Category: Silly Questions.
political correctness
noun
Riddle: How many Polish does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: Five; one to hold the bulb, and four to turn the ladder.
…and the actual term was Polock (meant dumb), because everybody had their special insult. The Irish were Micks (also dumb), Swedish like me fell under the dismissive label Scandihoovians (big tough and dumb, ya), African-American was “a black cloud coming down the street.”
"That red shirt makes you look like a Greek."
Among my rough-and-tumble people of logging country, if they do not insult you it means they do not like you; politeness reserved as itself the deepest insult you could render.
So when I found myself working alongside African-Americans in 1967 affirmative action San Francisco, my language was making people actually cringe.
But the solution was simple; “Oh please don’t say it like that, say this instead.” It was difficult changing my whole way of speaking, but as I became close with my co-workers I understood what they had left behind in Alabama, etc. and I became highly motivated. I cleaned up my expressions, and then again in the 1980's for gender bias...that made sense to me.
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Typically now, if someone goes all off into PC outrage mode I don’t even pay much attention – except to put distance between me and them – because in my experience the listener really can participate by hearing the intention of the speaker.