Ruminations – Time to Bury Political Correctness and Save the English Language

– By John A. Schwarz –

Is there anything more obnoxious than political correctness? I don't think so. Every time something terribly egregious occurs on the PC front, you think to yourself: That's the end of the line. It just can't get any worse, and then, it does!

Back in mid-March, prisoners in a Long Island jail announced that they were going on a hunger strike. My first reaction, as it always is, was: "Good, maybe they'll starve themselves to death". Sadly, that never happens since, after they miss one meal they always, unfortunately, lose their resolve and go back to having three squares. Their complaints, which inspired this protest, were: 1) They didn't like the food. Does anyone going to jail think they are going to be served nouvelle cuisine from the country's finest French restaurants or delicious Northern Italian meals prepared by outstanding chefs who've come over from Milano? 2) The prisoners demanded that the wardens speak Spanish.

I warned you. If you are still standing, sit down immediately as you are likely to begin reeling around the room. Can you believe this chutzpah? Think about a penitentiary years ago, outside of Cincinnati, filled with German-speaking felons. What do you think the reaction among the general public would have been if the prisoners demanded German-speaking wardens, or if Italian bad guys imprisoned in the North End of Boston insisted that only Italian be spoken in their presence?

I think you know the answer. Oh, I almost forgot. The inmates on Long Island are virtually all here illegally to boot.

For far too long we've let PC take us in a very wrong direction and it has to be addressed, stopped and buried. There is no excuse for what we are allowing to happen. All we have to do is look northwards towards Santa Claus, his elves, reindeer and Mrs. Santa. Actually, we'll be diverted because of the curvature of the earth and, as a result, we'll be looking at Quebec. How, and why, the English-speaking people in Canada allowed the French-speaking people in Quebec to keep French as their language I'll never understand. The chaos it has caused that wonderful country is mind-boggling, and we are dangerously close to making the same mistake.

A few years ago I was out in the Canadian Rockies taking a hike. Where I was could easily, and accurately, be described as the "boonies". I came across a sign that read "Caution: Bears.” Right next to it was a sign that read: “Attention: Les Ours.” I'm not making this up. The poor Canadians had to have a sign out there in French. There wasn't a French-speaking person within 2,000 miles of where I was standing.

If the park management wanted to be helpful, the sign should have been in both Cantonese and Mandarin, as there appeared to be mostly Chinese people living in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. Vancouver is several hundred miles from Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper, whereas Montreal, Quebec City and Trois Rivieres are on the other side of the North American continent.

Where will it all end?