In Defense of "Political Correctness"

By Sniffles

We cats have just about had it up to here with attacks on "political correctness." As if respect for others is bad.

Let's briefly recap: On the 2016 Republican clown car side of things, Freepers, right wingers and other resentful folk are impugning "political correctness" as a scourge on American society. They are emboldened by Donald Trump, who has decided to single out "PC behavior" to excuse his hateful, xenophobic language about people whose only sin is to want to come to America so they can participate in our freedom and economic opportunity.

Now, President Obama has weighed in, declaring that universities should not ban conservative arguments from campuses in order to ensure that students are exposed to all points of view — and that they have the chance to debate them in their classes. This, we cats agree, is a good thing.

What we object to is a university inviting, say, a speaker like Condoleezza Rice to a commencement ceremony. The import of that speaking event, we believe, confers the impression that the university agrees with her world view and wishes to share it with the student body at large. That, we think, is a totally different animal.

So — where does that leave us on the burning question of PC? Simply that we cats believe that respect for people who are not like us is never a mistake. In short, it's a question of etiquette, not politics. Visit Miss Manners for more information. We cats PURR.