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During the Republican presidential campaign, Donald Trump has made political correctness an enemy of freedom. And his supporters love it.
"I think he's leading because he says what he thinks," said Lonny Madding, a Trump supporter who spoke to C-SPAN outside a Trump rally in Manassas, Virginia. "I think people appreciate his candor and his political incorrectness. He likes to tell it like it is ,and I think a lot of people, right or wrong, believe what he says."
Donald Trump may be out in front of this issue, but back in 1991, President George H.W. Bush conveyed a similar stance when he spoke during a graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan.
"The notion of political correctness has ignited controversy across the land and although the movement arises as a laudable desire to sweep away the debris of racism and sexism and hatred, it replaces old prejudices with new ones, it declares certain topics off limits," he said. "What began as a crusade for civility has soured into a cause of conflict and even censorship."
Arun Venugopal, a reporter for WNYC and the host of Micropolis, WNYC's ongoing examination of race, sexuality and identity, provides us with a closer look at the anxiety around policed language, and the positive ways that it changes our conversations.
What you'll learn from this segment:
- How political correctness in American culture has changed over the last 25 years.
- Why the PC debate seems to be heating up once again.
- Where public opinion on PC culture currently stands.