by Mike Smith Recent polling suggests that one reason some voters are supporting Donald Trump for president is because “he tells it like it is.” His appeal to so many appears to be based on the fact that he isn’t polished or politically correct. Many Americans think political correctness is running amok, especially on college campuses. Anyone who has followed the news can see that protesting, almost for the sake of protesting, has become an extracurricular activity for a few students. But when a sorority and fraternity are chastised for being insensitive to Mexicans for hosting a cancer research fundraiser dubbed a “phiesta,” some question whether the perceived harm is concocted. And quickly this leads to a second question: Is it possible to do or say anything without offending someone?
We live in a society that sees the world of insensitivity from two distinct and separate camps: One camp believes we are overly sensitive while the other feels that people are not being sensitive enough.
In many ways this mirrors how we communicate with one another. Commentators on cable talk shows—both from the political left and the right—shout down one another for the sake of making their point. If you do not agree with their position then you are their enemy. Nowadays we are communicating—often times in 140 characters or less —in absolutes. While the world, in reality, remains very complex and nuanced.
It mirrors our politics too. Coming together to find common ground is once again the exception, not the rule. If you believe in progress over partisanship, it can be twisted by your opponents – sometimes from those within your own party – to suggest you have no principles.
Because we refuse to find common ground, both sides are looking for reasons to feel aggrieved. The result: we are spinning further away from each other. One side is incredulous at any attempt to label events or actions as insensitive while the other side is appalled that issues of sensitivity are being ignored and feel compelled to draw attention to them, even when they appear to be trivial to most.
Ironically, a solution to this is somewhere between the two extremes. It’s a point at which we abandon the propensity to be oversensitive and simultaneously reject those who cross the line and express truly hateful or discriminatory views.
Donald Trump is masterful at tapping into the frustration with political correctness. The problem with exploiting that anger is it makes it almost impossible to find the balance we need to reach a political consensus that moves the nation forward. Case in point: just think of Washington over the past 10 years? As Congress slips further and further into this way of doing business, progress slows or even stalls, and the American people on both sides get angrier and angrier. Washington’s solution is to dish out more of the same, attack the other side for not doing enough, blame them for the impasse.
What these Washington politicians have failed to realize is that Americans have grown tired of this game. It’s an excuse for not demonstrating real leadership.
Often the difference between the harmless and the harmed is in the eyes of the beholder. There is no doubt that in some instances political correctness has run amok. But opposition to extreme political correctness mustn’t be used as a justification to mask hate, ignorance, insensitivity or discrimination.
We have to have a true conversation with one another that recognizes how both sides feel, avoids labels and where no one is looking for an excuse to be aggrieved or offended.
Mike Smith was the secretary of administration and secretary of human services under former Gov. Jim Douglas. He is the host of the radio program, “Open Mike with Mike Smith,” on WDEV 550 AM and 96.1, 96.5 and 101.9 FM. He is also a political analyst for WCAX-TV and WVMT radio and is a regular contributor to the Times Argus, Rutland Herald and Vermont Business Magazine.