Political correctness is poisoning our politics
To the Times: Christine Flowers’ column, “Racing to the Bottom as a Society,” appeared in the Sunday Times of 7/21. She discussed the recent furor over Trump’s remarks about the four congresswomen. I am a lifelong Democrat and unyielding opponent of Donald Trump, but some valid points were made in this article, along with some invalid ones. I will now explain.
Political correctness has indeed poisoned our politics with its maddeningly irrational dogma, it has stifled our national dialogue on the critical issue of race at a time when we very clearly need more dialogue rather than less, and it has crippled the Democratic Party in the process. A comment, even a nasty one, that comes from the mouth of a white person and is critical of a black person is not by definition racist. It might be, or it might have elements of racism mixed with other things, or it might not be. It’s seldom a simple, straightforward determination to make. We certainly know that human nastiness, hatred and cruelty are not confined solely to interactions between different races. History provides hundreds of ghastly occurrences as ample evidence of that.
As to Trump’s specific statements, I will say that his comments about the four women were low, primitive, ignorant and crude, as he himself is – so no surprises. I do not say this because I am a strong supporter of the four women. I do like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez much of the time (not all), but have little or no time for the other three. Regardless of that, Trump’s comments were senseless. If he believed they were wrong, he should have criticized their views, as strongly and pointedly as he wished, but telling them to leave the country was gutter politics all the way. But that’s Trump’s style, so as I said, no surprises. It would have been far more surprising had he actually focused on their ideas and explained why, in his mind, they were completely wrong. Not his mode of operation!
My next comment is not meant as a show of support for Omar’s views in any way, but in her defense, neither she nor anyone else is required to show gratitude for being a citizen. More to the point, equating critical words to being ungrateful is nonsense, and Christine Flowers should know this. Criticism aimed at perceived injustice has nothing to do with ingratitude. Even if you totally disagree with the criticisms, even if you think her criticisms are wrong, idiotic and appalling (which you have every right to do), the issue here is not gratitude or lack thereof. And personally, though I find most of Omar’s remarks to be rather empty and vapid, I don’t think her criticisms reflect a lack of gratitude. But again, gratitude is not the point of consideration here.
This is an issue with many facets. I touched on what I think are the major ones. It’s not a multiple choice question with one correct answer, but is a problem with many dimensions. Our national dialogue needs to start reflecting that reality if any progress is to be made.
“Even if you totally disagree with the criticisms, even if you think her criticisms are wrong, idiotic and appalling (which you have every right to do), the issue here is not gratitude or lack thereof.”
— Carl Balis