Is Political Correctness Correct?

Christian Nguyen
Staff Writer

Political correctness is an issue in today’s society. According to Merriam-Webster, political correctness is “agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people.” It is one thing to do something just to offend a group of people, but when a group of people get offended by something minor, it may lead to problems.

According to The Daily Wire, the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee students are warned not to say certain terms as it can offend someone or make light of a serious issue. For example, words such as rape and retarded are discouraged. One is a serious and traumatic experience that should not be put lightly and the other is offensive slang. Trash is said not to be used because it “uses class to marginalize and dismiss individuals of lower socioeconomic status.” In addition, crazy is showing disrespect to “people with mental health diagnoses.”

According to The Huffington Post, a poll at Farleigh Dickinson University stated that 68 percent of those polled believe that political correctness is a big problem. Banning or at least censoring certain words would not help. Many words in the English language have multiple definitions and contexts. It is how some people interpret the word, that is the problem.