Political Correctness And Manipulative Language

Political correctness and manipulative language are used by those who’s English is academic. In many ways’ individuals must apply political correctness and manipulative language in their everyday lives through their work and careers. This statement by Hale and Baside (2013, p.77) “Political correctness (or PC) is language intervention: it is attempt to artificially manipulate language use for a social goal” can be related to racism in many ways. This definition cannot be appropriately appreciated without taking into full consideration the epistemic privilege and authority of those who have created it. While attention in their article is given to the historical, cultural, and clinical implications of why “difficult” has been ascribed to the sickle cell population, we elaborate some nuanced but important elements missing from these explanations.

Political Correctness (PC) is designed and implemented by those with good intentions, it is, like any other system of language control, subject to abuse and exploitation. So it is able to achieve its goal, depending on how it is used. Political Correctness is unable to achieve its goal when it comes to racism as it is such a wide spread issue with many. Also the individuals who have grown up in a family or community who are racist are unable to identify they are being racist as they feel this is a normal thing to do as they have grown up in this. But are completely unaware of they harsh affects that this has on those they are discriminating against.

Political correctness – a great term to dismiss issues that become too hard or inconvenient

Three scholar and one article all talk about racism and how it has developed in society over many years. The Racism scholar states that in 1619 was when the first of those with differing culture/background had arrived at Jamestown and were unaware that first Congress passed an immigration law that indicated that only white people would be eligible to become citizens.

The Second scholar ‘The N Word: Its History and Use in the African American Community talks about the social issue of the N word and The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary describes the term nigger as “perhaps the most offensive and inflammatory racial slur in English.”1 The term has been in use as a racist insult since the mid-1800s, but with increased sensitivity to the sensibilities of former targets of racial and other types of dysphemism’s (Allan & Burridge 2006), it has fallen into extreme disfavour in the broader society (Henderson 2003; Allan & Burridge 2006). This scholar also states that the African American Community is still trying to find a way to ban the use of the word nigger used within their community.

The third scholar used ‘Acknowledging Levels of Racism in the Definition of “Difficult”‘, this scholar states that definition of racism cannot be appropriately defined without taking into full consideration the authority and people who created it. Also talking about suckle cell disease (SCD) which is a disease that have a high percentage rate in the ‘black’ community. This scholar also states that the discussion of racism which has been discussed throughout the scholar article various types continue racism and that the continual couching of SCD within the framework of race allows for non-blacks who are also diagnosed with SCD to be rendered invisible. This invisibility has significant implications for health outcomes in those who do not fit the “right” racial profile.

And finally, the article ‘Political correctness – a great term to dismiss issues that become too hard or inconvenient’ talks about the area of Political Correctness and how its affected in todays society. This Sunday Herald article published in January 29, 2016 talks about the

In recent days and weeks, we have seen political correctness blamed for everything from aiding terrorism to ruining the Oscars and what it means to be Australian.

To add to the mix, we’ve had concerns that responses to Islam, ISIS and Muslim migration are too timid because we are worried about causing offence to minority groups.

Wars over political correctness have raged in mainstream politics since the 1990s – largely stemming from conservative quarters, who say overzealous, ridiculous lefties are controlling what people can do and say.

The situation, however, appears to have reached catastrophic levels, with no area of existence safe from accusations of PC pollution.

Referencing

1. Wilkins, R. (2000). Racism. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 572, 159.
2. Creary, M., & Eisen, A. (2013). Acknowledging Levels of Racism in the Definition of ‘Difficult’. The American Journal of Bioethics, 13(4), 16-18.
3. Acknowledge the Level of Racism. (n.d.).