News: Obama talks political correctness

Beyonnaise

In his exit interview with NPR, President Obama got candid on political correctness.

Quote:

"If you're narrowly defining political correctness as a hypersensitivity that ends up resulting in people not being able to express their opinions at all, without somebody suggesting they're a victim. You know, if our social discourse and our political discourse becomes like walking on eggshells, so that if somebody says 'You know what, I'm not sure affirmative action is the right way to solve racial problems in this country,' and somebody's immediately accused of being racist, well, then I think you have a point."

"I suspect the president-elect's definition of political correctness would be different than mine," he said of Trump. "If what's meant by political correctness is that there is some broad disapproval that's expressed when somebody uses a racial epithet, or somebody makes a derogatory comment about women, or about the LGBT community, and people say, 'Hey, you shouldn't do that. That's wrong, that's cruel, that's hurtful. Here's the history of that word.' And when you use words like that, you're reinforcing people feeling like they're outsiders, and less than other Americans."

Obama added that he considers expressing distaste for such epithets and comments as being "good manners, sound values and hard-fought gains in the nature of American society and American community."

The president also told Inskeep that there is occasionally a tendency by conservatives to jump on "progressives being 'politically correct,'" citing the usage, for example, of "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." He suggested such critics are overly sensitive and are "continually feeding this sense of victimization, and that they are being subject to reverse discrimination."

And Obama imparted these words of wisdom on the topic: "My advice to young people, and my advice to all of us as citizens, is to be able to distinguish between being courteous and being thoughtful and thinking about how words affect other people and not demonizing others versus having legitimate political debates and disagreements."

Full interview:

I don't think we'd heard him take the stance of advocating for more political discussion rather than getting offended prior to Donald's win.

Thots?

Domination

Wow... King.

Jackson

He's so eloquent

when will his successor?

Reza

Not Obama finishing off ATRL and the SJWs in one quick swoop.

This is why I literally cant even take this site seriously. Not even Obama uses most of you He would probably roll his eyes at 99% of the "is this racist" threads on ATRL

NE.

King!

inspiration4

Obama is NOT here for the SJW's and the toxic society they wish to create.

Thank God.

Sunshine.

True. Though, a lot of the times, it's hard to divorce those kinds of "constructive" narratives from the various social biases people have about minority groups. (i.e. on affirmative action, some people just don't want to see minorities surpass them).

Sticking with that example, I've had debates on affirmative action with some PoC that express concerns that those programs aren't actually reaching their target demographics. And are being diverted to minorities who already have resources. So we should decentralize our efforts around affirmative action and look at more grassroots efforts. That's a fair talking point.

Then I've had debates on affirmative action with some white people who's only grievance about it is that "it's not fair". Disregarding the historical context it arose from and lacking insight on the socio-political climate that preserves its necessity. That's whining and, also, really just willful ignorance.

So after encountering a lot of the second one, I can pretty much just rule that it's racial bias at work and not worry about rehashing the same debates. It's such a fine line and I think he does a great job of explaining it.

Can't_M!ss_This

He's right. I'm all for PC. However you cannot jump down somebody's throat because they said something off-color without meaning to be hateful. Intention matters.

My mom was actually talking with her friend about this last week, about how people are too sensitive and that since a majority of people in this country celebrate Christmas we should be saying "Merry Christmas."

I wish that instead of promoting PC that more people tried promoting respect and decency. That's what is going to bring people together. Like instead of trying to get somebody fired because they said something racist, try reaching out to them and letting them know that their words impact people. A person isn't going to have a change of heart or viewpoint about a group of people or the use of a word if they lose their job. That's only going to sow more hatred in their hearts.

I think Affirmative Action is a double edged sword. It's supposed to help minorities but it also harms them. For example, a white person thinks that a black person is being given special treatment. That makes the white person feel bitter. It also makes the black person feel inadequate because instead of knowing you were hired on your merit, you have to question yourself.

Sadly society isn't at a place where we can abolish such laws because they do offer a shield from bias. It's better to have a job and question why you got it than it is to not have a job. Minorities do need protection from bigoted people and I feel and I fear that they will for many more years

J a y

I agree with him yet I have nothing new to learn.

Quote:

Obama added that he considers expressing distaste for such epithets and comments as being

"good manners, sound values and hard-fought gains in the nature of American society and American community."

It speaks volumes of those who aren't as courteous.

AvrilLaQueen

poor SJWs! ughhh, I wish King Obama could stay forever as president

Kim Kardashian

Quote:

Originally posted by inspiration4

Obama is NOT here for the SJW's and the toxic society they wish to create.

Thank God.

He isn't but he clearly focused on the bigger issue which is people crying 'politicial correctness!11!!' when they get called out for being a racist.

RomanNavy

Quote:

Originally posted by Reza

Not Obama finishing off ATRL and the SJWs in one quick swoop.

This is why I literally cant even take this site seriously. Not even Obama uses most of you He would probably roll his eyes at 99% of the "is this racist" threads on ATRL

Then why are you here if you hate it so much

^_^

SJWs aren't all that bad tbh. Nothing wrong with being on the RIGHT side of history.

Artemisia

you can kinda tell who did and didn't watch the section of the video in question

inspiration4

Quote:

Originally posted by Kim Kardashian

He isn't but he clearly focused on the bigger issue which is people crying 'politicial correctness!11!!' when they get called out for being a racist.

He focused on both sides. His first example was regarding those on the left are QUICK to call someone a racist because they don't subscribe to the same ideology as them (affirmative action in his example).

lilostolemycoke

i feel like half the people in this post didn't read past the first paragraph

Lucita

I agree with him.

Mike91

Quote:

And when you use words like that, you're reinforcing people feeling like they're outsiders, and less than other Americans."

This is what it comes down to at the end of the day.

Quote:

He suggested such critics are overly sensitive and are "continually feeding this sense of victimization, and that they are being subject to reverse discrimination."

!!!

He's also right that the left continues to paint every opinion that doesn't subscribe to their ideology as being unacceptable. But that goes both ways. No one wants to have a discussion anymore. Everyone just assumes that they've figured everything out and that they know everything.

GreasyBruce

Quote:

He suggested such critics are overly sensitive and are "continually feeding this sense of victimization, and that they are being subject to reverse discrimination."

TheSoneNavy

He's right. It's ashamed that the next president is the complete opposite and a downgrade