Madness

In the latest example of rampant political correctness and a complete lack of critical thinking, I refer you to this article from the Sep 22 edition of the Chicago Tribune.

Seems the village manager (who is white) of Maywood (which is predominantly African -American) took offense at some off-color lyrics being played by a band at a village festival. At a subsequent village meeting, he explained the incident and then made the apparently unpardonable offense of repeating the offending words. Uh-oh.

Some in attendance found that shocking and unacceptable, and demanded the mayor "take action" against him, completely missing the fact that he was merely repeating what he heard and not claiming it to be one of his favorite songs. The mayor, in an admirable example of capitulation, ordered village officials to undergo sensitivity training. Seems saying certain words, regardless of context and irrespective of intent, makes you insensitive. Perhaps he should have submitted a written statement. Or whispered.

Words have no intrinsic meaning. They are neither good nor bad, but are defined by the context in which they are used. In this case, the context was explanation.

The response, however, was ignorance.