Ed Kilgore writes about the campaign against "political correctness." I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about the term and an occasional puzzlement as to what some people mean by that but first, here's a key except from Mr. Kilgore's piece…
The Trump supporters and proto-Trump supporters I know are upset by things like having to listen to Spanish-language messages on customer service lines, not being able to call women "chicks" without someone frowning at them, and having to stop telling racist jokes at work. That's what "political correctness" is code for: having to worry about the sensitivities of people who were invisible or submissive not that very long ago.
That's what I sometimes (note the "sometimes") think is being said when someone condemns "political correctness." They're saying they should have the right to say bigoted things without anyone thinking they're a bigot. They certainly should not suffer any personal consequences from it. It reminds me of when Sarah Palin was arguing that if someone like the head of Chick-Fil-A made anti-gay comments, it had a "chilling effect" on the rights of free speech for him to lose business because of them.
My concept of Free Speech works kinda like this: Mutt has the right to say he thinks gays are evil or Jews are mercenary devils or the Holocaust didn't happen or women should stay barefoot, pregnant and underpaid. And Jeff has the right to say he thinks Mutt is an asshole and to shun him or to not patronize his business or whatever. (I also don't think boycotts are usually effective but if it makes you feel better to not buy paper towels made by the Koch Brothers, that's your right.)
I do sometimes agree with people who complain about "political correctness," such as when someone is way overreacting to a joke or trying way too hard to not offend people with skin the thickness of fishnet. When I use a gender-specific pronoun to discuss who might be our next president, I usually say "he or she" but if I say "he" only, that does not warrant a scolding as if I'd said no woman could possibly be qualified.
I am generally anti-censorship. To the extent demands for "political correctness" are being used to stop people from expressing their opinions, I'm against them…but it's evolving away from that. Demands for "political correctness" are becoming demands that if someone says racist or sexist things, we not brand them a racist or a sexist.
And there also seems to be an undercurrent of belief out there that if a statement is "politically correct," it could not possibly be correct. No, it's not automatically wrong if it offends no one…and it's not automatically right if it does, either.