In article <1992Nov17.173525.18074@convex.com> gardner@convex.com (Steve Gardner) writes:
[...]
In article <1992Nov17.001101.21926@ncar.ucar.edu> prz@sage.cgd.ucar.edu (Philip Zimmermann) writes: >What I now read from some of you folks smacks of the same level of
>fanaticism as my old marginalized hardliner leftist friends with their
>Politically Correct preaching to the choir. They used to incessantly
>bicker amongst themselves over who had the most orthodox P.C.
>position. [...]
And another thing dammit! ;-) I can't help grimacing whenever I hear
someone use the word "politically correct". That little phrase has
been the biggest success story in the right wing's campaign
to ridicule diversity. Even people on the left seem to use it.
Its a red herring and it is usually used to batter people into
being silent on issues of racism and sexism. If you complain of
insensitivity to the feelings of any group OTHER than hetero-sexual
WASPS you are being "politically correct". Right!
Hey, pull over, buddy. History police. Caught you racing off in all
directions here, probably from a bad case of youth. Phil was giving a
perfect example of the original use of "politically correct" *by the
Left*. Do you perhaps remember "self-criticism"? Let's back up further.
Do you remember Chairman Mao? Have you ever seen a Little Red Book?
Is the New Left now the Old Left? (Funny, there was a sendup of
exactly this on Murphy Brown last night. Synchro!)
While it's true that the current usage of the term is almost always
snide, the history of it provides ample justification.
I don't know where to send followups, maybe alt.politics.correct,
which I don't read, so I didn't redirect. Maybe we should check that
group for a FAQ list ;-)
-- Craig Presson
Heterosexual White Celtic (extremely) Protestant & recovered Leftist
who does not give a damn whether anyone is "sensitive to my feelings".
