This week will be a deviation from my other articles which are normally fact-and-figure-based in favor of philosophical ramblings. As much as I attempt to avoid the comment sections on local news articles to maintain a shred of mental stability, I sometimes find myself reading the fuming words of hundreds of snarling locals. I live in a particularly conservative area outside of the capital of Harrisburg, so articles critical of the current administration aren’t exactly met with kind words. One common theme I come across is the berating of “political correctness” as some sort of assault on the freedom of speech. Not only is this line of thinking misguided, it is a clever dog whistle used to justify harmful views.

Widespread use of the term dates back to the late 80’s and early 90’s and was subsequently co-opted by conservative thinkers as a pejorative term. This reaction was a backlash against the perceived threats of a diversifying society with expectations about how they’d like to be talked to. Nevertheless, conservatives have their own form of political correctness they don’t seem to want to discuss. The first thing that comes to mind is the rabid backlash to the Dixie Chicks’ public criticism of the Iraq war which led to conservatives burning Dixie Chicks paraphernalia en masse. Those poor, triggered conservatives. Even Donald Trump called for a “safe space” in the theatre in reaction to the cast of Hamilton publicly asking Mike Pence to respect the basic human rights of Americans.

There is little room for doubt that the election of Donald Trump has galvanized certain radical portions of the county, though. We’ve witnessed overtly racist acts perpetrated against people of color, Muslims, and other marginalized groups since the close of the 2016 election. Words and ideas form the basis of action. Allowing hateful speech to be spewed without challenge normalizes the speech, leading to a perceived acceptance of that line of thinking. Sure, hate speech that doesn’t cross the thin line into fighting words is protected, but if we value our free society we will not allow this type of speech to become mainstream.

Political correctness is not about censorship and interfering with freedom of speech isn’t acceptable. When a private company decides to drop a show like Duck Dynasty because advertisers begin to pull their placement, this is because homophobic views are the minority in this country. Most Americans are in favor of more freedom, not less.

The bottom line is, disparaging political correctness is an attempt to play victim when someone’s views are incompatible with the principles of a free society. While it is their right to express these toxic points of view it is equally the right of sane people to challenge them or for businesses to do what they feel is right for their business. The pejorative use of political correctness is a cheap and lazy cop-out. Treating others with respect shouldn’t be a radical concept.

Would it kill you to be, I don’t know, kind to others?