Happy St George's day!

It might not be your intention, but trotting out the 'political correctness' argument instantly makes me switch off. I'm sure you've got plenty of interesting stuff to say, but it's such a weak argument and it's never really stood up to closer scrutiny - normally a person brings it up, a few people nod their heads, hmm-ing in quiet, murmured agreement, without actually considering the implications of their actions.

It always reminds me of that Stewart Lee clip on YouTube (paraphrasing):

"They say I can't write racial abuse in excrement on my Pakistani neighbour's car; it's political correctness gone mad it is."

I answer people who use that line with a question - 'so what exactly is it this 'political correctness' nonsense stopping you from doing or saying?'

i actually beleive pollitical correctness has warped the meaning of racism to many people and is often confused with prejudice or stereotyping thus creating a barrier in society. There are many incidents i observe in day to day life where people have said to others 'You cant say that!!!' when merely it was an observation of things going on around and not a remark about colour or creed. That is what i believe is stopping people from saying things, i have a few asian friends and mixed race friends who all say the same thing when this topic has been brought up where theyve experienced others being shy about calling them asian or black because there is such uproar and tension around envoking these 'jittery mannerisms', im sure there are many people who have had similar experiences of mis-interpretating written or spoken conversations concerning stuff and have been scrutinised because the person who has taken offense doesnt really know what the word racism means any more......

this is my view though...... i'm not a racist person at all and have many different friends from korean to nigerian but i must say i am quite open to talk about the things we of a nation are afraid to do as a collective and this is what is preventing us from getting along.....as BT once said 'Its good to talk' :)