This "concept" of "political correctness"

I was in class today, and my instructor made a comment that he was a bad driver. Well, duh. Not a news flash…he’s Chinese. The class giggled, some more than others…and I immediately texted a few peeps, cuz it was so funny.

Why is it funny? Do you really need to ask? Asian drivers have a reputation for being horrible on the road. Come on, big boy, don’t pretend like you haven’t heard that before. Asians also have a tendency to take a lot of pictures, eat rice, gamble, and have small…..hands.

Don't get all offended, now. I'm Asian. Or haven't you noticed? We are taught not to see color, so even if I'm not colored, you may not comment on it. I think I am Asian, therefore I am. If you've ever watched me gamble or eat a bowl of rice, you will not argue my point. I'm a ninja. So because I am Asian, I am allowed to poke fun at my own race. But don't you try it. If you do, you are racist.

I do, however, have some bigot bones in my body. I'm stupidist, adultererist, and liarist. I definitely hold some strong opinions about these types of people. But they are not protected classes. Therefore society holds that I can make fun of them to my heart's content.

There are seven types of protected classes. They are race, religion, sex, disabled, familial origin, color, national origin. So if you were to call me a caucasian, christian, female, mentally incapacitated, single mom of two, white, and Irish, you are discriminating. I can be mortally offended. Just fillin ya in.

But why would I? Why would I care. Those are ALL descriptive adjectives of me and my personality. They perfectly describe me. What's wrong with that? If you’ve ever listened to children’s conversations with one another, they innocently use descriptive words that at some point in our lives become taboo. Like “fat” or “brown” or "with a limp". When did it become rude to use such descriptive terms? Once the kids say something like that, they know exactly who they are talking about.

Another example. If you were to ask me about my neighbors, this is what you'd get. Mr. Wilson, the Persians, the Mormons, the Old Biddy, and the gin-soaked Brits. I'm willing to bet you have a pretty decent mental image of exactly what's living here. Am I saying it with malice? It may sound that way to you because society has ingrained it in your head that I'm hating. But I'm not. I love all my neighbors. I'm just giving you an easier description. I could say, "an older gentleman who spends his day in his garden in a sunhat and yells at the kids," for example, or "a white haired man who hails from England that has a tendency to prefer gin and tonic." But really is this necessary? Do I have to carefully pick my words anytime I'm using descriptors?

Society says yes.

As a white, I've been on the other side of discrimination. I went to high school at a school that was 92% minority. How did I know the exact percentage? Because I was one of the 8%. I was very aware that I was "different". I was definitely subjected to racism. It was my lily white girl knees that gave me away. The funny thing is, I am not a racist. I come from a mixed family (see photo above). But I caught holy hell because I WAS WHITE. It was not okay for me to point out someone else's ethnicity, but it sure was okay to get made fun of (and occasionally the snot kicked out of) because I'm not protected. I'm one of the majority. Explain that one.

Other non-protected classes, besides the whites, include the trailer trashed, the nascars, the lawyers, the Polish (somehow they seem to not be protected. Don't blame me, blame the man), the inbreds and the illegals. They seem to take the ribbing in stride. Well, or they take out their shotgun. But either way, you can make fun of their stereotypes all you want. Just from a safe distance.

This begs the question of why can't we point out to someone their ethnicity? Is it a secret? Does my dealer in Vegas NOT know she's Asian? Should I not make a reference to her culture so she doesn't catch on? These are my questions.

So what is the rule. Is it okay to call someone stupid, or ugly, or hairy because that is more subjective?

But this isn't just about making fun. This is pointing out that WE HAVE DIFFERENCES. So. What.

But on the flip side, oftentimes one uses our protected class to our advantage. Such as a friend I have (let's call him "my dad") who got a Master's at Harvard without ever getting a bachelor's, thanks to affirmative action. Or, we want to get treated like equals, but will use it as an excuse to explain away personality traits and/or indiscretions. For instance, HYPOTHETICALLY one might say "I'm a drunk because I'm Irish." or "I got a ticket for a California roller at a stop sign because the cop doesn't like women." When really the first question out of said driver's mouth MAY have been "don't you have anything better to do with your day, officer?" But we use recognizable social bigotry to explain away our own indescretions.

I am Asian when I gamble. I'm German when I drive. I'm Irish when I drink. I'm Italian when I have sex, I'm Catholic when I sin. I'm deaf when I sing, and I'm Mormon when I justify. And that's just the way Jesus made me.

So I say forget societal viewpoints. Until we can completely remove the negative connotations associated with certain stereotypes (which, may I add here, there are REASONS groups have been stereotyped. Noone just up and one day decided to say that Asians can't drive...) and just embrace who we are, people are going to have unnecessary reactions to not being "politically correct". The only way to accomplish this notion is to use stereotypes in daily communication so as to reduce the "shock factor." Since I have decided to make this my personal mission, I hereby decree that I will be completely socially unacceptable and will make fun of anybody I feel like in any degree. By doing so, I'm being the opposite of racist. I'm being accepting. I'm showing that these differences don't mean anything. I really don't beleive they are differences at all. We all share these traits to a degree. Duh. Eventually people will learn that they shouldn't be so sensitive, and just laugh and tease back. Hopefully then this notion of "political correctness" will be burned at the stake.

I urge you to do the same.