The above meme that has been doing the rounds of right-wing social media lately caught my eye, because despite its obvious racist and bigoted message, it reveals two interesting points. The first is the obvious one; overt political correctness, rather than helping to create an inclusive society, just makes people mad. And the people it makes mad are the ones that need the education in inclusiveness the most.
The second point is more complicated. As I read down the list of obvious hyperbole, I noted that some of the expressions the writer intended to be ridiculous were not. In fact, some of the expressions listed are actually racist in origin, and I guarantee the writer doesn’t know it.
Teach Your Children Well
What this meme is missing is the fact that language is a powerful tool for socialization of children, and a word that fosters bigotry is a nasty weapon. As with all the other freedoms, it is incumbent upon members of the general public to temper our freedom of expression in cases where using that freedom impinges upon another person’s right to freedom from bigotry. But let’s not go overboard.
When we are speaking of dangerous speech, there are four levels of expression:
- Definite bigotry
When I was a kid, it wouldn’t have been unusual to hear someone say, “I thought I’d jewed him down enough, but he gypped me anyway.” In the 1950s, with the Holocaust so recent, even a kid like me knew that “Jewed down” was racist. But at that time, gypsies were people we heard about in stories, and it never occurred to us that “gypped” carried a similar racial slur.
There are some words that you just don’t use. Everybody knows what they are. Don’t use them.
- Possible bigotry
So “gypped” leads us to a second category, which is expressions that we have used forever, not realizing that they had racist derivation.
A huge example of this category is minstrel shows. When I was growing up I had no idea that whites in the American South used blackface as a way of making fun of the uppity blacks. Much of the comedy in those shows was not racist in itself. It was just darn good humour, and the music was wonderful. The minstrel skits that showed up in our “Children’s Plays for All Occasions” books must have been sanitized. It’s a shame to lose a whole art form, the good as well as the bad, but now we find that white people in blackface is considered horrendously insulting to coloured people. So when we learn this sort of thing, it’s up to us to change. Blackface is out. (Mr. Trudeau, I think you figured that out.)
FYI an “Indian Burn” is a nasty piece of bullying, causing physical pain, so blaming it on another cultural group isn’t exactly inclusive.
3. Probably not bigotry
“Chinese Checkers” falls into this area, but… The game itself was invented in Germany and the “Chinese” part of the name came from a marketing ploy in the United States. And this is where we run into problems because North American culture has a habit of naming any version of anything that’s not quite the same as the regular one as “Chinese.” “Chinese Baseball,” “Chinese Soccer,” “Chinese” just about anything. The Chinese version is always an adaptation to make the game easier. It’s based on the concept that anything the Chinese do will be a pale shadow of “the real game.” So while the use of these names is not likely to offend anyone it perpetuates a tribal attitude and so it’s probably a good idea not to. And on that topic, I suppose the use of the word “tribal” might offend some people who identify with that form of society, but that’s where a reasonable person tries to draw a line.
4. Unintended bigotry
The last classification, of course, consists of the words that you have no idea are offensive. For example, in the meme above, I have no idea what the “cracker barrel” is all about. Is it the crackers, the barrel, or both? Something to do with “Jimmy Crack Corn?” I’m sure one of my readers will hasten to educate me. Quite frankly, there are a huge number of words that have some kind of unpleasant source or meaning for certain people, and it’s a bit much to expect everyone to go into the etymology of every word they use.
The Bottom Line
This analysis shows the range of possible “offences” in this area and the innocence or ignorance of the people using the terms. While it is important that all of us keep our ears open for new examples, it is obvious that the main onus is on the people who are already aware to educate everyone else. By which I mean real education, involving figuring a way to reach your students and informing them. I do not mean shaming, trolling, and exhibiting righteous anger.
If people are knowingly using a derogatory term, you have a right to call them on it. If there is a chance they don’t realize it’s a derogatory term, you have a responsibility to mention it. Then it’s up to them to change their behaviour.
PS; Think About This
A bigoted comment draws negative attention to another person because of a perceived difference in that person. Exaggerated political correctness draws negative attention to another person because of a perceived difference in their social awareness. There is no difference between these two. They are both power trips.
There are nasty, angry trolls on both sides of the political spectrum, and if you shout at people, they have a perfect right to tune you out.