WORDS CAUSE DEEP DIVISIONS

The amount of political correctness and recognition of different groups of the population has reached a level of attention that has never been seen before, at least in my 76 years.

I don’t think there is any point in saying which group is more deserving of recognition than the other. It seems that those of us who were born before the ’70s or earlier are way behind the times when it comes to having a conversation. In the world of communication most nouns have been replaced by pronouns, many of which are selfimposed by individuals themselves and if you don’t accept or agree with them you will be flooded with pronouns and adjectives of negative connotations. When one looks at what was normal in the roles of parental responsibility, that has been either diminished or weakened by psychologists or special interest groups.

When one listens to the media you would think that the majority of this country is full of racist or phobic people. This is happening because the rhetorical tone seems to get all the attention.

I believe that there is hope, that someday there will be conversations had that are of civil tone. I am not convinced that the differences between these minority groups and the majority of Canadians are so entrenched, that there never will be an understanding or respect of each other’s stand on issues.

In the future, I hope that there is more emphasis put on the fact that majority of Canadians are not racist. Years ago, there was a saying “sticks and stones will break your bones but words will never hurt you.”

I believe that with better understanding and respect of other’s opinions, conversations can take place, when hurtful words don’t cause such a division among Canadians.

Bruce Macisaac, Charlottetown, P.E.I.