I love provocative post titles.
Yesterday I wandered over to LewRockwell.com, a sanctuary for libertarians. Writer Charley Reese captures the essence of the absurdity of political correctness in just under 700 words. He argues that political correctness and incompetence often go hand in hand. By the way, political correctness is defined as:
1. Of, relating to, or supporting broad social, political, and educational change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. 2. Being or perceived as being overconcerned with such change, often to the exclusion of other matters.
That’s a politically correct way to put it. I say it’s counterintuitive doublespeak to the utmost degree and thought control hogwash.
Reese uses the Brian Nichols episode to illustrate how PC and incompetence are intertwined. (Speaking of Nichols, if you don’t know what I think of him, see Murdering Rapist Thug Brian Nichols Caught in Atlanta. I’m still getting e-mail from irate blacks who criticize my use of “thug.” Most of the e-mails express no outrage toward Nichols.) I add my own twist to his examples.
Example 1 – Is anyone old enough to remember when convicts wore black and white stripes? The ensemble not only made prisoners easier to see, but it was symbolic of their shame. They were unfit for decent society, and those hideous stripes were a constant reminder. These days, stigma is un-PC. These days, calling a slut a slut is worse than being a slut. Calling a thug a thug is worse than being a thug. You get the idea.
We’re careful not to make people feel ashamed of what they do. That’s why prisoners on trial are unshackled and wearing street clothes. Stripes and handcuffs would “prejudice” the jury. Reese writes, “[W]atching a prisoner shoot a judge and a court reporter would certainly be more prejudicial than seeing him in handcuffs.”
Example 2 – I’ve heard people say, with a straight face, that small women are just as qualified to “guard” big, strong, dangerous male criminals who used to be linebackers. But as Reese says, “Feminism is an ideology, not a description of reality.”
I heard a rumor that men and women train under different standards at the police academy. Is this true?
Example 3 – Unmanned (unpersonned?) security cameras may lead to death.
Example 4 – Unintelligent intelligence may also lead to death. And it doesn’t help matters if criminals are smarter than the cops. Fulton County’s finest failed to search the entire garage for the car Nichols stole. Nice. Do they require IQ tests for would-be cops?
Example 5 – Securing the public transit system after a criminal escapes should be high on Fulton County’s “How to protect citizens after a raping murderer escapes custody” list. Reese notes that a civilian, not the cops, found the “getaway” car and a civilian, not the cops, talked Nichols into turning himself in.
Reese concludes:
My advice is to stay clear of Atlanta. It is overcrowded and incompetently governed, and its urban sprawl is spreading like a cancer all over North Georgia….Look at the ruined lives that political correctness and plain old stupidity caused. Even after the carnage, as of this writing, Fulton County authorities haven’t decided what crimes to charge Nichols with. How about murder? It shouldn’t take too many brain cells to figure that out.
That paragraph is loaded with un-PC insinuations, accusations and assertions. Every word of it is true, but as you know, truth is not a defense in a PC world. I’m reminded every day when I read my e-mail.
{ 20 comments }
Every state has different training standards and methods for police officers, but in the state of Texas, female officers do NOT train under different standards than men. I was, and am, expected to train under exactly the same standards without regard to my age or sex, alongside men (and other women) who are up to twenty years younger. All training in Texas is regualted under the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) I am a seventeen year veteran of law enforcement, and have spent the entire seventeen years in patrol. An officer’s training does not stop after he/she graduates from the police academy, we attend additional training courses each year, including defensive tactics and firearms training.
Incidentally, most of the time a suspect or prisoner overpowers an officer, it’s a male officer. Many of them don’t ask for assistance because they have the “I can handle anybody” mindset, a very dangerous one for a law enforcement officer to have. All this despite the fact that in training, it’s repeated over and over that a “cowboy” attitude can get you hurt or killed, not to mention that it goes against everything we’re ever taught about basic officer safety. I have male co-workers that I would just as soon not have with me on stops or calls, especially disturbance calls, because they start more fights than they stop. Also, all male officers are not created equal. I have a male co-worker who is about 5′3″ and weighs about 130 lbs. There are several patrolmen built like him at the department where I work. Would you rather have one of them guard someone like Nichols? Each agency (police department, sheriff’s department, etc.) has it’s own height/weight/age requirement for hiring, and although there’s a mimimum, it still can allow for a lot of range. Each recruit still has to pass the same strength and agility test, though, and make it through the academy, which is regulated by TCLEOSE, but I’ve seen males as well as females wash out there, too.
While it’s true that since I’m female, I’m not as strong as some of my male counterparts (I’m stronger and in better shape than some of them, and a better shot than some of them), there is a lot more to officer safety/survival than being male or female. My first question in the Nichols case was, why did they have him sitting there, uncuffed, in a courtroom with only one bailiff/deputy as a guard, even after they had requested additional security? I don’t know about the county court where the Nichols thing happened, but in the county courts in our jurisdiction, the deputy on duty in the courtroom is permanently assigned to that courtroom, acting as court bailiff for that court. If there is a violent offender coming up for trial, additional security is provided by the sheriff’s department. Deputies volunteer for the bailiff spots, often staying in them until they retire. The bad thing about that is, they tend to settle into a routine, and are caught off guard by situations such as this one. Despite the fact that we have had a few instances of violence at our courthouse, they have been few and far between, so it’s easy to fall into a lax attitude. Possibly, in the Nichols case, lax enough to fail to provide extra security when it was needed.
As I stated before, you are off target on why blacks are upset about the “thug” reference…but that is another topic…
In general I agree with your post, political correctness is like socialism in many ways in that it attempts to equalize things that aren’t equal and in doing so, loses track of things the work better or work worse and therefore fails to make adjustments.
A female police officer at 5′ 2” is at a much greater disadvantage in certain situations that require restraint or force that a male at 6′ 2”. Does this mean there aren’t other options for the female in the police force I think not, but it is simply a matter of common sense.
We actually DEVALUE diversity when we operate from a PC perspective. Remember when Reggie White made his speech about the difference ethnicities and the gifts that they showed, and how much heat he caught from that? That was a prime example of PC at work. Regardless of the fact that what he said has been demonstrated to be true, it was the fact that he said it that castigated as bigotry.
For myself, as a black man, I would rather you tell me exactly what you think about me and my people, as opposed to pussy footing around but then hammering me behind my back when I can’t see you coming.
Down with PC…
Oh, and I forgot to mention that at least in the courthouse where I work, females don’t guard males who are changing clothes, and males don’t guard females. They send a same-sex guard from the county jail with them.
Dear La Shawn,
Thanks for your post. I especially like your point about calling someone a thug being worse than a thug on the PC scale of values.
The reduction of Christian morality to “not judging” is offensive and dangerous. It’s also selective. That is: next time someone say “don’t judge behavior X,” ask him if he would say the same thing if he hadn’t already made up his mind that X is ok.
Chances are, he wouldn’t—and, if not, then, by saying “don’t judge behavior C,” he’s basically saying “hey, I’ve made up MY mind about X, so arguments against X are no longer relevant.” So, underneath the selective use of the don’t judge criterion, we’ve got an attempt to win arguments by means other than argument. The next step is beating up one’s opponents—argumentum ad baculum.
Thanks, LaShawn, and congratulations on your permanent tv gig. I’m not at all kidding when I say that your own tv show is not far in the future (if you should want one, of course).
Happy Easter.
Adrian
There is also much political correctness in the military. For our semi-annual Physical Readiness Test in the Navy there are two sets of standards. One for males and one for females. Number of pushups, run time, etc are less for women. The same thing goes on at the Naval Academy. The Navy started doing PRTs around 1981 and the reason given was that people had to be in a minimal physical fit posture to be able to peform on the ship in Damage Control situtations.
Tests conducted previously where women of average physical strength to carry for example a P-250 pump (used in fire fighting) mostly failed the test. Not one group of men no matter their physical condition failed this test. Back when the U.S.S. Stark was hit by a missile one of the men in the compartment carried first one then another man up a vertical ladder to escape the compartment. Those two men must be happy that this person was not a female with average strength. Political correctness kills.
In the military we live with the Emperors new clothes syndrome since we can observe these facts but can do nothing about them. From my own obsevation I have seen some females unable to carry a toolbox up into a cockpit and required somebody else to carry it for them.
The PRT should be the same for men and for women and in fact should be made tougher for both. There are wimpy guys that can easily pass the present tests. Let us have real standards and not PC standards.
I’m a wing-nut, but i’m not prepared to toss away the presumption of innocence because of Brian Nichols. Four people are dead because the Atlanta PD and Fulton County SD failed miserably. I see no reason to punish those who have not been convicted of a crime for those failures.
gypsy pretty much said most of what I would say. I went through the Chgo. police academy and the only difference I recall was women had an extra minute for the run. That was 18 years ago, so I don’t know how it is now. As for prisoners we also put men w/men and women w/women as a rule except when there’s a manpower issue.
No, Brian Nichols had no business being guarded by one small female, but most men would have had trouble with him as well. He was a big, athletic, martial arts expert, and most of all he was desperate. Desperation gives people strength like you would not believe. Chances are, he would have gotten by whomever was guarding him. There should have been a minimum of two men escorting him. Period. Especially in light of the shanks that were discovered in his shoes just a couple of days earlier. As gypsy mentioned, the guard probably was somewhat complacent, and complacency is what causes more injuries and deaths on this job than anything else.
As far as the cops not searching the entire garage–well we know now that was a mistake. Since I don’t know what else they were doing at that time, I won’t Monday morning quarterback that one. It’s easy to analyze and criticize every mistake after the fact. If there were 2 0r more men guarding him initially, we wouldn’t have anything else to critcize in my opinion.
I don’t know of too many, if any, jobs where people take IQ tests, if you were serious. Police dept’s are just like any other job. There are geniuses, morons, and everything in between, unfortunately. There have been plenty of people I’ve had to work with that made me think, “How in the world did you get on this job?” to myself while they were sitting next to me for 8 hours with a gun.
I work inside now due to a back injury, but for the most part I did as good a job as most of the men I worked with when I was on the street. Even so, I would never take this job now. My co-workers would kill me for saying this, but it is just not a job for women. That’s not to say women can’t do a good job, because some of the female officers I know are better police than some of the men. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
La Shawn,
As a white liberal I’ve often been given the heave-ho by people offended by my use of the word “thug” to defend anyone. Why do those who get angry at me automatically think I’m speaking of a black man when I use the term? I have to be pretty ticked off to whip out that word, so I don’t use it too lightly. Nichols is a thug. Plain and simple. Not because he’s black, but because he’s a THUG. I agree with you on that one.
And I also appreciate your not politicizing the whole “PC” issue. I’ve read may conservative and liberal bloggers who assign the “PC” blame to the other party. As a watcher of both, I can say a fair amount of un-PC language eminates from both tribes.
Maybe you need to start using the term for other folks than blacks then…make it race neutral…I am sure you and Lashawn called Robert Blake a thug…
Nope,
I called Robert Blake a murderous loon. even worse than thug, IMO.
re gypsy’s comment: “in the state of Texas, female officers do NOT train under different standards than men.”
I tried to look this up on the web and as near as I can tell, the reason is that in 1988 they essentially dropped all measurable physical standards related to strength and endurance. So now women can be cops and so can 5′ 3″ men who have no more business in that profession than most women do.
I’d like to know if anyone can name a job that has exacting physical standards (I mean measured standards like height and number of pushups and pullups you can do) where women don’t have a different and much lower standard. I’d be surprised to find one.
hirez, I mainly lurk at this blog, but I do visit LaShawn’s place fairly regularly and I was startled to see the objections to the use of the word “thug.” I’m a white female and when I think of thugs, I think of Mafia hitmen, Nazis, Hamas members, drug dealers, gang members, serial killers,…, in short I think of violent men with no respect for human life. (And yes, Nichols certainly fits the bill.)
It never occurred to me to apply the word to one race and it never occurred to me that others might apply it to the members of one race.
My personal experiences and reading of history have taught me that there is (unfortunately), more than enough stupidity and inhumanity to go around and that no ethnic group has a monopoly on vice, just as no group or nationality has the corner on virtue,…,
“We’re careful not to make people feel ashamed of what they do. That’s why prisoners on trial are unshackled and wearing street clothes.”
Isn’t the whole issue at the trial just what they’ve done?
Re: the dress of criminals at trial…before the law they enter the courtroom under the presumption of innocence, not guilt. To dress them as average citizens is simply dressing them as innocents, which before the law they are.
I love this site and many gratz to Ms. LSB on her well deserved success. I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more, who makes more sense.
$$$ quote:”But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.”
Simple, yet profound, no? Simple fact: by the age of about 14, males are, in just about every case, stronger than females. That this actually needs to be stated as a “fact” shows how far from reality our society has devolved. I had hoped that when the Two Towers went down, a lot of the silliness that had so permeated the American Body Social would vanish. It did but, when we were not atttacked again, the old patterns re-emerged.
I think I am going to rant-Good Lord, please feel free to delete me!
A brief digression on point. When I found myself alone, unattached and middle-aged, I was, briefly, mismatched with a much younger female. This lady had it all-beauty and brains and, well, what she saw in me I did not understand either then or now. Well, I had let myself go and didn’t look, shall we say, like I ever “juiced”(i.e. abused steroids). But Miss Perfect, she worked out, and a lot, and often, and with the mindset of youth. One day, she challenged me to arm wrestle. Now, to start with, there was 30 years of difference, and she was fit, while I was, to be un-PC about it, fat and saggy and agressively chain smoking and drinking myself into the early grave that I so wholeheartedly yearned for in those days. She thought that because she lifted at the gym and ran and what-not, I was easy pickings. Well, someone forgot to tell her some simple truths about the human condition. And the thing of it was, we were both, if I recall it correctly through a booze infested haze, rather taken aback when I “pinned” her in 1 brief, pitiless moment.
Women can do some really important, vital things that men can’t. Essential, in fact, to the survival of our species. All men have is some extra muscle-mass. But to ignore that or make pretend that this basic inequality does not exist is worse than foolhardy-it is very dangerous, especially for bright, strong young women. They actually believe the propaganda and put themselves in harm’s way. It happens every day, and the results can be plain devestating.
I consider myself a feminist-but I will tell you flat out that a society that settles for mere “equality” for women will not long survive. Any idiot can run a Fortune 500 corporation. If you don’t believe me, check out the list of CEO’s. But only a female of a certain age and in special circumstances can reproduce the species. Everything has been, up until very recent times, designed around that simple truth. I am NOT consigning women to be nothing but child making machines. Fact is, without the active involvement of both sexes in economic productivity we can’t begin to compete and why waste all that human material and brainpower? Just do not lose sight of the essentials of the human condition: no babies, no future. I don’t know if having children is a choice or a responsibility or both-but I know a awful lot of women my own age who went the career track, were very successful and hit 50 in pure misery. Maybe my boomer generation had it worst-the breakthrough generation or whatever, but reaching a “certain age”, alone and childless, has made a lot of real flesh and blood people I know very unhappy.
Almost as bad are those-and I seem to know a lot in this group too-who waited too long, “choosing” to have a kid for the first time when past 40. Surprising how many 50ish women I know, single mothers, with youngsters under 10. These kids are worked to death-constant classes and activities, stressed and competitive to the max. I guess the parent(s) need to prove something, but it sure makes for some unhappy mini-adults. I think everyone deserves a childhood. When they are ready for the Senior Prom, these moms will be cashing in their 401(k)s and looking over retirement communities. It seems unfair to say the least, to all involved.
2 days ago, I was coming out of a mid-town elevator and a very attractive young women stopped me. She told me that I was the first man she had ever seen who actually removed his hat in the elevator when she entered. I was too shocked to do anything but mumble like an idiot and she was gone. My mother, may God bless her sweet soul, would have been very proud, and flabbergasted. Maybe the realites of the new century really will make a difference and a better normality will set in, but I will not bet the rent.
You pretty much have Tupac to thank for the PC-ness of the word “Thug”. Until then, thug had no particular association with black men.
It’s ironic that a black man who claimed to have been speaking for the downtrodden has stigmatized his brothers with this word.
He only had a short time on this Earth to contribute, and he did. Not a positive word to describe his people, but a very negative word, and MTV-Hollywood embraced it.
“Yes, Tupac, you and your brothers are all thugs. We want you to be thugs, we expect you to be thugs, and we will promote you as being cool if you continue to be thugs.”
Notice that the downtrodden is not a big theme in the “thug” lifestyle. Uber-hedonists have no time for such things.
Also notice the lack of concern for society at large while promoting “thug-ness” as cool. It doesn’t take a brilliant poet to know that the downtrodden are the ones who are going to feel the brunt of the stigma.
Anything that waters down the truth is evil. Political Correctness, more often than not, falls into that category. While I agree that society needs more civility in general, a spade is still a spade. I got my fill of PC in the Marine Corps, when I was “counseled” by a Sergeant Major for offering religious counseling to a Marine who had ASKED me for it, but didn’t agree with the scriptural assessment of his situation. I found out then that even gentle, soothing and encouraging words could be un-PC. Since then, I have had about as much use for PC as I have for the ACLU–little to none. Again, I think society should be more civil in general, but when that “civility” erodes the truth, it morphs into Evil Personified.
Political Correctness is a very clever way for liberals to curve the rights of others. With the popularity of “hate crime laws” anybody can be put in jail for having an un-pc thought. The latest pc abuse is the Dioces in San Diego not being allowed to enforce Church doctrine. Because of a torrent of bad publicty by gay the Bishop has to perform a mass in honor of a well known unrepentant gay pornographer. PC is destroying religious freedom.
Doc,
They did not do away with measurable physical standards. I had to run the same obstacle course, drag the same 180 lb. dummy the same distance, run the same course in the same minimum time, do the same amount of pushups (not girl pushups) and situps as the males did, during the applications tryouts and all through the academy. As I said, some of the guys that applied washed out, too. I’ve worked hard to maintain good physical condition for the whole of my career, and although, as I said, I’m female and not as strong as most of my male counterparts, including my husband, who is a 23 year law enforcement veteran, I’m in a lot better shape than a lot of them. (You know the old cliche of the fat cop in the donut shop, don’t you? Some of those guys exist at the department where I work.) TCLEOSE sets up guidelines, but minimum standards vary from agency to agency within the state, for instance, I don’t know what sort of tryout our sheriff’s department has, but they hire both patrol officers and corrections officers, so they may have a different standard for each. I only know from personal experience the standards my department uses, I’ve been with them for my whole career. TCLEOSE also approves mandatory training courses, including defensive tactics courses, that an officer has to take throughout his career and pass in order to keep his license. They also provide TCLEOSE approved courses that are not mandatory, but that officers can take on a voluntary basis. I’ve taken some non-mandatory courses that were sponsored by other police agencies in Texas, and, just as at the department where I work, they did not have lower standards for females.
Black, conservative, AND a Charley Reese aficionado!? La Shawn is truly a gem.
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