First let me say that I am in favour of the reasons and theory behind political correctness.

But how can it be clearly defined? This is not a new subject. It has been evolving for many years.

In 1976 (I remember the year as it was my first year out of High school) my parents were the contract caterers at a leading Australian University. Among the various confectionery items there was a product for sale called a "Golliwog" bar. A group of students came up to me and demanded I remove the item from the shelves. I asked them if I should remove the "WHITE Maid" confectionery as well. They said no, the white maid is ok to display.

To keep the peace, I did so, and promptly put a sign on the counter saying "limited supply of golliwogs for sale - can not display". We sold more golliwogs in the next month than ever before.

Below is an extract from the USA census 2010, and published by the United States of America Government.

It refers to African-American's (People of Colour) as BLACK persons and to non African-Americans (people of no colour) as WHITE persons.

People Business Geography Newsroom Subjects A to Z Search@Census

White persons, percent, 2010 (a) 72.4%

Black persons, percent, 2010 (a) 12.6%

American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2010 (a) 0.9%

Asian persons, percent, 2010 (a) 4.8%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2010 (a) 0.2%

Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2010 2.9%

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2010 16.3%

White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2010 63.7%

Why can the US government say Black persons, while the majority of the rest of the world would consider it to be politically incorrect.

I do not want to offend people, I would like to be politically correct.

And is the use of "White" persons politically correct?

But where do you draw the line in the sand and say "this is correct" or "this is not correct"

Were the students correct 36 years ago or is the USA Government correct now?

First let me say that I am in favour of the reasons and theory behind political correctness.

But how can it be clearly defined? This is not a new subject. It has been evolving for many years.

In 1976 (I remember the year as it was my first year out of High school) my parents were the contract caterers at a leading Australian University. Among the various confectionery items there was a product for sale called a "Golliwog" bar. A group of students came up to me and demanded I remove the item from the shelves. I asked them if I should remove the "WHITE Maid" confectionery as well. They said no, the white maid is ok to display.

To keep the peace, I did so, and promptly put a sign on the counter saying "limited supply of golliwogs for sale - can not display". We sold more golliwogs in the next month than ever before.

Below is an extract from the USA census 2010, and published by the United States of America Government.

It refers to African-American's (People of Colour) as BLACK persons and to non African-Americans (people of no colour) as WHITE persons.

People Business Geography Newsroom Subjects A to Z Search@Census

White persons, percent, 2010 (a) 72.4%

Black persons, percent, 2010 (a) 12.6%

American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2010 (a) 0.9%

Asian persons, percent, 2010 (a) 4.8%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2010 (a) 0.2%

Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2010 2.9%

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2010 16.3%

White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2010 63.7%

Why can the US government say Black persons, while the majority of the rest of the world would consider it to be politically incorrect.

I do not want to offend people, I would like to be politically correct.

And is the use of "White" persons politically correct?

But where do you draw the line in the sand and say "this is correct" or "this is not correct"

Were the students correct 36 years ago or is the USA Government correct now?

What does this have to do with Thailand?

EDIT: Text deleted

In retrospect, I probably don't want to get involved in this discussion at all

Edited May 13, 201214 yr by StreetCowboy

Every society defines racial classifications differently. A classic example of how absurd this can get can be found in the history of the Dominican Republic. In the USA, white vs. black resonates culturally and historically while in Malaysia Malay vs. Chinese would be more important. These classifications and social perceptions change and evolve over time. For example it used to be both Irish Americans and Jewish Americans were NOT classified as white people.

Edited May 13, 201214 yr by Jingthing

First let me say that I am in favour of the reasons and theory behind political correctness.

But how can it be clearly defined? This is not a new subject. It has been evolving for many years.

In 1976 (I remember the year as it was my first year out of High school) my parents were the contract caterers at a leading Australian University. Among the various confectionery items there was a product for sale called a "Golliwog" bar. A group of students came up to me and demanded I remove the item from the shelves. I asked them if I should remove the "WHITE Maid" confectionery as well. They said no, the white maid is ok to display.

To keep the peace, I did so, and promptly put a sign on the counter saying "limited supply of golliwogs for sale - can not display". We sold more golliwogs in the next month than ever before.

Below is an extract from the USA census 2010, and published by the United States of America Government.

It refers to African-American's (People of Colour) as BLACK persons and to non African-Americans (people of no colour) as WHITE persons.

People Business Geography Newsroom Subjects A to Z Search@Census

White persons, percent, 2010 (a) 72.4%

Black persons, percent, 2010 (a) 12.6%

American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2010 (a) 0.9%

Asian persons, percent, 2010 (a) 4.8%

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2010 (a) 0.2%

Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2010 2.9%

Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2010 16.3%

White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2010 63.7%

Why can the US government say Black persons, while the majority of the rest of the world would consider it to be politically incorrect.

I do not want to offend people, I would like to be politically correct.

And is the use of "White" persons politically correct?

But where do you draw the line in the sand and say "this is correct" or "this is not correct"

Were the students correct 36 years ago or is the USA Government correct now?

What does this have to do with Thailand?

You have not seen any "people of colour" in the streets or shopping centres in Thailand? Where should this be posted then?

Blacks in the US are proud to be black. Many people feel "African-American" to be as awkward as calling short people "vertically challenged" since any connection to Africa was lost in the mists of time dozens of generations ago. A white person would certainly stop calling themselves "Polish-American" or "Italian-American" once any trace of their cultural connection to the old country had disappeared.

Every society defines racial classifications differently. A classic example of how absurd this can get can be found in the history of the Dominican Republic. In the USA, white vs. black resonates culturally and historically while in Malaysia Malay vs. Chinese would be more important. These classifications and social perceptions change and evolve over time.

And as KerryK as been so diligent in reminding us, have no basis in science. Therefore I tend to mock the more extreme attempts at PC and would prefer that people be allowed to talk straight as long as no offense is intended.

For example it used to be both Irish Americans and Jewish Americans were NOT classified as white people.

Really? By whom? In what larger class were they grouped? It's true they suffered discrimination by upper-class WASPs, but then so did Catholics and Mormons, but even the oldest most racist Americans I've met would consider Irish "whiter" than say Italians or Greeks.

What does this have to do with Thailand?

Nothing