DAVE REITER
What is political correctness?
If you are in your first year in
college — notice that I did not
use the word “freshman” — you
may need a crash course on the defi
nition of political correctness.
I didn’t know about it either until
two years ago. I told one of my pro
fessors. that I was going to visit my
family in “Chi-town.” I got this ex
pression from my friend Lane — a
Cleveland Indians fan — and I just
thought it was a neat way of referring
to Chicago.
Any way, the professor warned me,
saying, “I’m not sure that’s politi
cally correct.” That left me with two
unanswered questions: First, what is
political correctness? And second, why
is the term “Chi-town” politically
incorrect? Fortunately, this particular
case turned out to be a false alarm. To
the best of my knowledge, the term
“Chi-town” is politically correct.
My own effort to learn about po
litical correctness was advanced con
siderably by a recent “Firing Line”
debate on the subject at the Univer
sity of South Carolina and aired on
public television.
Political correctness involves at
least three issues: a concern for civil
ity, a concern for sensitivity and a
concern for a more diverse educa
tional curriculum.
Proponents of political correctness
want to uphold a certain level of civil
ity on university campuses. One con
dition of civility is that people refrain
from beating up on each other, but
this is presumably taken care of by
our civil laws.
Another condition is that people
refrain from “hate speech” against
each other.
Some universities, such as the
University of Michigan, have enacted
policies mandating punishments for
people engaging in hate speech. The
University of Nebraska-Lincoln pres
ently docs not have such a policy.
I think almost everyone will agree
that hate speech is undesirable, but
there arc two problems with attempt
People should be free
to base universities
on the mission of
teaching sensitivity.
Bat people must also
remain tree to base
universities on the
mission of pursuing
objective truth.
ing to prohibit it.
The first is a legal question. Since
we have a Constitution providing
freedom of speech and hate speech is
a kind of speech, it is unclear that hale
speech can be prohibited from a legal
standpoint.
A second difficulty is that any
definition of “hate speech” probably
will be vague.
The political correctness move
ment also strives for sensitivity.
Advocates are concerned that people
not speak in ways that offend the
sensitivities of others.
It is important to understand the
difference between insensitive speech
and hate speech. I may describe
someone or something in a way that is
considered insensitive although not
hateful.
A third issue that advocates of
political correctness favor is a new
diversity of intellectual viewpoints in
university curricuiums. Some univer
sities are offering new courses de
signed to familiarize students with
minority cultures, as opposed to the
culture of “dead white males.”
Part of the motivation for this is
just the idea that entertaining a diver
sity of views is a basic academic
virtue.
But it also is motivated partly by a
kind of intellectual affirmative ac
tion. The thought is that we should
install the viewpoints of certain groups,
precisely because university curricu
lums should reflect the diversity found
in society at large.
Some conservatives see this as a
“trashing” of Western culture. But it
is not clear whether they are upset
with the very fact that new perspec
tives are being introduced, or whether
they think the new viewpoints are
simply replacing the Western intel
lectual tradition.
At any rate, I think the main com
plaint of conservatives is not against
this proposed new diversity. Their
main complaint is that political cor
rectness advocates do not believe in
the pursuit of objective truth. The
way in which some advocates of po
litical correctness talk about truth tends
to confirm this complaint.
Rejecting the pursuit of objective
truth, it was said at the debate, re
duces the university to nothing more
than a smorgasbord of inoffensive
ideologies. Thus, the university’s
traditional purpose of providing ob
jective truth is replaced with the new
purpose of teaching intellectual sen
sitivity.
People should be free to base uni
versities on the mission of leaching
sensitivity. But people mast also remain
free to base universities on the mis
sion of pursuing objective truth. That
way, when my kids are old enough for
college, they’ll still have someplace
logo.
Reiter is a graduate student in philosophy
and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
All free to choose own titles
I am writing in response to Andy
Frederick’s column (“Problems will
follow new term,” DN, Sept. 9,
1991). As an African American
student, I was both perplexed and
annoyed at why you chose to write
a column on something about which
you neither know anything nor can
fully relate.
Why do you even care? Why is it
so important to you what we choose
to call ourselves? It, in my opinion,
is really none of your business what
we as Americans of African descent
choose as our terminology to define
our heritage.
Second, you as a non-African
American have no right to dictate to
us an> thing about how we want to
define our culture and heritage in
this country. Ever since the first
Africans were brought to this land,
the white man has chosen for us
what our term would be. We went
— in the while man’s eyes, I might
add — from being niggers and
Negroes to colored to Afro
American to black. These titles
were not by our choosing. For the
first lime, we as African-Americans
have chosen our own term — and
you as a white person want to get
upset? I question your logic.
Third, you are in error about
your contention that “whites will be
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the only ones left who aren’t called
Someth ing-or-other- Americans.”
You arc perfeedy free to term
yourself from your country of origin
— Italian American, Dutch Ameri
can, French American, or whatever.
That is, if you even know where
your roots arc. That is exactly the
problem. You are so quick to judge
us for knowing and being proud of
cur origins, but many white people
never even lake the lime lo find out
where they come from, and hence
arc quite comfortable with “white.”
If other cultures arc given the
dignity of defining themselves by
country or continent of origin, there
is really no rationale for African
Americans to be defined in terms of
our skin color.
You say that the term “black” is
“simple and somewhat factual.” I
say that the only thing simple about
defining a person in terms of his
skin color is the simplicity by which
one can stereotype, and there is
nothing factual about it at all — the
next lime you really look at a
“black” person, you will see that
they are not as black as an eight
ball, but instead arc beautiful and
varied shades of brown — just as
you arc not white as the driven
snow, but some shade of peach or
pink.
You say thai changing the
terminology will not change
people’s hearts. I disagree. It will
change the hearts of many black
people from disdain of their skin
color to pride and dignity in their
roots and heritage. Why arc you so
afraid of that?
Jacquie Gincs
chairperson
Black Poets Club
‘American’ appropriate label ,
I feel that this name-calling issue
is totally ridiculous. 1 would like to
tell Kori Miller (‘“Blacks’ not
slaves anymore,” DN, Sept. 11,
1991), that there is no white person,
or anyone else for that matter, who
needs permission to voice his or her
opinion. Apparently she has not
heard of the First Amendment.
Also, this has nothing to do with
slavery, so why even bring it up?
To get to the subject, I really
don’t understand why you expect to
be called “African-American” or
fchy it is that big of a deal to you.
I am of European descent and I
also have Indian background in my
family. But you don’t see me asking
to be called a European-Indian
American. Also, you were most I
likely bom in America, as I was, so ..
you are an American. Plain and *
simple. You really have no ties to *
Africa, just as I have none to t
Europe. I’m an American, in the ,
best country in the world, and I’m *
damn proud of it, just as you should !
be. 1
One question 1 have is, What is |
the difference whether what a *
person is called is based on cultural
heritage or on race? Either way you
look at it, all of us are classified in |
some way. I
Bill Wcddington I
sophomore |
criminal justice b
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