Political Correctness is Not Real

by Asma Gaba

     Political correctness is a term that’s been used plenty of times this election season. What does it mean? Political correctness is speech and language that is devised to not offend a group in society, oftentimes minorities. However, I’m here to tell you why political correctness doesn’t exist, with a focus on Islamophobia and terrorist attacks.
     In the past few years, terrorist attacks have become increasingly common: Most recently the deadly bombing in Afghanistan on July 23rd and the continued presence of terrorist groups in the Middle East, most notably Syria. Whenever these attacks occur, they’re immediately labeled as “Islamic terror” which inevitably adds to the ever-growing narrative that fuels hatred against an entire religion- Islamophobia.

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     All religions in the world have one thing in common- an aura of piety, to be as good of a person as one possibly can be. So to say that a terrorist group has an affiliation with a religion is absurd- no matter what said group believes their mantra to be. Islamophobia around the world has risen drastically after the terrorist attack in Paris, France on November 2015, and most of it has resulted from the (wrong) association between religion and terror. 
     On multiple occasions, President Obama has said that ISIS and other terror groups have nothing to do with the millions of Muslims around the world, and that associating terror with a religion is morally wrong and inaccurate. Statements like his are needed in a world that seems to be powered by baseless hysteria. But instead of that, President Obama is repeatedly called politically correct by many news outlets- saying that his standing up and defending a group of people is regressive, and that he should call ISIS essentially Islamic, and that refusing to do so is a direct violation of his presidency and his status as Commander in Chief.
President Obama’s intentions were to simply douse the flames of hate before they burned down innocents. And because of that, he was labelled as politically correct- a term that’s used to attack words of support and as an excuse to push forward a dangerous rhetoric in the media. Words and statements to protect minorities that have little to no influence in our world is our duty as citizens of the Earth, and it is quite arrogant to consider supporting speech as something negative. We are living in a time where common courtesy is so unheard of, that we have an actual phrase to insult when one decides to protect fellow human beings from hate and offense. Political correctness doesn’t exist.