Comedian Chelsea Handler in an op-ed Monday asked a question that has been on the minds of Americans for months: “What does ‘political correctness’ really accomplish in America?”
Her Daily Beast article on the current wave of PC backlash comes a few days before her Netflix documentary series, “Chelsea Does,” debuts on Jan. 23. The docuseries will cover four subjects: racism, drugs, marriage and Silicon Valley.
Handler wrote that in her series on racism, she discussed the way the entertainment industry skewers race with representatives from the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, American Indians in Film and Television and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“I know stereotypes and politically incorrect language are hurtful to some people, but as we talked one-on-one, the representatives of these organizations … all ended up smiling and laughing about examples of politically incorrect humor because they could see I was sincerely joking,” she said. “There’s a vast difference between white officers chasing down and killing unarmed black men versus making a joke about black people being late.”
The issue of political correctness has been thrust into the spotlight recently, mainly because of Donald Trump running as a presidential candidate who will say whatever comes to mind and incidents on college campuses where First Amendment rights are arguably being stifled due to sensitive students deeming certain rhetoric offensive.
Even Handler has a line she draws when it comes to pushing the boundaries of political correctness for the sake of comedy. She said she would never use the N-word to invoke a laugh, though she wishes “more black power” to any African-American comedians who can use the word for comedic effect.
Likewise, Handler is not a fan of Washington, D.C.’s NFL team calling itself the Redskins.
“The Germans don’t have a Bundesliga soccer team called the Berlin Jews for a reason,” she wrote. “If Native Americans want to go ahead and joke about their skin color, I have no reservations.”
All Handler wants, she says, is to strike a balance between free speech and spreading hateful messages.
“Obviously, we don’t want a nation full of nasty racists and heartfelt misanthropes trumpeting their spite on proud public display, but we do want people to be able to honestly express themselves and know the difference between humor and malice,” she wrote. “This is America, after all, and the First Amendment deserves to come first.”
Her solution to this problem: a few history lessons and a sense of humor.
“So what’s needed is not political correctness, but rather more appreciation of American history, more self-confidence in each of our individual American souls, some joy in our hearts and a collective sense of humor if we’re all going to get along and talk about what weird tribal-ethnic-religious-racial DNA perfume and skin tone each of us is wearing.”
