Is PC the way to be?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion; a phrase that's so often heard but followed through much less. It seems like it's impossible to say anything without it being considered offensive, derrogatory, or "politically incorrect". Does the thought occur to no one that it's not the sensativity of some, but the ignorance of others, that keep everyone questioning whether what they're saying is "PC" enough for the setting they're in?

A person many would consider to be respectable once told me something: to be politically correct is to lack in character. I was insulted, for I had never been told by a caucasion, heterosexual male living in the good ol' US of A that I should, in essence, hurt people with my words to have a laugh or prove something to other people. Though he may be "respectable", I certainly didn't respect his at that moment. It would be accurate to say that I took little if what I heard him later say seriously.

Under our government (in which all men are created equal), everyone is given the freedom to say and publish what they want. I think the rights permitted by our government are essential, and people should be able to say what they want. Does that mean it's approprite to harrass somone based on the color of their skin, cultural background, religion, sexual orientation, or gender? Morally, no. Legally, sure! As long as you be sure to commit no crimes, it is okay to attack people with the power of words. Someone has to be harmed or property has to be damaged before someone will call it a "hate crime".

Parents today are either so intent on going against politically correctness or don't care enough to teach kids that just because something is not the F-word doesn't mean it isn't as bad, or worse, to say. Kids grow up thinking it's okay to call something 'gay', 'jewish', or 'girly' and because they aren't the four letter words that good kids don't say, it's accepted or even encouraged. You don't have to be a female, Jewish homosexual to be offended by that sort of talk. The only thing is that you have to think about someone other than yourself.

With this comes the dispute about what to call Native American peoples. It's more than offensve to call them Indian tribes for two reasons. One: Indians live in India. The man who brought troops to a land that didn't belong to his people to kill millions named them that. I don't want a race of people named by the people who slaughtered them in unfair fights. Two: A tribe is savage. You separate animals into tribes. You separate primitigve caveman people into tribes. You don't separate civilized human beings into tribes.

An issue that hits close to home is the number of people upset with the representation of Nokomis being changed from an angry Native American to that of an ancient Trojan warrior. Trojan warriors do not exist anymore. All literature and history books describe them as being belligerent. The Iliad was based on a war the trojans fought Trojans are depicted as big and scary. On the other hand, Native Americans are not big and scary. The are still alive, and I'm sure don't want to be remembered by their children as a people who did nothing but fight. I don't care if the Native American costume was cooler looking. It was morally wrong.

What I'm saying is that it isn't always hippie, tree-hugging fools who are politically correct. The term in itself is wrong, since it's your moral standing rather than your political standing that will determine what you say and how. Forget about sensative people being offended and think about whether you'd want to be remembered as less and or about negatively because of things you can't help or have the right to believe. Then think about whether it would make much of a difference whether the person through "I was just kidding" or "don't be so sensative" after it. You learned as a kid to treat others as you want to be treated. Maybe it's time for another lesson.