The trajectory of PC is interesting in its own right. What started  
out with entirely admirable aims, such as (in this particular  
instance and there are others that vary by region and issue) the  
absolutely valid recognition that folks other than white had a past  
that was largely ignored and for which terms in use were "imposed" by  
the same folks and attempted to find phraseology that accommodated  
everyone; over time was transformed by uncritical adoption (and  
probably by design by those wont to ride such horses to death) to  
mean anything and everything that didn't fit the mental template of  
those holding it. A sort of Talibanization of popular thought.

That in turn allowed what have been called "unreconstructed rednecks"  
to jump on the bandwagon with thinly veiled denigration of the aim of  
the entire structure, presumably hoping to get the proverbial baby  
thrown out with the bathwater.

PC is no different than any other popular culture item. It shoots  
into prominence for valid reasons, and in this case does some initial  
good, then shoots itself in the foot and is largely discarded. BUT,  
the primary effect that PC has had is that not all of it will be  
thrown out.

When I lived in Britain in the 1970's I saw news clips wherein  
typically intelligent but hopelessly innocent Oxbridge graduates  
stood in front of what everyone in Britain called "yobs" and  
interviewed them as if they were the sudden fonts of all secret  
knowledge. I believe that the Pythons did variants of that in their  
program. The Yobs were absolutely not open to criticism. After a few  
years of that, it was quietly realized by the more intelligent folks  
that all that came forth was certainly not as right as it might have  
been. What was good was mainstreamed and what was idiocy was trashed.

I suppose one might say that pendulums swing in both directions, but  
the clock that is history is constantly moving so that for the most  
part, the swing backwards does not go quite so far as it once was.  
These discussions will ensure that to be the case.

Lyle Browning