I started thinking about this when I saw this story in my newsfeed: ESPN's Sage Steele apologizes for controversial comments about Obama's racial identity and vaccine mandates (msn.com)
This kind of scenario has become all too familiar in the media and political culture. Some person who may be in the public eye somewhat (although I had never heard of Sage Steele prior to this) says something that might be deemed offensive or otherwise non-PC. Then they get called out on it or removed from their job, and try to make some sort of apology for their remarks.
It's unclear what ESPN will do, even though she has already apologized for the remarks she made.
The article also mentioned another incident involving an ESPN employee, who was also removed for making unfortunate public statements.
I will admit there are things I've said to people which I've later come to regret, and I've apologized in such instances.
On the other hand, sometimes I wonder about the sincerity of public figures who apologize for things they said. Does anyone actually believe them or think that they're sincere?
Did they say things that were so bad that they actually needed to apologize, or is there a tendency for some people to overreact to relatively innocuous statements?
I know the usual response might be "Free speech has consequences," and if one makes statements deemed challengeable or offensive, then one might lose one's livelihood or face other serious consequences (short of being locked up by the government). But does sticking one's foot in one's mouth once or twice really make one completely irredeemable and unsalvageable for the rest of their lives? Is that how some people see it?
Does anyone see any potential consequences in this, in that it may backfire and cause society to become even more regressive? When a company like ESPN fires someone for violating some code of political correctness, there's no shortage of criticism for what they do. More importantly, does it really have the desired effect? Has such a strategy actually worked, on a practical level, to achieve a more balanced and racially harmonious society?
In other words, have we achieved greater progress with political correctness (since the 1980s), then what was achieved during the 1960s and 70s without political correctness? Is PC more of an asset or a liability to the social justice movement?
This kind of scenario has become all too familiar in the media and political culture. Some person who may be in the public eye somewhat (although I had never heard of Sage Steele prior to this) says something that might be deemed offensive or otherwise non-PC. Then they get called out on it or removed from their job, and try to make some sort of apology for their remarks.
It's unclear what ESPN will do, even though she has already apologized for the remarks she made.
The article also mentioned another incident involving an ESPN employee, who was also removed for making unfortunate public statements.
I will admit there are things I've said to people which I've later come to regret, and I've apologized in such instances.
On the other hand, sometimes I wonder about the sincerity of public figures who apologize for things they said. Does anyone actually believe them or think that they're sincere?
Did they say things that were so bad that they actually needed to apologize, or is there a tendency for some people to overreact to relatively innocuous statements?
I know the usual response might be "Free speech has consequences," and if one makes statements deemed challengeable or offensive, then one might lose one's livelihood or face other serious consequences (short of being locked up by the government). But does sticking one's foot in one's mouth once or twice really make one completely irredeemable and unsalvageable for the rest of their lives? Is that how some people see it?
Does anyone see any potential consequences in this, in that it may backfire and cause society to become even more regressive? When a company like ESPN fires someone for violating some code of political correctness, there's no shortage of criticism for what they do. More importantly, does it really have the desired effect? Has such a strategy actually worked, on a practical level, to achieve a more balanced and racially harmonious society?
In other words, have we achieved greater progress with political correctness (since the 1980s), then what was achieved during the 1960s and 70s without political correctness? Is PC more of an asset or a liability to the social justice movement?
