In My Humble Opinion Being a prisoner of P.C.

Author: Daniel Roberts

Last week in my TV & American Culture class, Professor Jason Mittell showed a brief clip from Chappelle's Show about the fictional "Niggar Family." In the skit, humor comes from constant use of the N-word in ways that evoke racism, yet are deemed appropriate in the context of the scene, since the word refers to the last name of the family. Just go watch it on YouTube.

Anyway, I find the sketch hilarious not only for the shock factor but also for the clever way it questions the power of one word. Mittell himself was chuckling, but I noticed that most of the kids around me were afraid to laugh.

I hate to bring up political correctness - a topic so blazing hot it might burn my tongue to discuss - but this situation is a superb example of the PC monster at its worst. Too often in our culture, people are so imprisoned by the collective fear of being un-PC that they are afraid to laugh at anything that could be deemed offensive.

If we cannot joke about race, gender, sexual orientation or religion, what is left to laugh about? Edgy shows like The Office and South Park consistently play with stereotypes, but these are members of a dying breed. The intense fear of offending someone keeps most comedians today from saying anything truly funny.

One possible explanation for the death of minority humor is that people fear a lawsuit. In no country do people sue each other as often as in the USA.

Political correctness has not only ruined humor. PC fever has also reared its ugly head in the everyday interactions of regular people. Statements about any group are hushed, held back by the thinker for fear of being labeled as "racist," "sexist," or some other heinous "ist."

My first-year roommate was an Indian student with whom I am still close. Often, he joked about how he and most of his Indian friends are all economics majors. He would jest, "Obviously, Rohan majors in Econ, because he's Indian." Of course, this is acceptable for him to say, but I would never dare to make a joke like this, since I would be called racist. In fact, even in writing about this, I will undoubtedly offend someone.

Yet it works both ways. Occasionally someone asks me if I am Jewish, and sometimes I like to laugh and say, "Can't you see my big Jew nose?" Of course, if my roommate were ever to have said something like this I would have been upset. Why do we all have to feel like we are walking on eggshells? If only we could stop tiptoeing around our differences and learn to joke about them. Yes, a vast number of Indian students choose to major in Economics. Yes, many Jewish people have large noses. But to make light of these inferences is completely taboo unless the joker is a member of the minority he mocks.

This is visible everywhere. At a student program I once attended, we were asked to state our name and something interesting about ourselves. I said something stupid like, "I listen to Radiohead." However, one girl said her name and then declared, "I'm a dyke." Fine, cool for her. Yet I myself would no sooner utter this controversial word than Harry Potter would yell "Voldemort" at a Quidditch game.

PC-phobia has also spawned a legion of silly euphemisms, put in place to cover up anything that might sound unpleasant. We are not supposed to call deaf people "deaf." They are "hearing impaired." When you place your grandmother in an old folks' home, the sign reads, "Assisted Living" or "Retirement Community."

The issue of race gives birth to more euphemisms than any other topic. For example, politicians love the phrase "inner-city youth." This refers to impoverished urban kids that are usually Black or Latino. Why can't they just say that? Because no prominent figure wants to be slapped with a Hester Prynne-sized 'R' for racism.

I realize that often the appeal of my column is the comedy. I apologize that this week has fewer laugh-out-loud lines. But truly, what's funny about the death of humor at the hands of excessive political correctness?