Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, et. al, move over. I’m not talking about THAT kind of P.C. Personally, the Macintosh is the apple of my eye that I love to take a bite out of.
There’s a strange dance craze going on right now. It’s more prevalent than the Electric Slide, Mashed Potatoes, and the Macarena. This dance requires moves such as tip-toe’ing, walking on eggshells, and using neutral euphemisms to the best of one’s ability. I’m speaking about the Politically Correctness movement. But like any dance, a few missteps can mess up the concept and the flow of the P.C. dance.
Case in point: A customer at a coffee shop in Glasglow ordered a black coffee. The staff there refused to service him until he changed his order to “coffee without milk,” because they considered “black coffee” a racist phrase. According to the Global Language Monitor, they have received “reports of the word ‘black’ becoming emotionally charged and politically correct or incorrect depending upon one’s point of view.”
What the–? This is P.C. abuse at its finest (or worst, depending on YOUR view). Lest we forget, black is a COLOR…actually, it’s the ABSENCE of color. But if people want to start becoming snippy about “black coffee,” I can think of other phrasings we should reconsider. Blackmail, black market, black sheep, blacklist, black magic, blackhearted…the list goes on.
Most terminology beginning with the word “black” has been largely considered in a negative fashion. The one phrase that can come remotely close to racism in any shape, way, or form would be “blackball.” African Americans have experienced exclusion and ostracization from the general (white) society, and it still goes on today…even this minute.
Let’s take this P.C. dance to another level! How about defecate? That should be considered an audist term. After all, the sound of the word “deaf” is in the first syllable, and it may imply that all deaf people are bunch of s***. Oh wait…here’s another similar-sounding word: deficit. Let’s label that one audistic, because not all deaf people are living beyond their means.
I think that some measures of P.C. are good, such as job interviews, equal opportunities, etc. But when the real issues start to be whitewashed beyond recognizance, then P.C. isn’t going to be a good bandaid for society’s ills. But please, do not take the definition of a word so literally!
Now, having said all that, I would DEFinitely take my black coffee to go, and please be niggardly with the cream.
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May I have some dark coffee with dark chocolate cookie?
“I like my men as I like my coffee, African-American and strong”
That doesnt really work well does it?
“Today I am feeling happy, what a non-heterosexually attracted male day”
A white man here.
Care for some milk in your black coffee? You will have to see my face to decide whether or not I am being sarcastic.
I think you’re being either funny or nasty, depending on how one is supposed to interpret that.
I agree. Abuse of P.C. can be determinal, as it prevents us from focusing on the real problems. While people are arguing about the use of the words “black” and/or “African-American”, who is doing anything about the disporportionate number of minorities in prison? Nothing. They’re too busy arguing about word usage.
That said, I think the “deficit” and “defecate” examples are a little silly. I have never associated either one of those words with “deaf”. I’ve never seen anyone get in a P.C. tizzy over those words.
Wildstarryskies:
That’s exactly why I used those two examples of deficit and defecate. The way the P.C. machine has been chugging, who’s to say these two words wouldn’t be fair game?
Love how that blog ended!
Vikki, I’ll never understand how Mayor Williams whitewashed himself when he let a guy go over protests of “niggardly” word usage.
Vikki, the education field really takes the cake for going overboard with PC terminology. How about these words to avoid shocking people by uttering the word “deaf”:
auditorially challenged
non-hearing
communication handicapped
hearing handicapped
differently hearing
ick! I have to go wash my hands now. You can probably think of more.
I remember reading somewhere that back during the Victorian era, it was considered improper to use the word “breast” in polite society. The “PC” proper term to use was “bosum.”
Can you visualize what life would be like today if that was still the rule? Imagine going into Kentucky Fried Chicken and ordering a “grilled chicken bosum sandwich.”
Vikki Washington,
Oh why this is one interesting posting.. Talking about P.C., personally, I was and still am very wary with what 18th century French philosophers called it ‘Abus des mots’ (Abuse of words) Not one day went by without me noticing an instance of ‘abus des mots’. One classic example here would be on CNN when President Bush insisting that we are going to Iraq to defend freedom and liberity.. The boardcasting were preceded by footages which show city of Baghad being bombraded and people running around screaming in terror..
My point here is that the usuage of words need to be constantly recified in order to restore its original means. It seem that P.C. may be considered as part of coscious process of doing it.
But.. yeah.. I agree with you.. As matter of fact another day at a coffeeshop I saw a black lady signed ‘vanilla’ in the same sign used to signfy ‘white man’. She was ordering a cup of french vailla.. Did it offend me? Naw.. Because like cup of black coffee, French vanilla itself as whole does not possess an essence that are universally percieved as negative.
PC does seem to go to far…. people can be so fickle. I honestly do not see Racism has a problem in this day and age, if there is it’s probably due to someone making it that way.
I remember a time I was reading a magazine and Dale Earnhart just died, this gentleman, who happens to be black, I used to work with said “Man, I love nascar but I hate that I can never be a driver…” “why?” “see any black men in those cars?” “well gee, with that attitude you’ll never get into one, and there are some black drivers, but due to lack of interest there aren’t many.”
point is, I really wish people would get off the hang-up’s they have… “it’s cuz I’m Black, you don’t understand!” “it’s cuz I’m deaf, you OWE ME!” It all comes down to the individual and mutal respect for each other.
personally that all seems like a blatant excuse for not wanting to take the extra step.
Guess what? Del. Frank D. Hargrove Sr., a Republican from Hanover, is a CI user who refuses to let his beloved state for making an apology to Black Slaves…
Va. Delegate Proposes Juneteenth Measure
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00958.html
By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; B01
RICHMOND, Jan. 22 — The Virginia lawmaker who caused an uproar last week by questioning the need for a state apology for slavery proposed a measure Monday that would commemorate the freeing of the last U.S. slaves in June 1865.
Del. Frank D. Hargrove Sr., a Republican from Hanover County near Richmond, said he has been deluged with at least 4,000 phone calls and e-mails at his home and office since he inflamed the House of Delegates by saying that blacks should “get over” slavery and that apologizing for slavery was no more necessary than asking Jews to apologize for “killing Christ.”
Hargrove said the vast majority of people who contacted him said they support his views, but he also said that he never intended to offend blacks or Jews. He offered the resolution in part to reach out to those he offended, he said.
“I think we can all agree that the end of slavery was a good thing,” Hargrove said.
Black lawmakers said they are happy to support Hargrove’s resolution to celebrate Juneteenth, but not if it is meant to replace theirs, which calls for Virginia to apologize for its role in slavery. The resolution is intended to coincide with the state’s celebration of the 400th anniversary of the English settlement of Jamestown, where slaves first arrived in 1619.
“I can’t question anybody else’s motives,” said Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, a Richmond Democrat and a sponsor of the apology proposal. “But obviously that resolution doesn’t address the issues that we are trying to address.”
Hargrove’s resolution would celebrate Juneteenth, the widely observed name for the June 19, 1865, event in Galveston, Tex., in which federal troops are believed to have informed the country’s last slaves that they were free. A number of organizations and jurisdictions celebrate Juneteenth to commemorate the moment when emancipation, foreseen in President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, was finally recognized across the nation.
But Del. A. Donald McEachin (D-Richmond), another sponsor of the slavery apology, said it’s one thing to recognize the end of slavery and quite another to offer an apology for Virginia’s extensive role in it. McEachin thinks an apology is necessary to heal a state and a nation still divided by race.
Last week, the Richmond lawyer objected to Hargrove’s assertion that “not a soul in this legislature” had anything to do with slavery. McEachin said he still hears stories from his 102-year-old grandmother about her parents, who were slaves in Virginia and North Carolina.
“Virginia didn’t have anything to do with the Emancipation Proclamation,” McEachin said. “It had a lot to do with establishing slavery here.”
Hargrove said his measure is not intended to replace the apology. “I have no problem with that one going ahead,” he said. “I won’t vote for it, but I don’t intend to block it, either.”
“The Language of Oppression” nonfiction book by Haig A. Bosmajian, still prevails nowaday from years of analyzing the language usage of definition and category on human beings. The language usage could be very powerful in defining people without being aware.
The word “black” tend to be associated with anything negative -
black widow, blackmail, black sheep and furthermore ……
. The recent social research on such preference of white and black dolls among the African American young gals still come eerily nowaday despite of 40 years of societal/racial progress. This research seems conducted at the very wrong moment as the racial relations usually swing like a pendelum.
The PC incident at the Starbuck was kinda lurid within the so-called language militant. Was the service industry like the coffeehouse suppose to provide effective and quick service to customers without any questions? The customer did not refer to the Starbuck employee within racial classification.
If I were the customer at this very same Starbuck incident. I would say “You are not seen as a black to me. I know that there are different 22 skin colors among your people. What is yours, please? I just order the color of coffee itself. Do you sitll have any problem with my order? You should argue with the society at large for classifying primary color hues - red, white, blue, purple, yellow, green and pink. You forget the basic rule of business equitette - “Never argue with customer! Thanks! May I have my coffee?”
The pre-80s generation seems making a habit of saying things without being politically correct. My deaf (deceased) mother always loved to sew the “Aunt Jeminia” toaster cover which she thought that it was very exquistive and cute. Many deaf friends of her begged my mother to make those ‘Aunt Jemina” toaster cover. My deaf mother was not a racist or have any racist thoughts in her blood or bones. I finally persuaded my mother not to make more of “Aunt Jemina” toaster coast which was very socially outdated in the early 80s.
Am I white? I happen to have an mixed skin combination of olive and white skin.
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
PC is so overrated today! Sooner or later every word we say is an insult to someone! I bet a new law in the future where no one is allowed to SPEAK period! oh wait, i just insulted the females by saying period. oops. my bad.
Brian:
Haha…like a friend of mine would say, “fery vunny!”