History of Political Correctness

Part one is here. Part two is here.

Here is the third and final part of our comparative history of Political Correctness. First up is John K. Wilson.

"During the 1980s, conservatives began to take over this leftist phrase and exploit it for political gain, expanding its meaning to include anyone who expressed radical sentiments. Conservative writer Robert Kelner first heard of "political correctness" in the fall of 1985 as "a bit of college slang bandied about by young conservatives." And the conservatives not only appropriated politically correct for their own attacks on the radical Left, they also transformed it into a new phrase-- political correctness.

The liberals' original "I'm not politically correct" was an ironic defense against those who took extremism to new extremes, who demanded absolute consistency to radical principles. The conservatives warped this meaning to convey the image of a vast conspiracy controlling American colleges and universities. Politically correct referred to the views of a few extreme individuals; political correctness described a broad movement that had corrupted the entire system of higher education. By this transformation the conservatives accused universities of falling under the influence of extremist elements. F or conservatives, "I'm not politically correct" became a badge of honor, a defense against a feared attack-- even though no one had been seriously accused of being politically incorrect."

Agustin Blazquez (with the collaboration of Jaums Sutton) takes the reader on an exploration of how Political Correctness has appeared in Cuba (as well as revealing that Fidel Castro is a pretty bad guy), which seems to me only tangentially related to how the phrase appears on American Campuses.

"With profound dismay, I have seen how the scourge of Political Correctness has taken hold in the U.S. It is very well entrenched in our educational system, at scientific, religious and community levels, the media, the workplace and even our government.

It is changing the American society from within, and the citizens of this nation are increasingly censoring themselves and losing their freedom of speech out of fear of Political Correctness repression.

It is the nature of Western Civilization to be civilized - respectful of others and concerned with correcting injustices. We don't need Political Correctness to make us think we are not civilized on our own and must have our thoughts and words restricted."

Hmmmm. So we get from the Frankfort Socialists moving to California in the 1940s and somehow they are able to create Political Correctness (in order to destroy Western Civilization) on every campus in America, but unfortunately Mr. Blazquez is unable to explain exactly how. I also like the idea that it is the nature of Western Civilization to be "Civilized." I'm not sure what this means, but I'm sure there are many who might disagree.

At any rate, I should come as little surprise that I find Wilson's account to be a little bit more persuasive.

If anybody would like to point me to a more scholarly treatment of the history and origin of Political Correctness from conservative point of view, please do so.