Political Correctness Gone Mad?

[tinybear]

Nursery Rhyme 'Un PC'
Updated: 11:57, Tuesday March 07, 2006

The 'PC Brigade' have caused another storm by rewriting a favourite nursery rhyme.

They have changed Baa Baa Black Sheep to - Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep.

Several nurseries have changed the traditional rhyme so as not offend ethnic minorities, it has been reported.

They say the words "black sheep" alienate and offend young black children.

And that's not the only rhyme to get a 2006 makeover.

Humpty Dumpty has a miraculous escape from impending disaster when he falls from his wall - and stays in one piece.

Teachers say they do not want children to be upset by the human egg's scrapes.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...512455,00.html

Any Brits here wanna comment on this?

[phoenix_fire]

I'm not British, but I don't think I need to be in order to say that that is heinous. If the PC crowd had their way, "black" would totally be removed from the vocabulary. But hey, maybe I'm overreacting. I've got a pot of rainbow tea on the boil, I've got some good Rainbow Sabbath playing, and I'm planning on having some friends over later for a game of rainbowjack. I'm staying in because a rainbow cat ran across my path and I'd rather not take my chances.

[tinybear]

Hey, I'd like to hear how parents explain to their children why there're no sheep with rainbow colors but only black and white ones.

[G. Adams]

Quote by: tinybear Nursery Rhyme 'Un PC' Updated: 11:57, Tuesday March 07, 2006 The 'PC Brigade' have caused another storm by rewriting a favourite nursery rhyme. They have changed Baa Baa Black Sheep to - Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep. Several nurseries have changed the traditional rhyme so as not offend ethnic minorities, it has been reported. They say the words "black sheep" alienate and offend young black children. And that's not the only rhyme to get a 2006 makeover. Humpty Dumpty has a miraculous escape from impending disaster when he falls from his wall - and stays in one piece. Teachers say they do not want children to be upset by the human egg's scrapes. http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...512455,00.html Any Brits here wanna comment on this?

It's crap, and everyone knows it. It'll be turned over, if it already hasn't. Although that won't be reported of course.

[Arawn-ap-Hywel]

Those whom wish and find any means to take offence will.

hopefully that very old fashioned view common sense will prevail.

[brien]

Quote by: tinybear Nursery Rhyme 'Un PC' Updated: 11:57, Tuesday March 07, 2006 The 'PC Brigade' have caused another storm by rewriting a favourite nursery rhyme. They have changed Baa Baa Black Sheep to - Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep. Several nurseries have changed the traditional rhyme so as not offend ethnic minorities, it has been reported. They say the words "black sheep" alienate and offend young black children. And that's not the only rhyme to get a 2006 makeover. Humpty Dumpty has a miraculous escape from impending disaster when he falls from his wall - and stays in one piece. Teachers say they do not want children to be upset by the human egg's scrapes. http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...512455,00.html Any Brits here wanna comment on this?

Well, well, this black sheep doesn't have any wool now, does it? Reminds me of a few faux pais (sp) in the last few years with regard to PC.

A teacher used the word "niggardly" down in Baltimore, or somehwere near DC. The teacher was reprimanded by people who obviously didn't take vocabulary in school. The accusors were apparently niggardly in using their brains.

I saw a newscaster reporterette stumble over John Negroponte's name in a news report. It was painfully apparent she was uncomfortable in using the first two syllables of the man's name.

I yi yi :rolleyes:

[Matts]

It is interesting the way people keep ignoring the fact that the biggest Language and Opinion Police are the self-fashioned critics of so-called political correctness themselves. It is the anti-pc crowd who want to force their ideas about proper conduct on other people, and they try to achieve this by constructing the straw dummy of political correctness as a menace to freedom of speech. So when they try to phohibit people from singing the kinds of lyrics they wish, they camouflage this kind of censorship and denial of freedom of speech, in an incredible Orwellian twist, as a defence of freedom of speech rights.

[G. Adams]

Quote by: Matts It is interesting the way people keep ignoring the fact that the biggest Language and Opinion Police are the self-fashioned critics of so-called political correctness themselves. It is the anti-pc crowd who want to force their ideas about proper conduct on other people, and they try to achieve this by constructing the straw dummy of political correctness as a menace to freedom of speech. So when they try to phohibit people from singing the kinds of lyrics they wish, they camouflage this kind of censorship and denial of freedom of speech, in an incredible Orwellian twist, as a defence of freedom of speech rights.

:eek: Newspeak attacking newspeak.

You are seriously suggesting that the "anti-pc" crowd wants to force people to sing ba ba black sheep? Did you not read the story? The school has admitted that they changed it, not because they wanted to sing about some fairy tale (or badly graffiti'd) sheep but because they were scared of offending the black students. THAT is what the anti-pc crowd is objecting to. Changing language to tip toe around supposed controversial subjects, when minorities couldn't give a crap, and are usually embarrassed on behalf of the middle class, white liberal establishment.

We shouldn't undermine our own culture or language because we might offend someone, the incoming cultures sure as hell don't. They are encouraged to sustain their own culture in our countries, yet we are doing everything we can to pull ours down! Absolute madness.

[Zhavric]

Ah, the PC pendulum... how I loathe it...

Swings to the left.. "Black sheep is racially discriminatory and must be censored."

Swings to the right... "What's wrong with calling them niggers? I have freedom of speach."



What we need is a brigade helping to ensure the return of common CENSORED sense.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Matts It is interesting the way people keep ignoring the fact that the biggest Language and Opinion Police are the self-fashioned critics of so-called political correctness themselves.

Yet you cite not a single example.


We are not Language, and Opinion Police, we are "free speech advocates". Many of those you criticize can be found expounding in the political correctness threads in this very forum, and I would be really interested if you could find a single example to support your claim.

Quote by: Matts It is the anti-pc crowd who want to force their ideas about proper conduct on other people, and they try to achieve this by constructing the straw dummy of political correctness as a menace to freedom of speech.

Hmmm, is it? I wasn't aware that we were the ones attempting to bring a whole new set of rules to the party. Here I thought we were just defending the freedom of speech that had pre-existed us.

Quote by: Matts So when they try to phohibit people from singing the kinds of lyrics they wish, they camouflage this kind of censorship and denial of freedom of speech, in an incredible Orwellian twist, as a defence of freedom of speech rights.

Who is trying to prohibit whom from using "words"?


I can't remember anybody ever attempting to censure you, or any other "source" of political correctness. ( As if the were more than a single source... ) Talk a little sense into you perhaps, but nobody is attempting to silence you.


If there does exist an incredible Orwellian twist in this discussion, I suggest that it is in your panties, or in that last quote I quoted of yours. That little maneuver around the facts was truly worthy of an O'Reilly Award. Talk about your "twists".

[Samildanach]

I always wondered how they made the colourful wool jerseys.....

[Matts]

Quote by: Milton Bradley Yet you cite not a single example.

I find it interesting that when militant Christians try to force their view of the world and their way of life to the rest of the population (by defending sodomy laws, banning gay and lesbian film festivals, campaigning against anti-discrimination laws, etc, etc) this is never recognized by the supposed critics of PC as yet another heinous political correctness at work. The term "politically correct" is totally useless, as it always was, because it is not used consistently about all behavior which aims at violently suppressing competing world views.

Quote by: Milton Bradley We are not Language, and Opinion Police, we are "free speech advocates".

So are the people who demand the right to hold and express views the mere expression of which is claimed by anti-PC rhetoric to be a threat to freedom of speech. If I criticize the use of derogatory language, how can the mere expression of this view be interpreted as censorship?

Quote by: Milton Bradley Who is trying to prohibit whom from using "words"?

Those individuals, for instance, who label other people's language and views as "politically correct" and see the mere expression of these views and the use of this language as a threat to their freedom of speech.

Quote by: Milton Bradley I can't remember anybody ever attempting to censure you, or any other "source" of political correctness. ( As if the were more than a single source... )

A single source... In other words, you see ideas and policies deemed as Liberal as "politically correct" while the aforementioned practice of forcing Conservative ideas and standards of behavior on other people is apparently "radical resistance to a PC status quo," or something as blatantly absurd. This is Orwellian rhetoric at its most heinous. If you are trying to establish your own discourse as the dominant mode of speech, you are being politically correct. Having said that, everyone who has an interest in influencing other people's views and behavior in any way at all has a politically correct agenda of their very own, even if the desired views and behavior are fashionably dubbed "incorrect" in the current political climate.

The expression, "political correctness," is a rhetorical straw dummy enemy erected by those who wish to establish their own discourse and value system as the norm without having to justify them rationally. I am sorry if I have crushed your precious instrument of pseudo-argumentation.

[Tony Clifton]

I used to maintain a blog & here's something I wrote quite a while ago...enjoy...

Is it just me or has political correctness taken the plunge into the absurd? While listening to a local talk radio show the host was just about to say “councilman” in reference to a female council member. But, stopped in mid-word to correct himself & say “councilwoman.” Even the fact that I used the word “council member” is telling about the condition of our society when it relates to political correctness.

Do you remember when “man” in the context of councilman meant mankind? Our society has become so fragile that traditional meanings have been lost or traded in exchange for the meanings learned at “sensitivity training seminars.” Have we forgotten that “women” are also a part of mankind? Or, would it be politically correct to say “womankind?”

With this new trend I guess it would be fitting that we set up a “sensitivity council” to reword all of our founding documents that have references to “man.” Or, does this fact mean that our founders wanted only men to have rights & women to remain subservient? I hope you’re beginning to see the absurdity in political correctness at this point.

This political correctness has found it’s way into other parts of life. All blacks have become African-Americans. All Spanish speaking folks have become Latinos; to include those from South & Central America as well as all related islands. No longer can we call them Mexicans, or Puerto-Ricans, or Africans, or even Jamaicans. We must lump them into an unidentifiable generic label. Putting “America” at the end of an identifying name, I believe, is still acceptable. Of course there’s African-American, Mexican-American & Arab-American. Even “Indians” have given way to “Native-Americans.”

Now, I am not suggesting that we return to mean spirited derogatory terms as the norm. But, I just don’t believe that identifying labels constitutes racism. Nor do I believe using traditional words such as “councilman” or “mailman” or “congressman” is intended to keep women subservient to men. On the contrary; it makes them our equals by not identifying them as something different.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Matts I find it interesting that when militant Christians try to force their view of the world and their way of life to the rest of the population (by defending sodomy laws, banning gay and lesbian film festivals, campaigning against anti-discrimination laws, etc, etc) this is never recognized by the supposed critics of PC as yet another heinous political correctness at work. The term "politically correct" is totally useless, as it always was, because it is not used consistently about all behavior which aims at violently suppressing competing world views.

I think you are wrong here. While I agree both groups mentioned are eqaually delusional, I see political correctness as an entirely different beast precisely because it is brought to the public via politics.

Quote by: Matts So are the people who demand the right to hold and express views the mere expression of which is claimed by anti-PC rhetoric to be a threat to freedom of speech. If I criticize the use of derogatory language, how can the mere expression of this view be interpreted as censorship?

It cannot. The real question is why do you not recognize my like minded view on this issue?

Quote by: Matts Those individuals, for instance, who label other people's language and views as "politically correct" and see the mere expression of these views and the use of this language as a threat to their freedom of speech.

Wrong. It is they who try to squelch my voice, and revise the popular vernacular through bullying tactics. You are the morons trying to ban words. ( Look up "Neuspeak, or 1984". )

Quote by: Matts A single source... In other words, you see ideas and policies deemed as Liberal as "politically correct" while the aforementioned practice of forcing Conservative ideas and standards of behavior on other people is apparently "radical resistance to a PC status quo," or something as blatantly absurd. This is Orwellian rhetoric at its most heinous. If you are trying to establish your own discourse as the dominant mode of speech, you are being politically correct. Having said that, everyone who has an interest in influencing other people's views and behavior in any way at all has a politically correct agenda of their very own, even if the desired views and behavior are fashionably dubbed "incorrect" in the current political climate.

Wrong again. You, like most people in this country, just assume that because I am not a Liberal, like yourself, that I must automatically be a Conservative, by simple process of elimination. ( Indicating to me that you are locked in the bipartisan rhetoric, and another one of the sheeple having your opinions spoon fed to you each morning from your media of choice.

Quote by: Matts The expression, "political correctness," is a rhetorical straw dummy enemy erected by those who wish to establish their own discourse and value system as the norm without having to justify them rationally. I am sorry if I have crushed your precious instrument of pseudo-argumentation.

Wrong again. Political correctness is the philosophy that dooms the Democratic party simply because people have correctly identified it for what it is, and the Democrats can't take it back, or call do over. The cat is out of the bag, and I hope you lost your constituency for all eternity. ( That is just a high brow way of indicating that I'm laughing at your misfortune. )

[Morgan_Freeman]

Quote by: Matts I find it interesting that when militant Christians try to force their view of the world and their way of life to the rest of the population (by defending sodomy laws, banning gay and lesbian film festivals, campaigning against anti-discrimination laws, etc, etc) this is never recognized by the supposed critics of PC as yet another heinous political correctness at work.

"Never", huh? Are you aware that it's impossible to prove a negative?

For the record, I recognize it.

Quote by: Matts So are the people who demand the right to hold and express views the mere expression of which is claimed by anti-PC rhetoric to be a threat to freedom of speech.

Nonsense. No one is saying that the "expressing of views" is a threat to free speech. Political Correctness is the opposite of freedom of expression, and you know it. PC is about censoring speech and squelching certain opinions.

[xyzer]

The expression of beliefs is a lot different than the curtailment of expression. I haven't read of any Christians forcing their beliefs on non believers but I have seen many educational establishments and government entities condemning and even sanctioning expression. Yes the pc police are real and that means a real threat to the First Amendment.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: xyzer The expression of beliefs is a lot different than the curtailment of expression. I haven't read of any Christians forcing their beliefs on non believers but I have seen many educational establishments and government entities condemning and even sanctioning expression. Yes the pc police are real and that means a real threat to the First Amendment.

What example can you cite that indicates the PC Police are doing anything to violate anybodies rights?

[Morgan_Freeman]

Quote by: Milton Bradley What example can you cite that indicates the PC Police are doing anything to violate anybodies rights?

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/188/story_18830_1.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,85594,00.html
http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststa...l=1&thispage=1
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps...604270352/1002
http://www.campusreportonline.net/ma...les.php?id=907
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/14124.html
http://www.redandblack.com/vnews/dis.../444d8e4929a27
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...ktaco0422.html

Satisfied?

[Morgan_Freeman]

More:

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_i-gear.html
http://www.kidspeakonline.org/shotgun.htm

[Zhavric]

Quote by: Samildanach I always wondered how they made the colourful wool jerseys.....

Chameleon sheep. The eyes are REALLY creepy lookin' but you can get wool any color you want!