PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
by Chris Freind
Is the "Pork Chop" Mascot Racist? Is Santa Claus Sexist?
While seated in a restaurant next to a man, his daughter and three small grandchildren, I couldn't help but overhear a politically correct exchange for the ages. The gentleman was complimenting his daughter on how well behaved the children were, saying "They weren't running around like wild Indians." The woman at the next table became quite "offended", and loudly berated the man for his "racially insensitive" comment. After all, she has a friend who was half-Cherokee. The grandfather was simply too shocked to respond.
But I'm not.
The people who are destroying the fabric of America and jeopardizing our security are the ones who need to be called on the carpet. It is they who are the racists and bigots, they who have their own agendas, and they who simply want the attention that comes from being ignorant, loudmouthed flamethrowers.
Here's the problem. Most mainstream Americans are too frightened to fight back for fear of being labeled, and end up vocalizing their contempt only at the watercooler or on an anonymous blog. That's not good enough. Every time we allow another insane politically correct action, the door becomes that much harder to close, and our freedoms and culture continue to vanish. When they're gone, what will be left? Who will we be?
Think it's just an isolated incident that doesn't affect you and your family? Try explaining to your children why many Santas can't say "Ho-ho-ho!" anymore because that's deemed offensive to women. Or why Santa is being told to lose weight by the U.S. Surgeon General. Does anyone really believe our children are fat because they see a large, jolly Santa three weeks out of the year? Santa has been around for hundreds of years, but the obesity epidemic is relatively new. So what do we do? Blame Santa Claus, of course. It's what the PC crowd does ---blame everyone and everything but themselves, and never look for a real solution. Way to take the joy out of Christmas....oh, sorry---apparently, we can't say that either, since that offends non-Christians.
But it's not just the holidays where political correctness surfaces. The Philadelphia Phillies new minor league affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, recently held a contest to name its mascot, which is, appropriately, a pig. The winner was "Pork Chop". Innocent enough it would seem, but since cowards run the team, that was not the case. Merely hours after unveiling Pork Chop, the name was dropped because a few people called to say it was racist toward Puerto Ricans.
I hope the Pigs go 0-for-the-season.
Even more detrimental than the PC police are those "leaders" who bow to them, further legitimizing their radical agenda, allowing them to keep people in fear, and giving them new confidence to continue smashing American cultural icons. The "enablers" should be fired for incompetence and cowardice.
As PigIron General Manger Kurt Landes stated after he learned that "pork chop" was derogatory, "If it offended a few, it's a few too many." According to the Allentown Morning Call, he then added that "A lot of people are disappointed we're changing the name, but in the end it's the right thing to do."
No, Kurt, it's not. Not even close.
The right thing to do would have been to stick by your guns and keep the name, especially since no one knows where or how the term "pork chop" originated, and there are probably around three people who are actually complaining. And one other small point---the leader of this campaign to rename the mascot claims he was called "pork chop" decades ago. Decades. Get over it, Mr. Lopez.
The Pork Chop comedy was almost on par with the most classic example of political correctness in sports, when the University of Minnesota decided to stop athletic competition against its rival, the University of North Dakota, because UND's nickname was the "Fighting Sioux". Even though the name symbolizes the tradition, pride and strength of the Sioux, UM---and the NCAA--- considered it so offensive to Indians that UND should be penalized.
But here's the kicker: it applied to all sports except the men's and women's hockey teams, since hockey is immensely popular in that region. Isn't that ludicrous? If it wasn't so pathetic, it would actually be funny.
But the stark reality is that, as this type of political correctness becomes ingrained in our soul, we willingly sacrifice our own safety and security. We refuse to profile passengers at our airports and train stations. We debate endlessly about whether we can use non-harmful interrogation tactics on terrorists. We won't stem illegal immigration for fear of offending....illegals. We constantly tie the hands of our troops, worrying that their actions might offend the Arab street.
The worst part of all? We are doing it to ourselves. As Edmund Burke so tellingly said: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Here's a thought: Let's scalp political correctness!
Chris Freind can be contacted at CF@TheBulletin.us
