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This question, Why did The Bahamas vote against the UN resolution for Ukraine reparations?, received this comment:

If you say anything that reminds everyone that English culture greatly influenced the world that's bad.
And if you insinuate that anything positive came from that influence, you would be anathema.
Even if this was a simple misunderstanding, shame on you.

Has Politics.SE now become a politically correct site, where things like wokeness, cancel culture, and critical race theory determine what is allowed?

UPDATE: After rereading the item, I realize that the above comment might actually have been supporting my question and sarcastically explaining other people's critical comments.

But either way, the question stands.

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  • I could be wrong but not sure how "Has the political situation there changed so much since I visited 10 years ago, when it had a very British/American feel" has anything to do with how they will vote on a UN resolution and which side they will support.
    – Joe W
    Nov 17, 2022 at 0:27
  • @JoeW, considering the list of "against" countries, I think that most people would pick out The Bahamas as not belonging. (I think the answer indicates that they voted against not because they disagreed with the resolution but because they thought it wasn't strong enough. ¶ "… has anything to do with how they will vote". But it does. As I said in a comment those attributes equally apply to Canada, and people would be very surprised if Canada were to have supported Russia's position.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Nov 17, 2022 at 0:41
  • Even so I am not sure that the quote that I mentioned and that was commented on isn't really relevant to how they voted or why they voted that way.
    – Joe W
    Nov 17, 2022 at 0:46
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    Related: Help! I am being oppressed! Why do people keep downvoting my opinions?
    – Philipp Mod
    Nov 17, 2022 at 8:59
  • @Philipp, note that my question didn't receive any down-votes, so that's not an issue (nor would it have been had it). The answer included "very British/American open and prosperous atmosphere", which resulted in a comment: "this is very ignorant and narcissistic statement". My statement was not there to express a personal opinion, but to point out why The Bahamas was such a misfit compared with the other countries in the list.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Nov 17, 2022 at 14:52
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    To be honest I think the question is great with the exception of the part where you add why you think the vote is strange.
    – Joe W
    Nov 17, 2022 at 15:35
  • For a long time I had no idea what political correctness actually stands for and I still think I do not have a good grasp of it. Maybe I should ask about it.
    – Trilarion
    Nov 19, 2022 at 13:07
  • @Trilarion, political correctness is altering one's behaviour in order to avoid bullying from those that make the unwritten rules. 50 years ago it was the right-wing "moral majority"; today its the left-wing that's doing it. Either way, it's not good (but I suspect it's not politically correct to say that).
    – Ray Butterworth
    Nov 19, 2022 at 15:38
  • @RayButterworth Everyone does it, just as much if the social expectation is to be anti-politically correct. To be "politically correct" in such a situation is just as likely to generate derision and contempt as the opposite. That the right has co-opted the term as a marketing strategy is just a function of history.
    – Jeff Lambert
    Nov 20, 2022 at 23:58
  • I remember that comment. Sorry for misleading you, but who was being supported with that comment was intentionally vague. When people say and do dumb stuff, I tend to meet their level, hopefully to illuminate what's dumb and what's not. You were getting dumb feedback.
    – user2578
    Dec 16, 2022 at 18:58

2 Answers 2

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Yes.

Or maybe No.

It depends. Being "anti-politically correct" may in fact be politically correct depending on context, so it completely depends on how someone chooses to define "political correctness". It's one of those terms that never seems to need an exact definition, but when you mention it around different groups of people with different beliefs different things are thought about.

Critical Race Theory would determine what is allowed in an answer to any question about critical race theory, or may even be touched on perhaps on any question concerning race relations in the United States. Other than that I'm not sure how it is relevant.

"Wokeness" is either an ill-defined term generally or used mostly as an insult. People today can be described as being "woke" about "anti-woke", in which case which group is the "woke" group? I'd suggest personally avoiding it, I've only really ever heard it used as a way to malign others which isn't generally encouraged when participating in a community instead of trying to put others down for cheap internet points.

I will personally give a lot of lee-way to people asking questions, so long as there is an actual question someone is asking or something they are truly trying to figure out. Answers however should have a much higher standard for clarity, communication, and yes, even correctness. Incorrect answers are completely allowed, but I would expect most to be downvoted.

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  • Small addendum: Lots of things "politically related" turn out to be kinda complicated, but I don't want to imply answers should be required to be PhD level theses or attempt to be ones, that's completely unrealistic in my opinion and also counter productive since such documents seem to try hard to be out of the grasp of ordinary people attempting to learn something.
    – Jeff Lambert
    Nov 19, 2022 at 2:57
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a politically correct site, where things like wokeness, cancel culture, and critical race theory determine what is allowed

This Q&A site is a place for civilized exchange of questions and answers. Respect and polite formulations are certainly required. Hateful texts and such like should be banned. Where to draw the red line though is a difficult question and may only be decided on a case by case basis (by the moderators or a meta discussion).

See also the Code of conduct of this network. This is the absolutely minimum we all need to adhere to. And while I'm not sure what political correctness exactly is, if political correctness is equivalent to the code of conduct, then the answer is yes, otherwise no.

It's btw. very similar on many other popular public internet places/networks/forum.

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