On the Phenomenological Nature of Political Correctness

I cannot for the life of me understand what it's like to have grown up on the mainland. Growing up in Hawaii, I didn't know there was a difference between black, white, asian, polynesian, and other people except for perhaps the awesome cultural heritage each individual brought to the island. Pretty much everyone I knew was of mixed race and/or had immigrant parents, myself included. When I learned about Martin Luther King, Jr in elementary school, that era of a segregated America seemed hundreds of years away. Moving to Los Angeles was not a complete culture shock to me, but I didn't understand how such a diverse city as Los Angeles could be so segmented into very clear ethnic enclaves. People didn't mingle as much as I expected them to. Instead of finding an extension of the melting pot that I was comfortable with at home, I found a salad bowl of different kinds of people who were able to get along with each other and be friends, but only to some extent.

My AP Psychology Class with Mrs. Wakukawa at Castle HS

I think the thing that bothered me the most when I moved there was how hung up so many people were on being politically correct. I remember feeling so shocked after receiving a midterm back during my freshman year with a comment on my decision to use the term "oriental" in describing something relating to my Thai heritage. The comment said something about how I of all people should know not to use such a word, and how it was just not pc. I was really taken aback by this, even though I got an A on the exam and in the class taught by one of my alltime favorite professors. Living on an island where something like 80 to 90% of the people I knew were at least part Asian, the term "oriental" meant close to nothing. It really was just another term used to describe something Asain in character, I suppose. And it was most commonly used when referring to food. But still, I could not understand how this particular term would offend anyone.

Words have so much power in this society. It's almost scary! Meaning is attributed to the words we used based upon the context we have to place them within, and being that everyone in America was raised in  different cultures, what means something to one person does not mean the same thing to another. I was raised to be very aware and respectful of people 's races, ethnicities, and cultures. I was taught which words not to say and which terms were offensive. But at the same time, I think everyone had a more casual approach to this where I grew up. I didn't say those bad terms because they were wrong, but I wasn't going to bend over backwards to avoid the possibility of offending someone. Some time in my first or second year in high school, I remember a schoolwide assembly was called to talk to us, students, about the dangers of creating negative meanings and connotations for neutral words. The focus was on keeping the word "haole" from becoming a swear word. The big issue in Hawaii at the time was racism and prejudices against white people. There was a string of tourist muggings near Honolulu and Waikiki that year, and white guys were getting a lot of verbal and physical abuse everywhere. The term "Haole" in Hawaiian literally translates to "foreigner," but it was becoming an increasingly negative connotation used to put down white people. "Effing Haole" this and "stupid haole" that. I suppose being in high school people were a little more aggressive about calling white people names like that than they were in real life, but that assembly always remained in my memory. And to this day, I am very proud to call myself a "hapa haole" (half white person). The only people I knew to be victims of any harassment due to race were white people, and that was rare also. Anyway, the school had Jade Moon (if my memory serves me correctly), a popular local news anchor, speak to us on the issue, and we were told to be very careful of turning a word into something it's not.

When I was in elementary school, two of my best friends were black. And one of my fondest, funniest, and most memorable memories of them was when we were at a barbecue at Kesha's house with her family and everyone started singing this song where you have to shout, "I'm black and I'm proud!" I was so shy back then that I couldn't do it, but it was so much fun! And because of my experience with them, I always called black people, well, black. The term "African American" was a mouthful to say, and I didn't think people would get offended if I simply used the term black because no one I knew did. That was until I moved to the mainland, anyway. After having some people react negatively to the way I used the term "black," I now have to consciously revert to saying African American every time I talk about my old childhood friends or people here on the mainland. It's such a strange concept for me, and it still seems like the people who get offended when I use the term "black" are not in fact "black." Some people are okay with using the term "black" while others get offended. It seems like whether or not someone takes offense to the term depends on where that person grew up. But knowing that, is it really that the term offends people or is it simply a cultural barrier that has caused many people to fear offending othersto the point of censoring everything they say? I think it really is a cultural barrier, but because we are so polite in America, people are increasingly taking extra measures to avoid offending others. Are they necessary? Why can't we just understand that everyone comes from different backgrounds and uses words and labels differently than others? What comes to mind is when a good friend who lived in Paraguay for two years told me that Paraguayan Spanish uses several terms casually which are actually super offensive in Mexican Spanish. Is it possible for us to understand that we can and do have these sorts of cultural differences within the United States itself?

Political correctness is sometimes difficult for me because I grew up with such a casual attitude toward talking about race and ethnicity that I have to admit, I do tend to overgeneralize about populations a lot in casual conversations. But why do people take me so seriously at times? I just don't get it. Even though hearing offesnsive jokes about the "Portagee" was a part of my childhood, it doesn't mean I think any less of them because I know those jokes are based on negative stereotypes. Thus, I just don't take those kinds of jokes seriously when I hear them, if I ever do these days because I know it's not true. You just have to take these things with a grain of salt. Words and stereotypes are what you make of it. Their meaning derives from how you interpret it. It's as simple as that. So why do people have to take things so seriously all the time? If we hear something and take it to be offensive, then it is offensive. But we have the power to choose whether or not to let something offend us; why choose to be offended? True, being politically correct has a purpose. It isn't good for negative stereotypes to be perpetuated about any group of people. It is important to take these very real consequences of stereotypes into account. However, it seems to me that these days too many people get up in arms over the slightest slip up in word choice or miscommunication regarding the meaning of a term used. It's important to be politically correct in many cases, but why make a big deal out of nothing in other cases? Why turn innocent words into derogatory slang by giving it a negative meaning in our minds? Is it possible to change the way people think if we are more open minded to the different meanings certain words and terms carry for different people?

I live in fear of offending people everywhere I go in the mainland! In Los Angeles, because of my religious beliefs which have painted many of my personal values, I was always hestiant to tell people that I am LDS, especially at a liberal school like USC. I thought moving to Utah would be different, but I don't quite fit in here either. Many of my friends don't understand a lot of the things I say because they were raised in completely different cultures, and even though I try to explain my personal experiences to them they seem to discount them because that is not what they grew up believing. I feel like I constantly have to have my guard up and be prepared to defend myself, which can be difficult because I am one to voice my opinion if I feel like someone is being unfair to my beliefs (except I do my best to avoid politics - that's the messiest area of them all!). It is my opinion that my belief is just as valid as someone else's even though they may be as different as night and day. I understand that each individual has different lived experiences bringing them to different conclusions and ideologies in life. But that does mean they are right or wrong, and whether or not you agree or disagree with someone, it is not right to discount their personal experiences. Empirical data can say a lot of things, but lived experience and meanings contributing to one's understanding of political correctness or any other issue out there is so personal that it can never be discounted. That is the most offensive thing in my eyes. You cannot tell a person they are wrong, even if according to your beliefs and experiences they are wrong. Concepts of right and wrong are relative. They are given meaning according to each individual's lifeworld. If you think someone is wrong, that person must have very different lived experiences than you coloring their world in a much different way than yours. For instance, while I believe my church is the one True church today, I understand that other people disagree. But that does not make thier church wrong, for religion provides many values, morality, and social solidarity in this world, and that is still a good thing. And it is important to remember that other people believe their church is the True church. And that is True to them. My beliefs are different than yours, and my beliefs are not "better" than yours. Thus, I believe people can never truly be right or wrong because there is no true right or wrong, there is only difference.



Just to add to that, I believe religion is as much of a culture, if not more, than whatever race or ethnicity one is. I believe this because my mother was raised in Thailand as a Buddhist, however once she became Christian and joined the LDS church, she moved to Hawaii for college and was quick to abandon Thai traditions, many of which are Buddhist. She did not like to speak about it either. She was able to adopt the Mormon way of life very well, and as a result I have not known much about the culture she was raised in. It seems to me that many cultures with strong traditions are trumped by religion in terms of how people live their lives. Someone raised in a culture which involves drinking an alcoholic drink as a part of an annual ceremony will often change their lifestyles to suit their new beliefs and religion; if that person converted to the LDS church, they would stop partaking in this drink and perhaps even in the ceremony. (Please excuse the crude nature of this example; it was the first thing that came to mind). Religion is many times a major factor determining lifestyle and culture.

The way I understand the world is through relating whatever I am learning or discussing with someone to my own personal experiences and beliefs. I like to exchange stories on a subject to show I understand and to fuel conversation. I feel like I am able to learn a lot about myself as well as from others this way. As a more qualitative researcher and academic, I prefer this method of understanding because it utilizes real world examples which hit close to home to me and my aquaintances. It also allows me to apply concepts and theories I have learned to real life situations. I understand that a lot of people don't like that about me. Sometimes I do talk too much because I am always coming up with ways to relate to the conversation, and sometimes it rubs people the wrong way. I don't do it because I'm so self-centered. It's just how I relate to people and how I learn best. Thus, it really bothers me when people feel so entitled to their opinions that they think their beliefs and experiences are better than those of others. Today I had an experience where I felt like a friend had totally discounted my personal experiences because she disagreed with me. Perhaps that is not what she meant to do, however, it really made me think about how personal experience is such a huge factor in determining how we decide to give meaning to different things in life. We often draw upon personal experiences and conversations we have had which hit close to home in order to decide how we feel about different things. And our personal experiences tell us what is politically correct and what is not. Therefore, I have concluded that people should never ever discount someone's personal lived experiences; doing so would be the ultimate form of offense and of being politically incorrect.