[log in to unmask] wrote:
> Although I cannot remember exactly when it was (early 80's?) I can 
> remember almost precisely when I first heard the new expression 
> "politically correct".
> The reason I can remember it is because I knew exactly what it meant 
> when I heard it.
> To me, now, as I examine the meaning I would say that it came into use 
> as a result of what was a major and very profound tectonic shift in 
> American/Western culture as what had formerly been considered Radical 
> assimilated itself into our culture and became the Norm.
> The paradigm for almost everything in our way of life.....art, 
> religion, manners, speech patterns, education and studies, morals, 
> historical interpretation, child rearing, politics, the press....even 
> the way professionals like lawyers and doctors began to view 
> themselves as capitalists who could and should and would venture into 
> areas that were once considered unethical like advertising themselves 
> and their wares took an almost sudden shift and were quickly accepted 
> and assimilated into our culture.
> The paradigm changed but as many, many persons chose to remain outside 
> of that new paradigm and decided not to subscribe to the new one, they 
> quickly saw that theirs had become the "incorrect" view and that it 
> was this new attitude that was the accepted norm, the status quo, the 
> politically correct view.
>
Deane:

I don't think the "tectonic" metaphor is apt. Change is usually more 
piecemeal and complex than that. 

Consider: Well into the 1960s, the "politically correct" paradigm among 
white southerners regarding race was one that endorsed segregation and 
inequality as "natural" if not God-given. Those who supported 
integration and egalitarianism were deemed "radical" and faced 
intimidation, violence, and even death if they pushed too hard for this 
goal (or merely antagonized the wrong folks). Some time in the 
1970s-80s, a shift occurred that brought integration into the 
mainstream, even though its opponents remained strong in pockets. The 
South has changed a lot between the 1950s-60s and the present. One might 
say that endorsement of integration is "politically correct," but I 
don't think many on this list would argue that it is just part of some 
politically motivated scheme to tear down all that was fine and noble in 
the "old order."

Doug Deal