Has Political Correctness in the USA gone too far?

[Kelinfort]

[citation needed]

Try reading Culture Warrior by Bill O'Reilly.

Look, I know you love Bill, but I really can't take a man seriously who believes there is a war on Christmas. Private businesses changing their greetings is by no means a symptom of a bigger problem, considering the fact that there has been no major movement by secularists to change the wording. Some have advocated for it, but, like Chick-fil-a and homosexuals, their main base would not have been affected; they made the switch on their own.

[DnalweN acilbupeR]

As someone who has lived in US... I really don't see a problem with PC.

Not saying the USA needs to be more politically correct. What I'm saying is they just need better judgement.

I mean come on. Political Correctness is not useful if one is paranoid of even the most trivial of consequences, it requires logical thinking and proper judgement. To say political correctness is going too far in the US is really asinine, as it's just that people are not using any modicum of judgement on when and where to be politically correct.

And being a bigot is soooo 1920s.

I agree, and by extension feel that, at least in my experience, racism is made a bigger problem by third parties than the ones involved. Make no mistake, I'm by no means prejudiced; I understand the value of humour and tact. I have black friends who make black jokes all the time, yet non-black people are offended because black people might be offended. Well, no, in this instance the parties involved were having a good time, and using discretion, so the only ones making an issue out of it were the ones with whom the statements were not concerned. It is only an issue insofar as those to whom the statements are concerned are genuinely offended.

I find this to be especially the case among youths, who often cover up everything potentially objectionable that comes out of their mouth with "not to be racist," or something of the sort. If you think it will cause an issue, don't say it in the first place. If you don't think it will cause an issue, then perhaps all parties understand the benign nature of the humour in that context. There is no reason to be offended on someone else's behalf if they are not offended themselves, because it simply creates an issue where one would otherwise not exist. So, again, discretion is key.

what does "using discretion" mean? i've always wanted to know that.

[Patridam]

If your opinions were actually "perfectly acceptable" you wouldn't be being labeled an asshole.

At this point, the position of the people who have argued "yes" with respect with the thread title seems to be that, well, they're mad that they're losing debates.

Or we've just given up trying to reason with anyone when we're approached with "debates" of this caliber:

No no, see, we shouldn't be complaining about his white almightiness; how dare we ingrates be unthankful for white Americans treating us like shit at every turn. We should be kissing the ground on which they stand. Only then will we be equal, when we're back again to being discriminated and killed because we're different because after all who wants a dirty spic or a negro in their country? It's not like they're being evil or anything, they're just being white.