Opinions without justification are just that—opinions.
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Nicolle Wallace, a former spokesperson in the George W. Bush administration, heartedly supports the Bush era CIA agency’s “enhanced interrogation” (a.k.a. torture) techniques on suspected Al-Quaeda operatives. Wallace, a frequent guest on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” defended the policy on the show Tuesday, December 9, 2014 in fiery language.
“The notion that somehow this makes America less great is asinine and dangerous…. But the notion that what we do affects terrorists is a lie. It’s a lie perpetrated by political correctness and liberals, and it’s dangerous.”
Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas has organized a movement to call the fall holiday season what he believes it really is, the “Christmas Season,” and he asserts that businesses who display “Happy Holidays” greetings are simply stooping to “political correctness.”
Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh argues that
“Feminism is one of those issues which has established itself in the political correctness hall of fame. As such, it is not fashionable to take issue with or poke fun at the philosophy, which underlies the movement.”
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He characterizes women’s rights activists as “feminazis.” In addition, he asserted that “Political Correctness, PC, is literally the law of the land on many campuses.”
The political Right coined the terms “political correctness,” “politically correct,” and “PC” as pejorative rhetorical ploys to intimidate, discredit, and outright dismiss the statements, policies, and actions of the progressive Left generally, and more specifically, to inhibit anyone from thinking critically and challenging societal inequalities. They did this not only to maintain their own privileged status quo, but more importantly, to roll back advancements progressives have made to ensure that our nation actually lives up to its promise and potential of becoming “a more perfect union.”
Conservatives originally deployed the terms in the 1990s as a reactionary backlash to the critical multicultural and social justice educational movements in our schools, and against attempts to promote sensitivity of the numerous cultural traditions that make up the fabric of our nation. These educational movements, with a foundation build on developing and enhancing critical consciousness of self and society, stood and continues to stand as a contradiction to the so-called “neoliberal” era of standardization, corporatization, globalization, privatization, and deregulation of the business, banking, and corporate sectors.
Bostick (quoted in Weinbaum) sums up this reactive stance:
“Is anyone else nauseated by the deluge of cultural sensitivity to the exclusion of the majority in the country? The terms ‘multiculturalism,’ [and] ‘diversity’…should be eliminated from our vocabulary.”
And Iowa Republican U.S. Representative Steve King refers to “political correctness” as “intellectual fascism.”
Jenkinson investigated instances of censorship and book banning across the U.S., and he found a number of reasons individuals and organizations cited when challenging school- and public library-based books and other curricular materials. Among the most-often used justification included:
“Any assignments that encourage or teach critical thinking skills.”
A basic tenet in critical multiculturalism and social justice education is social reconstructionist or transformational education in which the educator’s role is to help prepare future citizens to reconstruct society to better serve the interests of all groups of people, and to transform society toward greater equity for all.
In my teaching, I require students to justify and backup all of their thoughts and “opinions.” Opinions without justification are just that—opinions. Stephen Brookfield discusses three inter-related phases in the process of critical thinking: discovering the assumptions that guide our decisions, actions, and choices (What do I think and why do I think of it the way I do?); checking the accuracy of these assumptions by exploring as many different perspectives, viewpoints, and sources as possible (Talking with others, taking courses, reading, researching, etc.); and taking informed decisions based on these researched assumptions (Informed decisions are based on evidence we can trust, can be explained to others, and have a good chance of achieving the effects we want).
Those who automatically throw “political correctness” into the debate, however, often do so because they lack the facts, the specificities, or the nuances of any given topic under discussion. I proudly embrace the acronym “PC,” and I hope that I practice the skill of treating all people with Proper Courtesy. Other than that, I realize that when people use the terms “political correctness” or “politically correct” in their arguments, they have lost the debate because they do not have the facts. Therefore, no person can intimidate me when they toss these epithets in my face.
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Photo: Thomas’s Pics/Flickr
Warren, if I may offer opinion and (hopefully adequate) justification here- I am loathe to write or say anything that could succor or otherwise be construed as sympathetic or in harmony with conservatives or conservatism (particularly this brand of American conservatives you’ve given examples of). From my general perspective, I find their rationales and their logic too superficial, often informed by too many biases, mis-presumptions, lack of imagination, or otherwise lacking. Because of this, I find their goals, methods -and the consequences of them- have detrimental effects that they can ill appreciate, let alone mitigate. So, to be clear completely clear,… Read more »
I hate political correctness, My son-in-law is a fireMAN My wife is American with a Mexican heritage, she is not “latina” or “hispanic” and where the hell is Hispania anyway. But she fluently speaks the Mexican language, not “Spanish” My wife is a “Mrs.” not a “Ms.” I find the use of the term “Hispanic” very insulting to many including Puerto Rican, Mexican. Guatemalan, etc. It lumps them all together yet they all have very distinct cultures. Some years ago when when the kids were grown and out of the house, my wife went back to work. (didn’t last long,… Read more »
I had a prof in the early 70’s that i still today think fondly of and who doesn’t know what an impact he had on my life. It was sociology 101. His one point was to “say anything you want but support what you say”. From that day forward that is always in the back of my mind. Yes sometimes i have opinions but recognize them for what they are. But when it gets serious i do the research to support what i say. Problem today is that not many on either side of the aisle do that at all.
True, while some allegations of political correctness may be covering up fact-free arguments, the same is most definitely true of people who bandy around terms like “privilege” and other baseless jargon.