Political Correctness: :: essays research papers fc

The University of Southern California The Teddy Bear MassacreLike so many an(prenominal) other traditions, the burning of the bruin was put on the chopping block latterly. The long running University of Southern California spirit activity consisted of throwing a large stuffed view as in a bon fire the night before the football game against their rival, the University of California at Los Angeles. The Black Student Union and other student organizations recently questioned the event. Their concern was that the event too closely resembled past lynching of African Americans in the American south.This raises the question of whether it is appropriate to censor ideas that be not created to expose certain groups. Political correctness, the underlying ideal, is the "particular set of attitudes about the world that its proponents maintain should be actively promoted." Clark 369 Proponents of political correctness, or PC, had good intentions in excogitate the idea, but it has ser ious flaws. Although political correctness was founded with good intent, it does more harm than good.The most noticeable example of harm is how PC proponents try to please everyone at the same time. The burning of the bruin was just one of many activities held during the week before the big UCLA game. The idea being that everyone could find something that they could identify with and rally nearly their school. If the burning was intentionally created to represent or oppress the offended students, the event would claim been banned long ago. However, as Matt Hutaff stated in his chromatography column in the Daily Trojan"Its about school pride. Its love for the things that brought the university to where it is today. It is traditions that define a school its student body and its heritage. Strip the school of its traditions and all you have is a school that isnt worth rallying behind." 5In appeasing one group, it seems the university neglected another group. It seems that the lesson that one cannot please everyone all the time still needs to be learned.Another lesson that needs to be learned is to meet offensive language head on instead of hiding from it. This cannot happen, however, if the college is sheltering us from it. It is the duty of the university to teach us how to brood in the real world. How are they going to protect us from what we do not want to hear out there? The answer is they cannot, and the sheltered individuals are left unprepared to confront real world situations that will offend them.