The Politically Incorrect
The Politically Incorrect
The other day I was reading a column about the politically incorrect in a Colombian newspaper. While reading it, two things went through my mind: first, finally someone decided to write about this subject; and second, what a wasted opportunity. Is not that the article was badly written, nor that it said anything particularly wrong. But in my opinion, one cannot write about a subject like this and don’t name examples.
Later on, thinking about it with more calm, I asked myself: is it already politically incorrect to quote examples in an article about the politically incorrect? For instance, if I was to use the word “nigger” as a subject of study, would this be incorrect?
In Colombia probably not that much, but in Australia? And in the US?
But the word “nigger”, despite of all the powerful negative connotations that still has (or probably because of them), would be a too-obvious, unoriginal example. But something like the use of the female genre when one is writing? Which in the last few years has made writers and editors to add: his/hers and (s) before the he to their works (and in Colombia even the “@” to replace both the “a” and the “o”). Or how about something like starting a column by criticizing the work of a colleague?
It is undeniable that the restriction in the use of hateful terms and the inclusion of articles for all genders in everyday language are the product of a series of achievements in human rights. Achievements that have been gained through centuries-long struggles, at the cost of the blood and tears spilled by countless men and women (or shall I say women and men?). But all these current restrictions in the name of the politically correct cause me nightmares about a future in which the automatic-correction-systems of the electronic word processors will prohibit the writing of anything that, deep inside the ones and zeros of their programming, they’ll consider inadequate. And later on, as the dividing line between the digital and the human grows thinner, about an alarm system connected to the vocal chords, which will produce a censoring beep every time someone wants to say something outside of what’s been politically labeled as correct.
On the other hand, going back to the too-obvious, unoriginal examples, I was thinking about Barack Obama. Even though everything can still happen, so far it’s safe to say that history will remember Obama as the first black president of the United States; who, in terms of public health, introduced his country to the 20th century.
Is it accurate (to avoid using the term correct) to think about Obama’s legacy as a first step towards a reality in which words like “nigger” would have lost all the negative implications that surround them? Personally, I wouldn’t bet on it, or at least I don’t see it happening during whatever it is that remains of my natural life. But it is a thought that helps me sleep better at night.
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