One of the biggest dangers of political correctness is that many people forget the importance of context. When you ban words you also strip yourself of an effective way to object to the ideas behind those words. Here’s a great example:
Columbus East High School has canceled its student production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" because of concerns over a racially sensitive word in the play's dialogue.
The school's drama teacher asked the play's publisher to let the students take the "N-word" out of the dialogue, but the publisher refused, Principal William Jensen said.
Before the play was canceled, the drama teacher asked Gwendolyn Wiggins, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, what she thought of using the word in the play. Wiggins said she didn't want students to hear it.
"That would be giving another reason to say, 'OK, if they use it in the play, we can say it outside the play.' And that's not right," Wiggins said.
They can use the word outside play anyway. It's the context of the play that humanizes the people that are called that. The play is a lesson in why not to use the word. Gwendolyn Wiggins would rather just forbid people from using it, and we know how well that works with kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment