Political Correctness Prevents us From Having an Honest Conversation about Race and Racism

My sincere apologies for forfeiting the previous round. I currently own my own business and last week things got out of hand. Is it politically incorrect to think gay white employees steal less? In any event, I will seek to counter the arguments displayed in rounds 2 and 3. My opponent has a very strange understanding of political correctness and the effect it has on society -- although she has done a great job of defining it. My opponent takes exception with my desire to associate certain groups with particular actions. This is not politically correct, she argues, but does not seem to explain why. In the video I referenced above, there is a particular call to action taking place: women walking in urban areas are sexually harassed on levels not acceptable for a modern society. If we are concerned about this problem, then naturally we should find ways to solve it. Doesn't this make sense for a progressive society? There are many ways to do so, but one starting point would be to assess if there was one group doing more of the cat calling than others. My opponent says "As long as you don"t insinuate anything from that then that is perfectly politically correct. Which just goes to show that political correctness is not some sort of mine field. It"s just about not being offensive, it really isn't rocket science." So it is okay to think it, but not to act on it because we might offend someone? To reiterate my earlier analogy: if there is a spate of shark attacks on a beach, what is the benefit of putting up a sign that says "beware of fish?" How else can we begin to unravel the problem of women being cat called on the street if it is racist to possibly suggest that certain groups of men do it more than others? Of course this is only one video, but for argument's sake, let's say there was a study done called " A million hours walking as a women." Let's say 100,000 young and attractive women walked for 10 hours across major American cities. In the data collected afterwards, let's say black men cat called women 3 times their population size. Would my opponent still think it is racist to suggest that there is a greater problem with black men cat calling than other groups? It seems that what my opponent and others obsessed about political correctness are really concerned about, is that a stupid person will make a general judgment against a group. This is unfortunately a problem that cannot be fixed. If science shows a particular group may have certain attributes and a stupid person decides to act on that in a negative way, there is nothing one can do. Because black men might hypothetically harass women more than other groups does mean that if I meet a black man in the street, I will automatically think he will sexually harass someone. Much like, I am aware of the fact that black men have extremely disproportionate numbers in professional sports, but if I meet the average black person on the street, I am not going to assume they are automatically professional basketball players. This is what stupid people do. There is no cure. Political correctness seems to think it has the antidote but stupid people will always be here. My opponent believes that political correctness does not tarnish a person's reputation when they make an unfortunate mistake in their language use. She uses the example of Benedict Cumberbatch and his remark about "colored people." I do know of this example very well myself, but I think it is actually a point against her. As she points out, Cumberbatch was saying positive comments about the lack of opportunities for different ethnic groups. It seems that people could care less about this important point. He said a naughty word and the political correct police got their way. A simple google search shows that this was reported on thousands of times in the media and actually a headline in a number of them. Is this really necessary with all of the problems we have in the world today? Does this really need to be at the forefront? More importantly, people didn't really care about the "positive" aspects of what he was saying but focused much more on the unfortunate use of this one word. So once again, the politically correct witch hunters were able to succeed in their jihad. Do not focus on the content, just on the language. In the end, no one benefits. If there was a zombie apocalypse, my opponent and others would be more concerned about whether or not the term "zombie" offends anyone than how to actually cure the virus. I would be curious to hear my opponent's thoughts on others whose lives have been ripped apart by the politically correct witch hunters. Like a particular chef, who admitted to saying "nigger" when she was held up at gunpoint in the 70s, has now had her financial empire ruined because of political correctness. We currently live in a country whose drug laws incarcerate black people at a rate of something like 10 to 1. We currently live in a country whose global imperialism allows our president to shoot and kill any colored person he wants in a foreign country because they might have terrorist links. But who cares about that? Last year a billionaire with dementia, who pays his black employees millions of dollars a year, told his black girlfriend (in the privacy of his own home) that she could sleep with black people, just don't put photos up on Instagram. Do people understand what a big deal this is for the cause of racism? If the liberal media can bring this monster down with the help of the political correctness army, racism will surely dissipate. After all, he is the last bastion of it. Political correctness has created a paranoid society. Political correctness is the Mccarythism of the day. Political correctness does not solve problems, it just allows lazy people to have a voice and think they are contributing by being "outraged." Most importantly, political correctness prevents our society from having an honest discussion about race. If Paula Dean can have her financial empire ruined for what she said, why would anyone, ever, want to take a chance by speaking their mind about any subject related to race, no matter how true or important their words and thoughts might be. Until people can be honest, speak honestly and think freely, true racism will never disappear. It will only hide in the shadows and continue to fester. I will leave off this discussion with a personal anecdote. I own a large wine store in New York. Anyone who has been to a wine store in an American urban area will notice -- most of the time -- one very interesting thing about the selection: certain items are either locked up or put in a place where it is difficult to steal. These items generally are Cristal, Dom Perignon, Moet, Hennessy, Grey Goose and Patron. What do all of these items have in common? They are all popular in black communities. Mostly because of hip hop but also because of targeted advertising. These items are locked up because they are stolen the most. This is not my opinion, this is a fact. Of course if you came into my store and asked me why these items were locked up, I would have to lie. I couldn't say, verbatim, what I just wrote. This is not politically correct. This is racist. Even though statistics show that shoplifting in urban areas is done by black people at a significantly higher rate, as a store owner, I have to be color blind. It is further politically incorrect for me and every other liquor store owner, to put these items in a different area. We are grouping them together for a reason and the day will come when someone decides to sue a store for discrimination and these items will have to go on the shelf with everything else. But who cares if small businesses lose money to shoplifting. The most important thing is that people aren't offended. Thank you political correctness. Thank you!