When Racism is OkayWe live in a very politically correct world. No one wants to offend anyone and the old way we used to label things is apparently insensitive and offensive. Short people are not short- they are vertically challenged. There are no more fat people, only folks with a height to weight ratio problem, physically disabled people are now physically challenged, and deaf people are hearing impaired.

Even Christmas is not safe- many shops in America forbid their employees from wishing Merry Christmas to customers, instead they must say Happy Holidays, whatever that means, so non-Christians are not offended. In Boston the city Christmas Tree is called a Holiday Tree!

This politically correct movement has also changed what we call ethnic groups. American Indians are now Native Americans, black Americans have gone from Black, to Negro to Colored to Black (again) to Afro-American and now, for the third time, back to Black, and Nanook the Eskimo no longer exists- he is now Nanook the Inuit.

The change in ethnic names came about because we dont want to sound racist. Racism is an evil that should not be tolerated, and everyone behind the politically correct movement knows that racism is bad, right? Well, maybe not...Here is a recent headline:

Samuel L. Jackson Says He Voted for Obama because He Is Black

Hmmm, that is interesting. A famous actor has said he voted for a political candidate because of the color of his skin. I suppose it also means he didnt vote for Mitt Romney because he is white. Lets change this headline around a bit and put another famous actor in Mr Jacksons place:

Brad Pitt Says He Voted for Romney because He is White

Now this is not a real headline, but if Mr Pitt had really said such a thing, he would probably never work in Hollywood again. And why? Because saying you voted for someone because of the color of their skin is racist. Oh wait, what was it that Samuel Jackson said?

Here is another recent headline, this time about Lovie Smith, the coach of the American football team Chicago Bears:

Coach Smith Calls for Blacks to Support Obama

Okay, thats great. Coach Smith, who is black, is advising other black people to vote for Obama. Why? Because Obama is black. Now lets go back to Mr Pitt:

Brad Pitt Calls for Whites to Support Romney

Goodness! It is a good thing that Mr Pitt never said such a thing, otherwise people would think he is a racist. Why? Because voting for someone because of the color of their skin is racist. Oh wait, what did Coach Smith say?

And then there is the policy in America called Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action is a law that means that if there are two equally qualified candidates for a job, if one of them is a minority then that person will get the job. And why does the minority person get the job? Because of the color of his skin. And why does the non-minority person not get the job? Because of the color of his skin. But isnt it illegal to hire someone based on the color of their skin? Oh wait, this is Affirmative Action, so it must be okay, right?

So there you see, racism is not exactly a black and white issue. Is legal racism okay? What do you think?