Political Correctness: The Cloning of the American Mind

By David Thibodaux

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 156384026X
• ISBN13: 9781563840265
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Vital Issues Press
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A quick but accurate view of the 1990's university

It is perhaps a relief that this book is now out of print, for this might indicate that the subject matter is somewhat out of date and no longer of relevance. On the other hand, it might mean that the book no longer describes a novel phenomenon, but instead one that is now predominant in all areas of cultural, academic, and political life. "Political correctness" in both content and in terms of legal boundaries may now be so entrenched that no one even questions its morality or legitimacy. Have we become clones of each other in ethical, legal, and political thought since this book was first published in 1992? I don't think so, but anyone who was a teacher or professor in the late 1980's and 1990's should understand very well what a fight it was to maintain intellectual independence in the universities and colleges of the nation, and this was pretty independent of geographical location. Any deviation from the narrow bandwidth of political correctness was met with highly vituperative diatribe and personal attacks. Those of us who were unprepared for this naturally wondered whether anyone else was experiencing the same. Therefore books like these were welcome additions to our libraries, and we read them as a sort of catharsis. One might interpret the current hate and anger literature that is proliferating the best seller lists as a reaction to the politically correct movement. Whether it is or not is a question for social research to answer, and this research must hold to the most rigorous of scientific standards. In addition, any answer to the dogmas and principles of political correctness must at all times be calm and rational and avoid the intense smear campaigns against individuals and institutions that are characteristic of the anger literature of today. The author of this book has taken such an approach, and the result is a book that documents, albeit sometimes purely anecdotally, the intensity of the politically correct movement in the universities of the 1980's and 1990's. If we are to measure progress by the degree to which we accept and tolerate true diversity, we would be correct to do so. But diversity, as the name implies, means tolerance of ALL ideas, no matter how corrupt, no matter how evil, and no matter how irrational we believe them to be. That does not mean we need to finance ideologies that disagree with our own. It does not mean that we have to associate with people whose ideas disagree with our own. It does mean that whatever language they use, in whatever form, and no matter how disgusted we are with it, it should not be eliminated from our books and libraries. In fact, armed with the incredible instrument called the brain, we should welcome all ideas confronting us, and then sift through them with infinite curiosity, rejecting those that don't meet the evidence, and accepting those that do. The ones that are rejected will still be viewed as past sign-posts, as mistakes that are essential to human cognition. The ones that a

BRAVO!!!

Even though this book was written in 1992 and countless books have been written about the subject since, this is still one of the most objective views on the subject of PC. Dr. Thibodaux explores terrorist tactics used by fervent PC activists to intimidate, bully and manipulate American media, culture and general public. He explains political correctness in laic terms focusing specifically on subjects like multiculturalism, afrocentrism and genderism. He goes further to explain the position of American universities and their contribution to the growing sentiment toward ridiculous censorship practices, intelligently labeling our academic institutions as the "though police" This is a clear, concise and unbiased explanation of what political correctness is, how it effects our culture, and contributes to the "Cloning of the American Mind".