Kyle Bell

I am not one to believe in the suppression of ideas. Political correctness in the United States has often run amok to the point that we can not even have honest and open conversations with each other anymore. The “word police” are not something that I embrace.

Yet I am troubled by what I find in today’s world, particularly among this nation’s youth. Words like “nigger”, “faggot”, “bitch” and “gay” are thrown around with such regularity (and derogatory meaning) that their use is hardly shocking anymore. We have become desensitized to true racism, sexism and homophobia as normal expressions.

I think that most people would agree that the use of these words by public officials would be considered wrong. Most white people are cognizant enough of the social reality of today’s world and increasing diversity of our nation to not use “nigger” or “faggot” in a public place. Among their friends and family, though, it’s fair game.

It’s sad for me to see otherwise intelligent and respectable people go down the road of racial epithets and demeaning terminology. Of course, for a class of citizens that consist of a majority (like straight white males), it is hard to understand how language can reduce their fellow citizens to a status of second class. Instead, it takes a certain sensitivity to a world that they do not fully understand. Putting yourself in someone’s shoes is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks for a human being to do.

My own friends and family are guilty of these very acts. “Gay” is used interchangeably with something that is bad or undesirable. The same goes for “faggot”. I never used to be offended by these words, but the more that I hear them, the more that I feel like the people that surround me are not respecting who I am. It would be unconscionable these days to call a black person a “nigger”, yet apparently the same does not apply for gay people.

I think that the use of any of these words is unacceptable. We should be mindful of each other and respectful of the differences between us. Perhaps it would lead to more trust, less conflict and a better world. That said, not much separates gay Americans from straight Americans other than a difference in attraction. The same can be said for blacks and whites. We simply have different colored skin. Allowing labels and stereotypes to define who we are as a people is against the very idea of being an American: unique, independent and tolerant.