Letter of the Week: It’s correct to be politically correct

I am perplexed by the disdain so many show for being “politically correct.” Whatever this originally meant, it has come to be a derogatory term.

But from what I have seen, when people bemoan political correctness, it is only to defend some insensitive and disrespectful remark. So what they are really saying is that they don’t have time to be respectful to one another.

Recently I heard a speaker on sexual harassment say that it doesn’t really matter how you intend a remark. It matters how the remark is understood by the recipient.

This means we have to make an effort to be sensitive to others. How is that bad?

Yes, people are sensitive. They have a right to be.

Just because you don’t have time to be respectful doesn’t mean that other people should just be OK with racist, sexist or otherwise bigoted remarks.

Be politically correct. It just means you’re not being rude.

Adam Finkelston, 37, of Roeland Park, is a Kansas City native. He is an art teacher in the Shawnee Mission School District and publisher of The Hand Magazine. He and his wife, Summer, have children ages 5 and 9.

This story was originally published August 23, 2015 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Letter of the Week: It’s correct to be politically correct."