I recently read an article which infuriated me to the core, called “How to Be a White Ally to People of Colour” and it summarises a whole collective of articles with a similar theme, (a lot of these seem to be released by Vice). It was a list of 100 things that White people should and should not do. Political correctness has gone mad and it is ruining the world.
It is a topic which I have been mulling over and debating for a long time now, but I think it is time that we wake up and fight back against “Censorship” and “Political Correctness” and start using our heads and common sense – in order to move forward as an true egalitarian society.
The breakdown of barriers between races and religions, the advancement of LGBT people – and total SOCIAL EVOLUTION – cannot freely develop and flourish whilst people insist on categorising and dividing us into Races, Sexualities, Genders etc.
We are all part of the HUMAN RACE, and creating rules whereby only race/culture/sexuality A can do/say something and other people are not allowed to take part in this keeps us divided and our growth stunted.
(Link to the article at the bottom of this article)
One of the Mural of Ethnicities, created for the Olympics to show 5 faces with a drawing of a typical indigenous person from each continent.
To see the other images of the Mural of Ethnicites click the link
Political Correctness doesn´t allow people the freedom to explore, integrate, and learn what is actually offensive to the people involved, and what is not. It automatically builds a wall which makes people afraid of being offensive, or not politically correct – without actually thinking about how their actions and words would be portrayed.
This fear of Political Correctness is crushing creativity, and Social Media outbursts / viral comments are causing many comedians, actors, politicians etc. to hide away and not say what they truly believe – for fear of reprisal from the Social Justice Warriors (SJW).
Offensiveness
I am a firm believer that if you do something with good intentions, (or without bad intentions), then your act is innocent and unoffensive – of course you can still be guilty of being an idiot. We have only, “behaved offensively”, if we are trying to offend.
People can be insensitive without realising it – but this is not the same as being offensive – it is simply a lack of knowledge/understanding, which through education can be avoided the next time – and thus begins the progression. Telling one or various groups of people what they cannot say/do/wear is archaic and should not even be considered.
The way we phrase things and the way we deliver our words is what carries the meaning of what we are saying – not the specific words themselves.
Example: walking up to a group of people and saying “wassup bitches!” is different to walking up to a group of people and calling them “bitches” for no reason. Same word – 2 different connotations. In both instances they are likely to dislike you or think you are weird, but your intentions in the first instance were not to cause offense.
The Use of N***er in Song Lyrics
I am not going to discuss the use of N***er in the music industry other than by saying – EITHER NOONE USES IT OR EVERYONE DOES – preferably the first option
Another example is Kendrick Lamar bringing a young ,white, star struck girl on stage to sing along to one of his raps. When she sings along with the words that HE wrote and says, “N***er”, several times, (I am only censoring myself so that Google doesnt remove my article from mainstream searches), he gets angry at her and she is booed off stage and probably traumatised for life.
Why would he pick a song – for her to sing – that has words that she can´t sing along to? Seems like a publicity stunt, which worked very well.
I am not going to discuss the use of N***er in the music industry other than by saying – EITHER NOONE USES IT OR EVERYONE DOES – preferably the first option. Here is a very good article discussing this more in depth.
Freedom of Speech
In modern society we enioy the right to freedom of speech. This gives people the freedom to express themselves, be rude, be ignorant and say whatever they please. This does not mean that words do not have consequences.
We cannot, for example, slander people, (say untrue things about people), and we cannot incite violence or hatred. Other than this people are able to say what they please, and the consequence of saying bad things means you will likely be outcast from mainstream society – or find yourself in confrontations with people.
The World is Full of Intolerance
Unfortunately, the world has a lot of ignorant, rude and intolerant people. It is rare that you come across someone who is, “really tolerant”, but hates black people; or a “lovely person” that happens to have a hatred for gay people.
In virtually all cases this is all part of the same package and people that are intolerant, ignorant and rude are almost always intolerant, ignorant and rude towards everything that they are not ie. they are just not nice people.
This intolerance is not something that people are born with, it is something that is learned from the environment, and thus can be unlearned via integration and increased awareness.
A lot of the intolerance stems from lack of knowledge and fear of the unknown – which is always exacerbated by the media. My reason for writing this article is that Social Media is now “The Media” for most young people and it is our opinions that will pave the way for the future, (and our opinions that will be seen by our children).
Media Brainwashing
The intolerance and political correctness in our society is a direct cause of the media brainwashing that always strives to create a common enemy for the people. This is a tactic used to control the masses as it unites people in fear, and allows governments to put stricter controls on the population – with little objection.
Prime Example: the “Patriot Act” in the US , which gave the government the power to do almost anything they like – in the name of Anti-Terrorism.
Similarly in the UK, the maximum time allowed to hold a prisoner in custody without charge was increased from the absolute maximum of 3, in extreme circumstances, to 28 days – by using Anti-Terrorism Laws.
We have been brainwashed to FEAR THE UNKNOWN: Gay people = AIDS , Black people = Crime, and nowadays Muslims = Terrorism.
Social Progression
The last 50 years has seen huge changes in the global society, and the progression of Black rights, Womens rights, LGBT rights, as well as the migration, and increased number of Muslims living outside of Muslim countries. Despite this progression, we seem to now be halting and taking a step back. There seems to be very little forward thinking taking place and people seem to be tiptoeing around these issues.
The Rise of Nationalism / Separatism
There has been a continuing increase in support for extreme right wing / Nationalist parties in Western Europe, coupled with increased demand for stricter immigration policies, which is driving a wedge through society. I believe this current desire for a change in immigration policy is based primarily on the fear of Muslim integration.
Immigration has been fluid since the formation of the European Union and has always had critics – for economic reasons – however, this was never enough to cause a change in policy.
I believe this current desire for a change in immigration policy is based primarily on the fear of Muslim integration.
The UK is negotiating Brexit terms – (with one of the primary reasons for this being voted in the first place being due to immigration), Catalunya is trying to gain independence from Spain, Scotland wants independence from the UK, as well as various other less powerful regions in Europe wanting independence.
All of these are steps AWAY from integration, and the relative harmony of nations.
It feels like we have already reached the peak of our global, “tolerance”, level and now we are teetering precariously on the edge – about to plummet back towards total segregation, mistrust, xenophobia, and intolerance. HAVE WE NOT LEARNED ANYTHING?
Every Human Should Be Judged as Equal
If we are to live in a truly equal society then we should all be judged equally. My next points may have criticisms but before you let yourself get carried away, stop to think what I REALLY mean by these.
There should be no law against racism. There should be no law against sexism. There should be no law against homophobia. What I mean by this is that physically attacking, (as a simple example), someone because they are “black/muslim/gay/female etc. should not have a higher penalty than attacking someone for no reason.
How Much of a Victim Are They?
In the UK, the US and the majority of European Countries the sentencing of crimes is affected by who the victim is – and “how much of a victim they are”. In the UK the Crime and Disorder Act and the Criminal Justice Act actually demand that the courts take into consideration whether the crime was motivated by race, religion, sexuality etc.
If we are all equal human beings then crimes should be equally punishable, (and equally morally wrong). By punishing someone more harshly for a, “Hate Crime” you are making the victim, “more of a victim”, and treating them differently from how you would treat an average person. Political correctness and the fear of speaking out against minorities causes injustice in the law.
Equality for Women
Equally, for women to be treated as equal to men, there should also be the same punishment if a woman attacks a man. Just because – stereotypically – women are not as strong as men, and so cannot do as much damage with their fists, it doesn’t make their crime less wrong – in an egalitarian society. While on paper they might be punishable for the same crime, the rate of conviction and the sentencing of crimes committed by females is far lower than that of males.
“the overwhelming majority of those caught, convicted and sentenced by the courts are male” (80%) and currently the UK prison population is 95% male ”
Statistics from Ministry of Justice Report
Segregation Laws Evolve and Progress and then Devolve
This very strange and almost paradoxical situation is now becoming more common. 50 years ago segregation existed in the United States and there were laws and rules stating what black people could and couldn’t do.
This thankfully was then abolished as society progressed and pushed towards equality, (still far from it of course). However, on the whole, people were still free to dislike or discriminate as they pleased.
We then arrived at a stage where there are now rules on what non minorities cannot say or do to minorities, there are “quotas”, (official in the US and unofficial in the UK), for the amount of minorities that must be hired, there are people serving huge sentences for their “hate crimes”.
ALL CRIMES AGAINST PEOPLE ARE HATE CRIMES.
If the mandatory life sentence in the UK for murder is 25 years then that mandatory life sentence applies to every life that is taken – it is not a worse crime depending on the colour of the skin/sexuality etc.
Quotas
As for “Quotas” – THIS IS ABSURD . Hiring people/giving someone a place at university/school to fill a quota is a sure way to make someone feel terrible about themselves – and is another symbol of “WE ARE NOT THE SAME HUMANS”.
People should be hired, fired etc. based on whether or not they are capable and suitable. We should trust people to start to make judgements based on whether or not the person is good or not and not if, “they are good for a minority/woman”.
Fluid Social Progression
We should trust that if the person doing the hiring/enrolment is not doing a good and fair job they will be dismissed. We should allow for human error, intolerance, and bad decisions as this forms fluid social progression – weeding out the intolerant people/educating them whilst still treating everyone equally.
Nepotism
Of course, I am not of the belief that without intervention, “the right person”, will always get the job, as unfortunately we still live in a society where Nepotism and, “who you know, not what you know”, dominates the recruitment for high paying jobs.
However, tighter restrictions on this does not have to do anything with gender, sexuality, or skin colour – it could be a one rule fits all – don’t hire anyone based on anything other than merits.
Employment Equality for Women
I have a very simple Business related anecdote about this topic:
A few years ago I went to a Deutsche Bank conference at my University where they were giving speeches enticing people to apply for placements and apply for jobs within the organisation.
The man giving the main speech, as well as a lot of the emphasis on leaflets and, “positives”, of the company was that they had a FEMALE boss and that they had X % of women in management positions. This infuriated me – as I am sure it infuriated the female managers – as it basically belittles their achievement as nothing more than a quota fill.
DON’T SAY ANYTHING – and people will still notice you have lots of women working for you.
Equally DON’T HIRE MINORITIES TO FILL QUOTAS. Hire the best human that you can find for the job.
If you look around and see you have 95% straight white males then it means you probably need to broaden your search parameters and open your mind – or else it means your company probably repels people because of the way it operates.
Organic Methods of Non-Discriminative Hiring
Please don’t take this to mean that I think it’s a bad thing that Deutsche Bank, (and many other companies), are trying to hire more women and more minorities. In fact I think it is fantastic. My point is that if you are using organic methods, such as:
- Blind decision making/interviewing, (not knowing the persons name/gender/age/etc.)
- Extensive job advertising
- Removal of “Bias language” in job descriptions, (language that implies something – “Man up” would be a simple example).
then you should be naturally attracting a more diverse workforce and you should not, “boast”, about this, as you will negate the positive work that you have done, and it will be considered as nothing more than a publicity stunt.
It Is Not A Simple Solution
I also do not believe that this is a simple solution, and that it will make all the injustice disappear – of course it will not. This Utopian alternative that I propose of allowing people the freedom to make these decisions – and learn from the mistakes – would likely cause the injustice and inequality to continue in the short term, but in the long run people would organically learn what is right and wrong, and learn how to accept people meritocratically.
To read a very interesting article on Diversity Quotas click here
Safe Guards and Help for Women Who Want Kids and a Career
I also think that it is very important to have some safe guards in place regarding maternity leave/ paternity leave and that women shouldn’t have to choose between a career and a baby.
There is a very interesting campaign being run by Social Media Influencer, “Mother Pukka”, which is campaigning for industries to start being more flexible, and for people to be judged on the work they produce not the hours they are in the office. This is a topic that I have been debating a lot recently and I will write a future post about it.
To read the Campaign for Flexible Working click here
Social Justice Warriors WANT to be Offended
The internet is now full of Social Justice Keyboard Warriors who prowl the internet looking for things that are, “offensive”, “racist”, “homophobic” and should be “censored”.
We are constantly being told what we can and can´t say, what the new “offensive” terms are and how any use/appreciation of another culture that is not a White European culture is “racist” and is “cultural appropriation”.
Nowadays EVERYTHING is offensive and people find ways to be offensive and “stick up for” the “offended” party.
“White People Cannot Have Dreadlocks”
A prime example of this, which comes up time and time again, is the argument about whether or not white people are, “allowed”, to have dreadlocks. SJW will claim that this is an appropriation of the African, (slave), culture and so white people CANNOT have dreadlocks.
You cannot “copywrite” dreadlocks and limit them to one culture.
Dreadlocks have been a hairstyle around the world for millennia, (with religious and tribal significance as well as just pure practical reasons), with references from Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and even the Vikings.
Yes, dreadlocks form an important part of African culture – which in the past white people very sadly did their best to eradicate – however, in order to progress as the Human Race we need to learn to APPRECIATE, RESPECT and EXPLORE peoples cultures, not isolate them and forbid others from partaking. I argue that political correctness causes people to fear expressing themselves.
Nobody has the right to tell someone what hairstyle they can or cannot have in the 21st century.
Cultural Appreciation Breaks Down Barriers
A perfect example of how the adoption of part of a culture can increase integration and break down barriers between the, “Victims”, and ,“Oppressors”, is the Carnival and Samba schools that takes place each year in Brazil. Samba is a style of dance which was brought to Brazil by the African Slaves.
Nowadays it is appreciated and enjoyed by Brazilians of all heritage, (slave and oppressor), and really is the glue that unites everyone. To read more about the History of Carnival in Brazil – and its significance nowadays in a previous post click here.
The Guilt of White Priviledge
The guilt that I think causes SJW to act the way they do stems from the guilt of White Privilege that I think a lot of people experience.
We should not feel GUILTY for where we are born, or the circumstances and privileges with which we are raised, but we should use our privilege or advantage in order to help those less fortunate, and to be the best version of ourselves that we can possibly be.
We must LEARN from the mistakes of the past – Slavery, Apartheid, Colonisation, War etc. to make sure that these same horrible atrocities and errors are not repeated – NOT become fixated and overwhelmed with a past that we cannot change.
It is very common for people that are not happy or content within themselves to start trying to absorb the pain and problems of other people.
This is a sort of masochistic way of feeding your own low self-esteem, or personal issues, and causes people to try and make themselves an enemy to everyone. It is a sort of self-destructive coping mechanism to mask your own insecurities.
The Need To Protest Everything
I started thinking about this when I realised that people that are “protestors” tend to protest EVERYTHING. I thought to myself – there is no way that people can these people can have strong opinions/knowledge on all of these subjects – yet the same people, (and im sure anyone reading this knows a few), will be at every march, every protest and will share any article outlining one of the, “ism´s or “phobias”.
Eckhart Tolle
“There’s a huge amount of suffering that is generated not by the actual challenges in life but by the fictitious problems that the mind generates.”
The Air France Japanese Geisha “Scandal”
I once had an argument with 2 friends, (on separate occasions), about an advertisement, (in the metro in Barcelona), by Air France for flights to Japan.
On the advertisement it had a white person dressed as a Geisha with the Air France logo and the word “Tokyo”. To my white social justice warrior friends this was outrageous! How could they have a WHITE person dressed as a JAPANESE Geisha – that must be pure racism.
I tried explaining, that although at first glance it could appear to be insensitive – due to the discrimination and oppression of Japanese people in countries such as the USA – this was actually a very clever advertisement for tourism from Europe to Japan.
It shows a white person ENJOYING the culture of another country, by showing the most quintessentially Japanese custom, and gives tourists an insight of what is on offer to them.
A reverse example would be an advert in Japan of a Japanese person dressed in Harry Potter wizards robes, (arguably the most famous part of modern day UK culture is Harry Potter, and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the UK is the Warner Bros Studios), or a Japanese person in an American Football kit.
I gave these examples and was told, “that’s not the same as we haven’t been oppressed”. I responded with – THAT IS NOT RELEVANT –
Enjoying a Culture is NOT “Cultural Appropriation”
We would never consider an Asian tourist as being offensive just for being excited with parts of our culture, which are of little interest to most local people. We find it peculiar that tourists are interested in certain parts of culture, however this is the nature of tourism!
Tourism can be annoying, damaging and overwhelming for locals, but it is necessary to help us integrate more as a global society, and with increasing ability to travel and more freedom of movement – within a lot of countries – we are starting to see people become more knowledgeable and tolerant of other cultures.
For example: Japan has, in recent years, began to unravel the mystery surrounding the Geisha and began to welcome tourism to the Japanese Geisha industry. Nevertheless, Social media of course went crazy with predominantly White Social Justice Warriors saying that this was offensive and a mockery of the culture, and calling for the advert to be removed.
“Please also keep in mind that by experiencing this activity you will automatically support the Geisha business. By doing so you help by preserving an important part of Japanese culture”
Taken from a Lonely Planet article promoting the Geisha Tourism – Here
Just Be Nice!
I apologise for the extremely long article and the various tangents that have looped in along the way. I just wanted to release this article in the hope that people might realise that buying into the social media hype of Political Correctness and Offensiveness is just exacerbating the core issues and pushing us even further away from becoming the HUMAN RACE.
The simple fact of the matter is that political correctness has gone mad and people need to learn to treat everyone equally – whether that be equally bad or equally good – in order to destroy the wedge between Race, Religion, Sexuality/Identity, and Gender.
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