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Leonard Pitts vs. Political Correctness

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by BNWriter, Oct 31, 2007.

  1. BNWriter

    BNWriter Active Member

    Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts takes on PC in his latest column:

    http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/story/285766.html

    I can't stand PC....

    I don't want to speak or spoken to in PC language...

    And (since I am a member of the disabled community) I do not tolerate being ID'd as "physically challenged."

    Are we all in agreement that PC has gone too far and needs to cease....NOW....TODAY!?

    Just want to see if any others agree with me on this.
     
  2. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    The lawyers comments weren't "politically incorrect" They were moronic.

    We usually hear "excuse me for being politically incorrect" after some idiot has made a sexist, racist or homophobic remark and thinks it's funny.

    This column had a best-before date around 1990.
     
  3. BNWriter

    BNWriter Active Member

    As you say, JR, "We usually hear "excuse me for being politically incorrect" after some idiot has made a sexist, racist or homophobic remark and thinks it's funny."


    But isn't that part of the problem these days, no thanks to PC? I think that is part of the point Pitts is trying to make here. It is time to take our language and opinions back from the PC crowd.
     
  4. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    What PC crowd? People who are offended by ignorant mouth-breathers?

    You want go back to calling African Americans "niggers", Jews "kikes", Italians, 'wops" and Spaniards "spics"?

    The problem isn't with the so-called "PC" crowd. The problem is with the clowns who think they can get away with offensive behaviour.

    This is 2007, not 1955.
     
  5. Pastor

    Pastor Active Member


    This article does say that Pitts is against political correctness, however, this article seems more to be about the use of the words "politically correct."
     
  6. Pastor

    Pastor Active Member


    The judge wasn't being politically incorrect. That is what Pitts was saying.

    The judge was making a gay joke.

    Pitts was bemoaning the use of “mailperson” or “letter carrier” instead of mailman. That is being politically correct.
     
  7. Gold

    Gold Active Member



    letter carrier is correct, because there are woman who work in that job. I think letter carrier is the actual job title.
     
  8. Ashy Larry

    Ashy Larry Active Member

    I can't believe the judge thought making any joke during a child molestation case was a good idea.....and he throws out the tight end line?????? WTF?

    I sure hope this is a jury trial.
     
  9. Dan Rydell

    Dan Rydell Guest

    Remember this?

    On January 15, 1999, David Howard, a white aide to Anthony A. Williams, the black mayor of Washington, D.C., United States, used the word "niggardly" in reference to a budget. This apparently upset one of his black colleagues (identified by Howard as Marshall Brown), who incorrectly interpreted it as a racial slur and lodged a complaint. As a result, on January 25 Howard tendered his resignation, and Williams accepted it.

    Julian Bond, then chairman of the NAACP, deplored the offense that had been taken at Howard's use of the word. "You hate to think you have to censor your language to meet other people’s lack of understanding", he said. "David Howard should not have quit. Mayor Williams should bring him back — and order dictionaries issued to all staff who need them."[4]

    Bond also said, "Seems to me the mayor has been niggardly in his judgment on the issue. [...] We have a hair-trigger sensibility, and I think that is particularly true of racial minorities."

    "Niggardly" (noun: "niggard") is an adjective meaning "stingy" or "miserly", related to the Norwegian verb "nigle." It is cognate with "niggling", meaning "petty" or "unimportant", as in "the niggling details."



    I guess I would avoid using the word myself, because of the way it sounds. But this guy was keel-hauled even when the context was put in proper perspective, and give credit to the NAACP for standing behind him.
     
  10. digger

    digger New Member

    JR, I think you and Pitts are actually on the same side in this one.

    The last two lines of the column say it all:
    "So, while I'm grateful you apologized for what you said, I need you to understand: It wasn't ``politically incorrect.''

    It was just wrong.''
     
  11. Beaker

    Beaker Active Member

    Right, Pitts was indignant at the judges comments; he was simply disagreeing with calling them "politically incorrect."
     
  12. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    You may be right. It may be a combination of Pitts poorly written column and my reading comprehension.

    I object to the term "PC" for reasons I've stated .

    And as Gold points out, "mailman" is an obsolete term. We call them "mail carriers" up here. There's nothing PC about that--it's correct English.

    Remember the hew and cry when Ms. was introduced? Anybody who objected to that term now would be considered slightly doltish.
     
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