I’m not well-versed in political correctness (see discussion here). In fact, this post is intended to be a learning experience for me, and maybe for readers as well. To this end, I’ve come up with a little beginner’s quiz, an imperfect tool to ease gently into the subject and maybe even discover a few basic truths. I recognize that the adjective “political” tends to set some individual’s teeth on edge, especially when they think of the politics of Washington’s Swamp (See here)
If you’re current on this topic, your answers may make some of us look bad, but that’s the chance we all take when venturing blindly into a quiz. I plan to keep my own answers personal for a few days before revealing them in a later post. You’re on your own, but you may want to compare your answers with neighbors and friends.
Are you ready? Good. Let’s go. This quiz is super-simple. Each phrase below is followed by space enough to insert the politically correct term you think is best for that phrase. If you’re compulsive, you might want to copy and paste. If not, just jot down your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
The Quiz
A dark-skinned Ohio man whose great-great grandfather was a slave:
A university president:
A South Dakota man of Sioux descent:
A white-skinned owner of a Silicon Valley tech firm:
A man formerly know as a janitor:
A member of the U.S. Senate:
A deaf person:
A college student:
A prostitute:
The governor of a state:
An illegal immigrant:
An Ivy League professor:
An Illinois woman of Japanese descent:
An Iowa man of German descent:
A retarded student:
End of quiz. Thank you for participating, and stay tuned.
Did you ever publish the results of this quiz.
Thanks for asking, Sherry. Yes, I did publish the results of the quiz. It was the next post I published (called Political Correctness, continued). That post can be found under a number of my categories (politics, history, or even personal). But I may be able to add that link in this answer. Try clicking on here and see if it comes up. While typing this answer, I can’t tell if the link will work or not. If it doesn’t, you still will be able to find the post by searching under the categories I’ve listed. I’ll be interested in your impressions after you see my answers and further explanations. The exercise was a learning experience for me.