Looking For A Fight
It seems some people are just looking for a fight these days. They’ll take statements out of context, distort something that was said, or just hear words without thinking of their true meaning. Here’s a current example:
A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.
County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.
Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections “has become a black hole” because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.
Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud “Excuse me!” He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a “white hole.”
That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.
It’s bad enough if someone actually does says something to incite a racial response, but when a person uses a phrase that’s well known… and has been used in a similar manner in many other cases with PERFECT understanding… then it demonstrates one of two things:
- The people complaining are uneducated and jumped to a false conclusion, in which case they owe the OTHER person an apology upon learning the true meaning of the reference, or
- The complainers are LOOKING for any opportunity to claim racial bias, even if there is none, in which case they are being deceitful and owe EVERYONE an apology.
In the first instance, a mistake is made and rectified, and life goes on. A learning opportunity. A chance to show real integrity.
In the latter, the “offended” people are willfully trying to manipulate others based upon a false premise. To add insult to injury, one of the accusers is a JUDGE! That makes me wonder what kinds of things are going on in his court!!
English is a great language and we should be able to use it correctly at any time. While miscommunication can occur at any time, there’s no need to go in search of it with the seeming goal of expunging certain valid words or phrases from common use. But that seems to be the wish of “the offended” in these “politically correct” times.
My view? “PC” is “BS”.
