Political Correctness, Vocabulary, and Diction

I had a terrifying experience earlier this week in my sociology class (I promise there will come a day when I’m not writing about this course.. But today’s not that day.) We were having a fantastic conversation about race in society, and I wanted to contribute. I’ve had these conversations before, and I’m not afraid of them. Actually, I quite enjoy them. I believe I can safely say that there is always a lot learned from conversations surrounding race, whether in factual knowledge or opinion. Well, I think I messed up this time.

While discussing the Hispanic community that has been established near my university, I used the term “Latinx”. Knowing one of my peers within that community, seated just a few rows behind me, is nonbinary, and also wanting to avoid gendered statements about a collective community, I opted to use the term I had heard used several times. The second it came out of my mouth, I questioned how appropriate it was. My professor carried on with the lesson, and we discussed this idea of a meritocracy, which I found fascinating. We didn’t discuss political correctness in class, in fact it was only a singular sentence that my professor dedicated to the topic. However, in the back of my mind I was still questioning my word choice. Was that politically correct? The more I thought about my words, the more I worried. I didn’t want my peers, people I highly respect, to think I was “taking a jab” at their identity. I didn’t want my professor, a woman I also highly respect, to think that either. My intention was inclusivity, but my overarching fear was that I very clearly missed that mark.

So what does an anxiety-ridden young scholar do when she has a question or concern? Well, after a brief panic attack, I did some research. For the last several years, the term has been highly controversial, with only a very small portion of Hispanic identifying individuals choosing to use it. A report from December of 2021 explained that the term actually upsets quite a few members of the Hispanic community, but a January 2022 article said that over half of the community doesn’t prefer one specific term over another. So what does this mean about political correctness? It means that I want to be way more careful about my diction. If you ask a certain population, I was in the wrong. But, if you ask another population, my word choice doesn’t really matter. What I took away from this experience, both the class conversation and this little bit of research, is far greater than whether or not I use a particular term.

Am I still nervous about offending someone? Yeah. Do I hope to discuss this with my professor when I inevitably arrive early for our next class? Also yeah. But, I have been able to expand my vocabulary, enhance my diction, and learn more about political correctness/accuracy. While I don’t have a clear-cut answer about the specific verbiage I was researching, I do have more guidance on how I can navigate these important conversations surrounding race. Oftentimes this topic of political correctness gets so highly controversial that nobody wants to listen. There’s this common statement that “there will always be someone who gets offended.” Honestly, I agree with that. There will always be a demographic displeased with my words, my argument, or my opinion, but there is also the opportunity to validate another group or identity. That is something pretty special.

There are two spheres to this: vocabulary and diction. We’ve been using the word “vocabulary” for a long time now. We had vocabulary quizzes in elementary school to broaden our own, we have jargon that delineates vocabulary for specific trades or subjects, and we have evolving vocabulary for our evolving world. Part of being “politically correct” is expanding this vocabulary. Part of learning is expanding this vocabulary. Two birds, one stone. Diction, however, is its own realm. We can build our vocabulary until we have a full dictionary at our disposal, but it will mean nothing if our diction isn’t proper. Diction refers to the intentional choice of the words we use. As a student, I have had to develop diction skills to differentiate between scholarly writing and creative writing, argumentative and analytical, so on and so forth. This also very significantly extends into conversations. The language I use with the students I mentor will differ from the language I use in personal settings. The language I use with my professors will differ from the language I use with myself. When conversing, whether with teens or adults, I make it a priority to use language that will match the person I’m speaking with. I believe this can even be applied in our own thoughts. The words we use to describe ourselves and the thoughts we have are all brought back to these central spheres of vocabulary and diction. I’m not doing enough justice to the idea and importance of this. In this case, both my diction and my vocabulary are failing me.

TL;DR: Actions may speak louder than words, but words still hold a whole heck of a lot of weight. Learn them, and choose them wisely.

When it comes to the overarching concept of political correctness, this is what I believe: We don’t have to agonize ourselves, but we do have to educate ourselves. I could go on about various experiences I’ve had with conversations on race and everything I’ve learned from them, but the ultimate message here is about more than race (although that is an undeniable aspect). It’s also about learning. When I think about this experience I had in class, I try not to be too hard on myself. I stand by my inclusive intentions, but I also see the fantastic opportunity to learn. After acknowledging a potential mistake, we can choose to focus on the importance of learning and correction. Let’s continue learning, let’s continue educating, and above all else, let’s continue conversing. As we progress in these three realms, the three realms of political correctness, vocabulary, and diction will likewise develop in the greatest ways.