Defending the Right to Offend

Why was it that when talking to a black Zimbabwean cab driver I felt uncomfortable when he said, “Blacks can’t run a country!”?

His opinion, he told me, was born from his observations of the goings on in his own country, and the state of the rest of the African continent.

While analysing my own internal feeling of discomfort I concluded that I, along with most whites in the Western world, have become a victim of oversaturation of political correctness.

Political correctness is defined as the avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalise, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.

By this definition, and by society’s example, it is politically incorrect for me to say that women are bad drivers, but within the p.c. boundaries for First for Women Insurance to discriminate against men in their service and ridicule them in their advertising.

Don’t get me wrong, I find the fact neither offensive nor amusing, but rather interesting in what it reveals about our social mindset.

Why is it socially acceptable for there to be a Black Editors’ Forum, but unthinkable for it to have a white obverse? Are blacks secretive and racist? Don’t they think that whites have anything intelligent or meaningful to contribute?

I don’t believe this is the case, so why the discrimination? And why the lack of public outcry?

Because to question a black forum for blacks only is deemed as being insensitive for the years of oppression that they underwent – the fact that it marginalises whites, coloureds and Indians is inconsequential.

It is true that white males have dominated the business and political worlds for centuries, and that this should and is changing, but this obsession with being politically correct is changing our discourses beyond repair.

We find ourselves constantly biting our tongues when discussing politics in the company of South African blacks; walking on eggshells around Christians in case our own beliefs offend them.

Am I racist or an Afro-pessimist? If so, then why do my Zimbabwean and Congolese friends have the same views about the direction our South African leadership is taking us? They’re black; have their minds all been colonised so they can’t think objectively?

Am I insensitive to others’ beliefs? When a Christian wants to convert my friend, Mark, but puts his fingers in his ears when Mark talks about evolution, who is narrow-minded?

This ridiculous idea that it is disrespectful to have a differing or controversial opinion on anything stems from fear – the fear that we will appear intolerant if we speak our mind or question another’s views; the fear that we will be ostracised by our community, or one day even incarcerated.

There seems to be a belief that one has a right to not be upset or offended, but our Constitution bestows no such right.

For there to be healthy, robust and meaningful debate on anything there is the guarantee that some people will be offended – to end racism, sexism, and all the other “isms” in our society thought leaders need to express their views without fear.

We must understand that we have the right to offend.