The final Oz speaks event took place Tuesday in the Marano Campus Center Auditorium and tackled the highly contentious topic of political correctness.
The forum for the presentation was perfect for such a personal and delicate issue. Two microphones stood at the front of room and audience members were invited and encouraged to come share experiences and thoughts on their view of what political correctness means and why it is or is not important to them. Speakers were asked to discuss their views using only “I” statements, emphasizing the importance of being open to others’ unique points of view.
The students and faculty who spoke in front of a room full of people deserve a great deal of credit for their courage to discuss what has come to be such a hot button issue.
Similar themes emerged throughout the presentation, most notably white privilege, racism, sexism and homophobia and how it is our responsibility to be conscientious of others’ identities and ways of life. The sensitivity of the topics became evident during the long periods of complete silence in the auditorium after a student shared a story of bigotry and its personal effect.
Unfortunately, the term “political correctness” has been weaponized in recent years as inclusivity and social justice have come to the forefront of our political discourse and dinner conversation.
“Political correctness is killing this country” was a common trope mentioned by one speaker. He said that it is often heard from people who find it ridiculous that Starbucks did not include “Merry Christmas” on last year’s winter coffee cups and hate the idea of having to use “LGBTQ” instead of “the gays.”
People often feel threatened by the notion of political correctness and how it could impinge on their first amendment and their perceived freedom to say whatever they want to whomever they want. As expected, multiple speakers took the opportunity to jab a certain presidential candidate who has used anti-political correctness as a shield to allow supporters to say whatever hateful, harmful and ignorant things they choose to people who are different from them.
The most enlightening statement was given by student Ryan Danley, who prefaced his remarks by highlighting the need for people like him, a white male, to take the initiative in creating a more open, inclusive environment for social minorities in America and on campus. Drawing from a similar point on the weaponization of the term “political correctness,” Danley urged people who are skeptical of “political correctness run amok” to look at political correctness simply as “common decency.” We do not all share the same backgrounds, stories or experiences in life and it is often difficult for those who are not in a social or ethnic minority to empathize with individuals who are. That is where the central problem lies.
Anti-political correctness crusaders try too hard to comprehend how someone could be discriminated against when they do not share those personal experiences. But if everyone used common decency as a core principle, like Danley said, people could gradually begin to recognize that they do not need to understand why someone lives or looks the way they do, but merely be open to listening to them and respecting the fact that certain people may be offended by a particular word or stereotype and ultimately do their best to work toward social justice and equality.
