Political Correctness In The United States

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In modern times, societies of free thought may not necessarily be societies of unlimited expression. This dilemma has become increasingly tense in recent years, with a culture of “political correctness” receiving a share of the blame. This controversy is woefully apparent in the United States, a nation which has consistently been among the most varied in opinions. In spite of all of the resentment towards its prerogative, political correctness has not necessarily gone too far. Adhering to political correctness at all remains the conscious decision of an individual; so long as there is both difference in opinion and freedom of expression, groups will be offended by the words and actions of others. This is a natural symptom of free societies, …show more content…
Rather than oppose the sensitivity of political correctness, detractors ultimately seek to uphold their specific brand of sensitivity. In other words, opposition to political correctness is frequently an enforcement of the very same-- political correctness for a different group. Many feel that under PC culture, they are unable to express their views openly, and wish to use certain phrases that are currently found to be offensive or marginalizing. In a sense, politically correct terms are marginalizing to them. Under the societal norms they advocate, political correctness would become politically incorrect. Individuals decrying the purportedly censoring nature of politically correct culture themselves desire to make it more difficult for others to openly dissent. They wish to reinforce their own views as being acceptable, while doing the opposite to the ideas they disagree with. Hence, so long as freedom of thought and speech exist, political correctness and related offense will follow, generally within the boundaries of …show more content…
Particularly vocal on the matter throughout his presidential campaign, President-Elect Donald Trump claims that a failure to label terrorist attacks committed by Muslims as “Radical Islamic Extremism” emboldens hostile groups such as ISIL, and exudes frailty and fragility. Were this accurate, it would seem likely that political correctness has become too prevalent, and that PC language has been detrimental to the nation. However, these claims have no observable merit; if anything, the opposite is true, using less derogatory terms has provided some marginal benefit to the global standing of the United States. This assertion is given credence by writer Mark Hannah in Time Magazine. Early into President Obama’s term, the phrase “war on terror” ceased to receive the same wide usage as in years past. When referring to conflicts against Muslim terrorists, the term “war against Al-Qaeda” saw greater usage than in years past. As Osama Bin Laden wrote in his journals, this change, ostensibly made for the sake of political correctness, produced a significant drop in the recruitment capabilities of Al-Qaeda. One can thus argue that embracing a more focused, direct, politically correct term directly benefitted American security,
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