OK I'm getting Sick and Tired of Political Correctness

[Hawkeye]

OK this started off as a "I'm sick and tired of the "Holiday Tree" Crap" thats been going on. BUT now, I'm getting tired of everything politically correct. It's going WAY too far and I personally think that people are WAY to freaking sensitive. Seriously it's almost becoming militant.

From what I've heard that 85% of this country celebrates Christmas and probably that many are so damn tired of Political Correctness. SERIOUSLY You can't even say " There was this nice hispanic lady in the store today" as a description without some PC Police officer screaming " Oh I don't know why you had to bring race into it" or " OH MY GOD YOU MUST BE RACIST"

*rolls eyes*

I mean UGH.

LIFE IS TOO FREAKIN SHORT TO PUT UP WITH THE POLITICALLY CORRECT CRAP!

Seriously-the end of the damn world will be because we are so politically correct and we have the politically correct police out there to make sure we "don't offend anybody". *rolls eyes*

Back to Christmas and my rant-
THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS. You have people wanting a nativity but not with Mary, Jesus or Joseph. Because it's religeous and nobody wants to offend people! And in Washington State we had a rabbi demand a menorah be put up because he was offended so instead of putting up with the hassle to be PC They took the Christmas trees down.

Now look-I'm not saying there isn't racism-because there is-but there has to be SOME point when we say ENOUGH. Pretty soon it is going to get to the point with the sensitivity crap where we are going to want to say-" I want a coke" we will have to wind up saying something like this:

" I would like an extream mixture of colorer sugared beverage that is sensitive to the people who are not inflicted with addiction to the horrible drug"


and while I'm on my rant-what the hell is up with the hyphenations?
African-American
Italian-American
Israeli-American
Canadian-American
Native-American

Hell pretty soon we're going to have Canine-American, Feline-American.

maybe I can be called an " English-Irish-German-Cherokee-Native-American American!


Teddy Roosavelt said this about this rant of mine:
"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to runin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation of all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities." [Teddy Roosevelt in a speech before the Knights of Columbus]


OK rant over.

Sorry you all had to listen to me rant and rave against PC, Christmas and Hyphenations.

p.s. yes i do realize I will probably go to hell for this rant

 

[MissMarley]

i dig it.

 

[Dreamergirl3]

I think the hyphenation should apply if there is dual citizenship. That would make sense, I think.
I don't even think it's that big of a deal, people hyphenating themselves. After all, people should be proud of where they come from.
For example, here in the USA I would tell people I am Mexican American (I've never felt the grammatical need to add a hyphen), but in other countries I would tell people I am an American.
But in my opinion, I see nothing wrong with it at all.
But I do think that people are getting very touchy. Just because someone said "this nice hispanic lady" doesnt mean they are racist. It may be odd to some that the race of the woman had to be mentioned, but more often than not it's innocent. I mean, it's usually just an observation. It's not like they said "there was this nice beaner at the grocers today." If I heard that, it would be a different story.
anyway...
It's a subject that confuses me. On the one hand, I love saying I am a Mexican American, and love to feel that sense of belonging when I'm with others of the same heritage, while still loving America and being an active member of society. But I can't help but wonder, is it counter productive? By making ourselves and groups race exclusive, are we being counter productive and alienating ourselves from one another? Sometimes I wonder that may be working against us and only making us more aware of our differences.

 

[f1rewater]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbeabitch Back to Christmas and my rant- THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS. You have people wanting a nativity but not with Mary, Jesus or Joseph. Because it's religeous and nobody wants to offend people!

I can't believe someone actually complained about a Nativity scene being religious

Dear offended, before Xmas was kidnapped by retailers everywhere it was a religious holiday. Are people so clueless as to the actual meaning of Christmas?

 

[Moppit]

I am absolutely sick to death of Happy Holidays and the Holiday tree. I'm in Canada and at a chain similar to Starbucks they have Christmas Tea in a red box every year at Christmas time. Well this year it is called Holiday Tea and it is in a brown box, come on this is crazy!

Merry Christmas is just a greeting like hello, have a good day etc. Even cultures that don't celebrate Christmas think this Happy Holidays is over the top. There is a Muslim woman that is a student at the college I work at and she told me that they put up a tree, decorate and wrap presents for their daughter because most people celebrate Christmas and they don't want their daughter to feel left out.

I think people need to lighten up and see that saying Merry Christmas to someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas is not being mean.

 

[jenii]

I don't really care, honestly. If people want to say Happy Holidays, so they won't risk alienating non-Christians, good for them. I don't see it so much as political correctness as it is an attempt to be more inclusive of people who don't specifically celebrate Xmas.

 

[kimmy]

youbeabitch, i think i love you.

 

[quandolak]

.........

 

[sharyn]

Youbeabitch, I totaly agree! This whole "you cant say this cant say that lets make up new words so we can all get along" really makes me sick.
It kinda remindes me of Orwells 1984 where they make up new words so you can no longer speak your mind or say what you really want because each time they come out with something new it canges the meaning a bit...

I am now officialy announcing that I will no longer support the racist smilies here on Specktra since there's only green, blue and yellow smilies. I also feel offended by the cheerleader smilie cause it makes me feel like I need to be tall, skinny and blonde to participate in this forum.

No offense people, I love all of you, I know racism isnt funny at all. I live in germany and uuum...dont have to tell you about that, right?! But the line has to be drawn somewhere.

 

[Dreamergirl3]

sharyn, this is off topic

t:
but I gotta tell you, my Mom would LOVE what you have as your signature! haha

 

[sharyn]

Thanks! To make it a little on topic: I know my signature is not politically correct !:lolz:

 

[redambition]

i can understand saying "happy holidays" to be all inclusive - my work email auto reply while im not there over xmas/new years will probably use this exact phrase as i deal with a lot of people overseas who don't necessarily celebrate christmas per se.

however, i think it can get taken too far. that too far is when people get scared of saying the word christmas, putting up christmas decorations or mentioning anything remotely connected with christmas in the fear it might offend someone.

or those who scream racist! ageist! something-ist! everytime a person's age, nationality or something else is mentioned in a description. sure, sometimes it's unnecessary to mention details, but other times it isn't.

sometimes i think common sense has flown out of the window.

 

[Kiseki]

We say "Happy Holidays" in Portugal (Boas Festas) in Portuguese, but not because of political correctness, it means both Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Too much political correctness is wrong, everything that is taken to extremes is just wrong.

I'm not catholic, but I don't get offended when people wish me a Merry Christmas, why should I? Why should a huge Christmas Tree in Lisbon offend my religion? I find it gorgeous. I just don't understand why people have take everything so seriously, it's a seasonal greeting, jeeez.

However, it's just going to escalate more and more, until many more wake up, smell the coffee and say STOP!

No matter how much PC we throw in TV, media, schools, the issue of racism is sadly real, and I don't think that someone who is racist is going to stop being one just because he/she can't say a few expressions, that's just going to fuel their anger even more. It's not going to change what they feel, it's just going to mask what they say.

 

[Beauty Mark]

I say Happy Holidays, because I know many Jewish people who don't celebrate Christmas. I honestly think that makes sense, because Dec. has several holidays in it.

Not wanting to a call a Christmas tree that or include a navity scene with the reasons behind it? Stupid..

The thing with the hyphenation is understandable to me if you're first gen or hold dual citizenship. However, I find that people want tyou to identify as x-American; I've almost been in fights because people (all races) get pissed when I say I'm from the US or my state. My personal pet peeve is when US citizens who are immigrants refer to x country as their country when they don't hold dual citzenship. No, honey, the US is now your country.

I do get annoyed when people bring up race when they're telling stories about awful someone is, because the people I know who bring up the race detail are also the people who are racist and think black people are awful, Hispanics are lazy, etc. It's like you didn't bring up if this person is wearing a blue sweater or was x height or what. I also have a friend who makes a special point to emphasize the race of a person, because she thinks it makes her look cultured to talk about being friends with x person (or if they're white and mean to her, it's always because they're white and she isn't); she's South Asian and exoticizing, but that's another story.

I can understand some people being upset with Christmas stuff, but at the same time, Christmas is so commercialized and secularized that it doesn't seem to be religious any more. That's another problem, though

 

[MxAxC-_ATTACK]

Holiday Tree? .insane!. No I celebrate Christmas and have every right to call it a Christmas tree!!!

They wont make people of the Jewish Religion start calling their menorahs "Holiday candle Holders" will they? nope didn't think so.

 

[Indigowaters]

Now you know I love you "You" but I want to comment on the hyphenated part. The reason I like the hyphen is because I'm respecting the heritage I came from as well as where I am (African - of Africa, American - in America). If people don't like it. Oh, well. I believe it is too PC to say that we shouldn't have it. I don't believe in not acknowledging who I am just to appease "sensitive" people who say we should all consider ourselves American. I mean, come on, sometimes I don't even feel like an American with the way I'm treated as a "person" not African-American (so for all of you who want to branch out on that rant and misquote everything I say). These days, everyone is trying to take away everyone else's right to express themselves, culturally, socially, spiritually, emotionally and financially. I'm sick and tired of it too, but there is always going to be someone on the other side of wrong or right who believes someone else shouldn't do something. Now with Christmas, I don't care what other people call it, as long as they're not trying to take away my right to call it Christmas. They don't have to recognize Christmas the way I do, because they most likely don't recognize Jesus the way I do any other day of the year. As long as they're not tearing down my Christmas decorations and spraypainting X-mas over Christmas in "my" yard, I don't care. But I'm not going to be forced to call it "X-mas" or say Happy Holidays because someone is "sensitive".

 

[Shimmer]

I find life is a lot easier since I don't worry about whether I offend anyone or not. I remain respectful of others but I really don't care if being Texan, white, redheaded, Baptist, or outspoken is something someone else has a problem with.
I celebrate Christmas.
I believe in Christ as Savior.
I drink, rarely, but I do.
I'm bisexual. It's not a definition of who I am, it's merely an aspect of my personality.
I'm American.
I'm white/Cherokee. I'm not going to apologize for that. If my merely BEING offends anyone, that's their problem.
I'm not a soccer mom. I didn't get married and turn into...what defines a soccer mom. I'm not going to apologize for that.
I like sex. I'm not going to force that one someone else but I'm not changing who *I* am or what *I* believe just because someone else has an issue with that. They're the ones who have to deal with that, I'm not. *shrug*

 

[MAC_Whore]

From CNN.com

SEATAC, Washington (AP) -- All nine Christmas trees have been removed from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport instead of adding a giant Jewish menorah to the holiday display as a rabbi had requested.

Maintenance workers boxed up the trees during the graveyard shift early Saturday, when airport bosses believed few people would notice.

"We decided to take the trees down because we didn't want to be exclusive," said airport spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt. "We're trying to be thoughtful and respectful, and will review policies after the first of the year."

Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky, who made his request weeks ago, said he was appalled by the decision. He had hired a lawyer and threatened to sue if the Port of Seattle didn't add the menorah next to the trees, which had been festooned with red ribbons and bows. (Watch how the rabbi's complaint left them treeless in Seattle )

"Everyone should have their spirit of the holiday. For many people the trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season," said Bogomilsky, who works in Seattle at the regional headquarters for Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish education foundation.

After consulting with lawyers, port staff believed that adding the menorah would have required adding symbols for other religions and cultures in the Northwest. The holidays are the busiest season at the airport, Betancourt said, and staff didn't have time to play cultural anthropologists.

Hanukkah begins this Friday at sundown.

"They've darkened the hall instead of turning the lights up," said Bogomilsky's lawyer, Harvey Grad. "There is a concern here that the Jewish community will be portrayed as the Grinch."

____________________________
My two cents:
Why can't we have a tree there, a menorah over there, another tree over there. Why does it always have to be pound for pound in PC Town? God, as much as I love Seattle, it is PC to a fault.

Oh, and I think I heard that they put the trees back up.

 

[little teaser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shimmer I find life is a lot easier since I don't worry about whether I offend anyone or not. I remain respectful of others but I really don't care if being Texan, white, redheaded, Baptist, or outspoken is something someone else has a problem with. I celebrate Christmas. I believe in Christ as Savior. I drink, rarely, but I do. I'm bisexual. It's not a definition of who I am, it's merely an aspect of my personality. I'm American. I'm white/Cherokee. I'm not going to apologize for that. If my merely BEING offends anyone, that's their problem. I'm not a soccer mom. I didn't get married and turn into...what defines a soccer mom. I'm not going to apologize for that. I like sex. I'm not going to force that one someone else but I'm not changing who *I* am or what *I* believe just because someone else has an issue with that. They're the ones who have to deal with that, I'm not. *shrug*

omg!!! the sky must be falling, we have things in commen after all

 

[MarniMac]

Haha...this reminds me of my mom...she sent me a Christmas card (knowing that I'm not a practicing Christian and she and my dad are) and she said "Since I don't know how you feel about Christmas, I will just close with Happy Sparkle Season." It kinda made me want to gag. (No, I'm not that close to my parents haha).
PC is like most things...great in moderation, but it has been taken to the extreme. Youbeabitch, I used to have this one friend who was OBSESSED PC.
Example convo between us:
Me: "Les, I just got back from 711 and there were these huge, black footballer players..."
Les: "Stop, stop, stop. Start the story over and take the "black" out of it."
Me: "Ok, ok. So you will never guess what the huge, football players said to me. They said I was a "sweet, young juicy thang."
Les: "Don't say "thang."