Make uncivil speech socially unacceptable | Editorials | mtexpress.com – Idaho Mountain Express and Guide

Baby boomers once came into adulthood fighting for the freedom to say crude words on television. As they reach the ends of their careers in this 21st century, they should recognize that the pendulum has swung too far. They should demand a return to civil speech.

Political correctness is a catch-all term for using self-restraint when talking. It means restraining derogatory comments about race, gender or creed aimed at individuals or groups of people. It means restraining fighting words.

Engagement in political correctness does not mean that people may not protest or vociferously disagree. It means that insults, profanity or violence used to deny the rights of others in this free nation are not acceptable behaviors.

On the fringe left this year, groups dressed in black with covered faces and calling themselves anti-fa, short for anti-fascists, broke windows and defaced buildings in supposed opposition to a politically incorrect speech on the University of California-Berkeley campus. It is not at all certain they were students, but that is relevant only in that the criminal property destruction added to the universitys unfair reputation for harboring antisocial activists.

On the fringe right, a white supremacist hurled racist slurs at two young women on a train in Portland, Ore., killed two men who came to their defense, then ranted in a courtroom that being politically correct is an affront to freedom.

Since the nations founding, Americans have seen many changes in what is considered socially acceptable speech. Changes in speech create social norms that can prevent, cool or fuel incendiary confrontations. For capturing hearts and minds, social norms are often more effective than laws.

For example, cigarette smoking was once ubiquitous despite scientific proof of disastrous health consequences. Yet, it wasnt until smoking became socially unacceptable that the numbers of smokers began to fall. Ashtrays that once were everywhere barely exist today.

Political speech, delivered over the air or in the streets, is a precious right that includes the distasteful, the ignorant, the politically incorrect. However, just because citizens can use uncivil speech doesnt mean we should.

When uncivil dialogue becomes political partisanship and then hardens into armed conflict, the times demand a return to the lessons of childhood: Speak your mind, but dont hurl profane personal insults. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Think before you speak.

This will make America a better, stronger and smarter place.

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Make uncivil speech socially unacceptable | Editorials | mtexpress.com - Idaho Mountain Express and Guide