Political Correctness Regarding Racism

Question: Discuss about the Political Correctness Regarding Racism. Answer: Political correctness is an extremely controversial topic when it comes to people of authority and power. It is evident that words can hurt people. Even the strongest people can be brought down with a sentence. There is no individual who would wish to be called names especially when it comes to race. When name calling regarding race becomes eminent, it is likely that people would be denied certain things because of whom they are. The issue of political correctness goes too far when it comes to the topic on racism. It should be understood that the original intention of political correctness is to be able to deal with peoples plight with sensitivity (Rosemary, 2007). However, instead of dealing with issues such as racism in an open manner, political correctness tends to avoid the issue. This has become the common effect of political correctness because those in power tend to lack the ability to deal with racism because of the fear of offending someone. Case in point, the political class in Australia, have also grappled with the issue of political correctness and racism. To maintain their political status and respect to all, Australians have engaged in numerous debates on finding the right words to describe the people of color or the nonwhite Australians (Greig, Lewins, White, 2003). The Australians have adopted the use of the word ethnic to describe the nonwhite people. However, it was realized that the word ethnic had little to cushion on the plight of the people of color in Australia. This is because the word ethnic had the implication of backwardness. Also, the nonwhite Australians through terming people of color as ethnic would view such people differently in that they are not civilized like the default white Australians. To replace ethnic, the Australians use non-English speaking background (NESB) to describe the nonwhite Australians. However, using NESB seemed not fit until currently when they introduced culturally and lingu istically diverse background (CALD) to describe the nonwhite Australians. The struggle of the Australians to find the right term to depict the nonwhite is a show of how the political landscape not only in Australia but also across the world has changed regarding using the right words to describe the truth. Regardless of the word being used, racism is defined today as more of culture than biology (Ben, 2009). It is imperative to understand that there is no new racism, it has always been about culture and religion. It was only a few decades ago, only one moment when the Europeans used biology to justify the superiority of their race over the black people. Racialized subjects have always been racialized on the context of how they look and how they behave. At present, political aims are also racialized. The political playground has focused on getting people to be liked by other people. This comes about when the politicians use the right words in pursuit of displaying them as people who have dignity and are humans worthy of respect. The idea that anti-racism is about using the right terms to describe people of different color and ethnic background is the greatest manipulation there is on racism. The most important part of political correctness in racism is not finding the right words but ra ther ensuring that there is equality of opportunity and justice. Slavery of the Black people is unfortunately a part of the world history. It is understandable that people apply political correctness as a form of vigilance between the relationship of black and white people. A country such as the United States of America has grappled with the issue of race between the black people and the white people. When racism was a reality and unhidden in the United States, the blacks were referred to as niggers (Rahman, 2011). This word was extremely offensive and black people were viewed as not full humans. However, after a series of civil movements, the black community in the United States earned their place in the political landscape and choice of words of the political class changed (Dwight D, 2005). Nowadays, the black people are referred to as African Americans, as a politically correct language. In closing, language is significant as a means of reflection. Language sparks reflection and more reflection should lead to less racism. It is not alarming that many politicians use politically correct terms when they are discussing issues to do with racism in a bid to safeguard their image and reputation. Philosophers have reiterated that throughout ones life, from infancy, individuals are trained to have a modified behavior that is sensitive to other people. Consequently, it is important that apart from politicians, individuals should learn to have public discussions that are reflective of language, especially regarding racism. References Ben, O. (2009). The Antidiscrimination Paradigm: Irrational, Unjust, and Tyrannical.The Independent Review,13(4), 530. Dwight D, M. (2005). The end of blackness: returning the souls of black folk to their rightful owners.The Journal Of Social, Political, And Economic Studies,30(3), 390. https://dx.doi.org/10.5860/choice.42-1252 Greig, A., Lewins, F., White, K. (2003).Inequality in Australia(1st ed., p. 249). Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge Univ. Press. Prins, B., Slijper, B. (2002). Multicultural society under attack: Introduction.Journal OfInternational Migration And Integration / Revue De L'integration Et De La Migration Internationale,3(3-4), 315. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12134-002-1017-4 Rahman, J. (2011). The N Word: Its History and Use in the African American Community.Journal Of English Linguistics,40(2), 138. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0075424211414807 Rosemary, C. (2007). Talking it out: Political correctness as resistance to anti-racism.Equal Opportunities International,26(5), 498.