sensitive to our use of language because with the increasing number of ethnic groups in the country one has to be cautious as to how they should define a certain group. Political correctness is a type of medium that helps us come to respect and communicate with the diverse group of races and cultures. Before we go on any further we must first define the meaning of political correctness. According to Webster's Dictionary, political correctness is the ideology that shows sensitivity, tolerance, and respect for another's race, gender, sexual preference, nationality, religion, age, physical handicap, or other especially if it differs from one's own. In other words, political correctness (better known as PC) is behavior and speech manifested in people of all race and culture that reflects an open-minded attitude towards other people present within the society today. For example, being 'PC'; refers to using phrases as 'physically challenged'; instead of 'disabled'; and 'Asian'; rather than 'Oriental.'; This term originated, interestingly enough, after the Civil Rights Movement and during the birth of modern feminism when many minority groups were fighting for their rights as Americans. The meaning of the words was not as significant back then as they are now. Political correctness has a completely different meaning today and it holds a lot of truths to it because it gives us that leverage to appropriately address someone without offending him or her. Many people these days are using the politically correct terms, especially business people, teachers, politicians, journalists, etc. It is sad to say that there are many more people whom simply do not realize what they say can be insulting. There are many examples in today's society where people haven't been considerate of other people's feelings and have been extremely un-PC. Most recently the so-called 'shock jock';, Doug Tracht who works in Washington DC, played music by Lauryn Hill on his radio show (MSNBC local news online). Hill is the black hip-hop artist nominated for 10 Grammy awards. On air, he remarked 'No wonder people drag them behind trucks.'; The statement referred to the brutal death of a black man in Texas who was dragged behind a truck. This is not the first time Tracht has gotten in trouble for a racial remark. In 1986 at another local radio station, Tracht made a derogatory remark about Martin Luther King day. That radio station was picketed and received bomb threats from angry people before Tracht made an on-air apology.