Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)

Studies - Pál Csontos: Is Political Correctness Politically Correct? A Tour along the Alleyways of the Shambles Called Political Correctness

Multiculturalism, or the movement of the "multi-culti," identified by Robert Hughes as "the obsessive subject of (...) sterile confrontation between the two PCs

—the politically and the patriotically correct," a "buzzword with almost as many meanings as there are mouths to utter it" (83) would hardly offer any useful points of departure.' A somewhat more specific definition, offered by Christopher Beard, on the other hand, will take us right to the core of PC: multiculturalism. A broad

, pluralistic social movement that, through the celebration of 'difference

,' champions a more tolerant, diverse, inclusive, cmd realistic view of America and (in the memorable words of the New York State Social Studies Review and Development Committee

) 'the peoples who person it.

' Indeed, 'multiculturalism

' encompasses virtually the entire spectrum of views that have come to be known, not always without irony, as 'politically correct.

' (46) While I am aware of the fact that a thorough investigation into the problematics of the phenomenon denoted as multiculturalism alone should cover at least as many sources as would be substantial to make up a smaller library, for various reasons (most of all, space restriction), I cannot extend the scope of the present study to include that as well. Instead, I will concentrate on an article that, concise as it may be, appears to be one of the best introductions into my immediate subject. It is Harold K. Bush, Jr.'s "A Brief History of PC, With Annotated Bibliography," published in American Studies International in April, 1995. create space for underrepresented black and Hispanic groups who suffered no maltreatment or disadvantage at the hands of Asians. (...) Yet this may not be stated in public, partly because most universities continue to deny that they lower admissions requirements for select minorities, and partly because favored minorities would take offense at such 'insensitivity'. (D'Souza 237) NB.: we should not judge the severe Australian social critic on the basis of this one quote alone. I n "Multi-Culti and Its Discontents,' the transcript ol his second lecture collected and edited in Culture of Complaint, he does provide a thorough and oftentimes quite vitriolic analysis of multiculturalism in the US. 27