Political correctness has reached a new low (or high, depending on your view) in America today.
A popular coffee shop in my area, Beaner's Coffee, recently changed its name, for fear of reprimand from the political left. The name Beaner is a reference to the coffee beans that are used to make coffee, so why did they change their name?Because it might offend Hispanics.
Apparently, (and this is the first that I've ever heard of it) the word "beaner" is a derogatory reference to our friends from the South. Now, I've never heard the word used that way in my life, but that is beside the point. The point is, when the owner named his shop "Beaner's", he was only thinking of a catchy name that would get people's attention; he had no idea that it could be used as an insult.
So, instead of merely posting a disclaimer saying that it was not meant as an insult to Hispanics, he changed the name to Bigby's Coffee. The fear of lawsuits and prejudice from the left was so strong that he felt uncomfortable standing by his business's name. This sort of thing happens all the time, largely due to liberal-leaning groups such as the ACLU.
There are more examples of this extreme political correctness. Take for example, the African-American label. Instead of referring to those of African descent by the shorter, easier to say, black, it has been dictated by the social elites that it is a crime against tolerance to refer to them as such.
Now, I don't know about you, but to me, this just seems silly. If we were to continue this line of logic, I should be called a Dutch-German American, or at the very least, a European-American. To go even farther, I should call my best friend a Hispanic-European-Native-American. I think that you see where I am going with this. This division of people along ethnic and racial lines is just silly, and, personally, I would rather be called white than Caucasion, or European-American.
But so-called political correctness only goes one way. Apparently, according to liberal authorities, only minorities and liberals are deserving of this favor, for I have heard many liberal politicians, such as Sen. Ted Kennedy, insult whites and conservatives: calling them stupid, hateful, crazy, and barbaric, among other things.
Self-proclaimed gaurdians of political correctness and tolerance should practice what they preach, or not preach at all.
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Political Correctness has gotten way out of hand. Your story is like too many stories I've heard lately. Next they're going to make Cracker Barrel change their name. Every race, gender, sexual orientation, religion has some kind of derogatory term just for them. It's time to GET OVER IT! Seriously, this is ridiculous.
I've heard black people request that people use the term "black," because, as they put it, "we don't use African-American, so you shouldn't have to." However, I still fail to see the justification of them being able to use the "n" word whenever they want, when I, a purely white person, can barely stand to hear it.
I think that is a cute name foe a coffee shup. Its a shame he felt he had to change it.
Yeah, I love talking about the "African American" label. It's not even correct, because not all black people are African. (Some come from islands, in fact, some are only dark "Latino-Americans!") And not all are American, because they still could have immigrated from another country. (Not just their native lands, but even like Europe. Hm, should we call them African Brits, or would that be derogatory too?)
But this is getting way out of hand. I was reading about this on some website. It's not just about offending people, it's about getting punished. People are unsure if they could get arrested for what they are saying, so they end up censoring themselves because we're so censored already. It's called the "chilling effect," I think.