Hitler/ Colored People/ Political Correctness. >.<

I say "colored" people because that was once considered the politically correct thing to say. Now, it's African-American, or blacks, depending from where you hail I guess. Anyway, here's the dealy-o. I'm sick of being in school in my paralegal studies class and having to deal with people snickering at me for objectively viewing past American racism. My teacher is an aged, black, female attorney who keeps on telling us how great free speech is. imploring us to memorize constitution day and what have you. Yet, we constantly talk about racism, mind you, the majority of my class is black, and whenever I ask questions that aren't completely sympathetic to pan-Africanism she will give me a snippet of an answer. She has told me that she thinks I'm spoiled. Yet, she doesn't know a thing about my personal life. She caught herself being stupid when she said that and tried to change the topic. I'm latino and she thinks I am a racist apparently simply because I went against the tide to actually y'know, heavin forbid, debate something in the classroom. The point is, do you think we've taken political correctness too far? It's just not doing us any good and teaches us to hold grudges. Another area I've seen this in play is with discussions of Hitler. I say he was the last great conquerer and I get mauled.

I think people are overly sensitive about racism these days. Yes I think people take political correctness too far. Used to be it was racist to have white only restrooms and not serve blanks at your business. Now many might consider it 'racist' to even refer to them as black. I've heard people be called racist just for not being sexually attracted to members of another race regardless of how they treat those people normally. These people are completely out of touch with reality. It's the same exact problem with feminism too. Some people just wanna feel special and need something to complain about, even if that something is complete bs.

Freedom of speech is great until the person saying that hears something they dislike. American education is a fucking joke.

"Freedom of Speech" doesn't really exist. One thing people don't realise is that the US is no better than most second-world countries for a variety of things. People get delusional because there's so much emphasis on a 200+ year old piece of paper that is inadequate, by all accounts, for a modern society, so they "interpret", "amend" and "extend" it. Constitutions should be, in my opinion, redrafted every 50 years or so and be voted on via direct referendum. I'm a proponent of direct democracy, and ideally in a system I'd rather have a unanimous rule, where a solution is debated and modified till a compromise where all can agree can be reached.

Here's the thing though, to not have political correctness somewhat requires a state where there are no such sensitive problems in society. If no one was bombarded with these kinds of problems, then there'd be no one sensitive to them. Unfortunately, that's not the case in today's society. Specific things and situations regarding race/sexuality/gender/mental state/socio-economic position/religion/etc. might not directly affect you personally, but they very much do other members of the community. Does that mean censor everything you say? Not necessarily, and not if it's being brought up. But there's ways to convey your message without being offensive and that's the important part. Basically, just cause whatever they're talking about or circumstance isn't happening to you, doesn't mean that it's not happening to other people.

Before we get to the issue of extent of freedom of speech, I think we need to discuss 2 core concepts to its feasibility and function: 1) the weight of words, 2) the speaker's responsibility for his/her words. It is easy to wave a protest flag, sign an online petition, or click a 'like' Facebook icon on granting greater freedom of speech. It is another to be bear complete ownership and responsibility for one's words. Sure, you can utter gaffes or questionable comments. But the speaker has to be bear complete authorship for his/her statements and recognize the potential extent his/her words can affect the audience; don't come back 3 months later denying what you said when you were caught on tape saying so. There are some who think that overly thinking one's words or choosing the 'right' words to convey a politically neutral message is akin to a chilling effect or a slippery slope towards self-censorship. My rebuttal to this is that it is human nature to think before we speak or conduct ourselves; how one speaks in a home setting versus the equivalent in a professional setting is a common example. With regards to the race card, I only have one thing to day: look at the data. You can keep waving that race card like a long-overdue Big Mac burger, but how does it improve your economic situation directly?

Yes, I would say 'political correctness' has passed the line. When it used to be racist to not serve them at a business(Which it was), Now it's racist to heaven forbid, say they are black, or just not be attracted to them, Or if you even just disagree with them. That's completely ridiculous. Certainly Freedom of speech 'exists', But if you think it's all there and there won't be any consequences for saying what you say, Then your in for a long road ahead. All freedom of speech does is protect you from prosecution from the government, Nothing more, And even that isn't completely true anymore.

I don't know if I would say it's racist to be attracted/not attracted to a certain race, just on the basis of phenotype (how they look; skin color, facial features, and whatnot). But it is racist when someone assigns certain personality characteristics to an ethnicity based solely on their ethnicity, such as asian women being submissive, black men being thugs, etc. and is thus attracted to that.

Chizmad, there is no "freedom of speech" as evidenced by Edward Snowden's and Bradley Manning's whistleblowing of the government not going unpunished. If there was true free speech, Manning would be walking free, and Snowden wouldn't be considered a traitor. On political correctness, I mostly agree with the more moderate aspects of it, for instance it is racist to call black people negro, even though historically that wasn't a problem, MLK even used it in a speech, but still, I'd rather avoid offending certain groups by avoiding racial slurs or saying soemthing insensitive. What I don't agree with is white-washing topics. I'm also not attracted to black people at all, but I'm not racist. Otherwise I wouldn't have any black friends. I just don't like the culture they have, or the way most black women look. Coupled with the fact that they're the most religious ethnic group in the US makes it pretty safe for me to say that.