Being Politically Correct
by This describes racial labeling of Americans.
For centuries race has played a negative role in American culture. Starting before the enslavement of Africans was the enslavement of Native Americans. Slavery has been around since time has been recorded; the actions of men that enslaved these people will never be forgiven nor should they be. Long after slavery ended, the African- Americans are still fighting for their equal rights, as they should.
Every American knows that mistakes have made in the past and these mistakes should never be forgotten, but used as lessens learned by a young nation.
America has become a nation fixated on racial labels. The media as well as people talking in casual conversation use racial labeling daily. No matter where we go in America someone is being labeled. We use labels such as Caucasian, African-American, Asian- American, Latino or Hispanic –American and many others.
The United States of America is the only country in the world that labels their nationality by racial and geographical denomination. In Great Britain there are British, in France there are French and in Germany there are Germans even though all of these countries have a racially diverse population. Not all Europeans are white and not all Africans are black.
I am an American of European descent, not a Caucasian. Caucasians originated from the region or mountainous area between the Black and Caspian Seas in South Eastern Russia called the Caucasus.
Americans should be proud of their heritage no matter what part of the world their ancestors came from, but for America to pull together and compete as one nation we must put our racial differences behind us and move forward as a united nation. Every nation has extremists and these people should be dealt with. I do believe though, that most people are good, hard working citizens, trying to make life better and this can begin by admitting mistakes from the past and uniting as one nationality called “American”.
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Post CommentSakuragi
On February 6, 2009 at 6:28 am
Darn right.
S A JOHNSON
On February 6, 2009 at 6:41 am
I agree. Honestly I know that bad things have happened but really I think the only people who have any right to bear old scars are those who went through it. I find it insanely annoying when people who are young and talk and whine about how they are suppressed. Yeah things do happen, there are racist people out there. I remember when I was in middle school I was made fun of a lot because I’m not white. That’s only 2 years out of my 24 years.
Anyway I think that we should put the past in the past and deal with things as they come and not blame others as a whole when not everyone is a racist.
Sharona
On February 6, 2009 at 7:29 am
I think if people looked upon the soul, and not the skin they would find many good friends in this life,politically correct or not. If people let go of the past, and did not expect people who did not live in the time of there trials, to be responsible for something they did not do there would be peace among many more people.
Cherokee, trail of tears and German gas chambers, are in my families past, but I can not hold others accountable. I can only remember the events, if I choose to suffer in my life.
cardy
On February 6, 2009 at 7:30 am
good work.
Kate Smedley
On February 6, 2009 at 8:30 am
That’s a really well written and thoughtful piece Lee, we can’t change the past but we can learn and move forward and people should never ever be judged or ‘categorised’ by the colour of their skin.
ML Sheldon
On February 6, 2009 at 11:33 am
Good article. You have a very strong and respectable opinion.
Estelle Winters
On February 6, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I agree with you. It would be a load off of America to put the racial differences behind us. Perhaps because the government gives out loans to students and likes to see what kind of people are living in America, that is why we check which box we associate ourselves with as heritage? But all in all, it’s gotten out of hand and we are all being too literal about where we came from as far as how we treat one another.
Elke
On February 6, 2009 at 12:13 pm
This speaks from my heart. As a then (legal) immigrant and now an American citizen, I cannot and will not constantly refer to my heritage as a geographical point of origin. Most of us here are immigrants or descendants of people who came here voluntarily. Unfortunately, some of us are not and while this is a result of inexcusable actions and circumstances it seems that it is still used today by some to try to hold people today responsible. To those, I only have one thing to say..it’s a free country, you are able to make a choice today that your ancestors were not able to make..leave. Every country in the world has a chapter it can’t be proud of; the Germans and the Nazis, the Americans and the slavery, the Eastern Europeans and Africans and genocide just to name a few.
To the overwhelming majority that are hard working honest people who overcome obstacles such as racism, disabilities and all matters of challenges every day…I am proud to have had the opportunity to become one of you, thank you.
Elke
Dialga
On February 6, 2009 at 5:10 pm
God, I hate political correctness with a passion.
But I agree with you entirely. In the 21st century, everyone should be treated equally with equal rights and respect. People should not be classified into groups based upon their gender, ethnicity, age, beliefs or religion.
Most of all, it’s important to learn from the mistakes of the past, to ensure history is not repeated in the future.
The Quail
On February 6, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Super write going to stumble this if they allow me too. Keep up the awesome writings.
PR Mace
On February 6, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Excellent article. I agree with you 100%.
M Stokes
On February 9, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I guess I never really thought about it that much, but it does make sense.
ecrivan
On February 10, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I agree with what lies behind the labeling except that even though people are called British in England recently (38-9) years back) there were incidents of racial hatred against people of Pakistani origin as they were labeled “Paki”. Even prince Harry used the word in jest when calling a colleague that during his army service in Afghanistan. I think that this is what lies beneath the uniformity connoted by the fact the government would have citizens worldwide see that they are egalitarian, they aren’t different from the Germans who busted homes of Turkish residents living in German cities in the eighties and are not different from comparable radical elements in other countries including the US and Canada. So you might say that is the only country that labels its citizens but in other countries like those above thay are unofficially “labeled” by certain groups.
Patrick Bernauw
On February 15, 2009 at 3:26 am
You’ve made a good point here!
Rana Sinha
On February 15, 2009 at 5:20 am
Many interesting point raised here. Political correctness going too far is a real nuisance. Labelling is a human shortcut, an easy way to categorize things and try to make sense of variety and life in general. Harping too much on the past and on things happened a long time ago continues to create bad blood, you are right.
Tusaani
On February 15, 2009 at 9:06 am
Ooh, I hate being politically correct! I also wrote a very angry article on the issue:
http://www.socyberty.com/Politics/I-Hate-Being-Politically-Correct.485055
Lee Altman
On February 23, 2009 at 11:35 pm
I want to thank everyone for their comments, especially thank ecrivan for bringing this to my attention. Racial labeling do exits all over the world.
Parish Loveless
On March 8, 2009 at 8:00 am
I find it strange. I grew up w/o any understanding of how people saw different races. People were just people. I saw them all the same. I have had to come to understand how people judge other people by such simple differences that cannot be changed and do not whatsoever separate one an individual from another. It is ignorant and cruel.
ladybaby
On May 17, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I totally agree with you on this one. I also have resented being called, “CAUCASIAN’ as if ALL WHITE SKIN PEOPLE ORIGINATE FROM THAT AREA OF THE WORLD. How did that term come about any way? I have bi-racial children. They are NOT African American. They were born here in America, so they are “Americans.” My parents were born in Canada, but I was born in the States, so that does NOT make me a “Canadian American.” All these labels just continue chaos and confusion. I also resent that both blacks and whites call my children “Black”. They are HALF OF ME so why is the one drop of black blood still used to call a person black? I was hoping that when OBAMA was elected president, that LABEL would be changed, but people are still holding to it.There are so many serious problems in the world, and we bicker over petty stuff. Maybe we are not as civilized as we think we are. Good article!