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PA.RTISAN REVIEW
this decade, of the end of a century, and its dulcet voice, announcing
that it has come to save us, must not blind us to the rage which stokes
its fires.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Against Political Correctness : Eleven Points
1. The Issues
The
first thing that strikes one in reading about the controversy over
political correctness - or ideological cleansing, as it might properly be
called - is that the issues are not accurately stated, at least not by the PC
side. In fact, the PCers try to make it appear that they are simply bring–
ing the so-called canon up to date. Despite the usual disllussal of Western
traditions as a concoction of dead, white European males, they pretend
that they are only adding representations of women and contemporary
minority groups, such as blacks, gays, and lesbians. The truth is that the
main body of the PCers are for throwing out most of what they mistak–
enly refer to as the canon.
The positions are usefully summed up by John Searle. In fact, he
presents the arguments for PC in the best possible light, and he includes
those with less extreme views. It becomes clear from the summary by
Searle of the opposing camps that on one side are the traditionalists who
give primacy to the legacy of Western traditions and history, though
they would also include a study of other cultures, while the PCers want
to do away with or deconstruct the past and concentrate on women,
n"linority cultures, gay and lesbian movements, and third-world history. In
addition, they distort and exaggerate the contribution of this history.
2. Conservatism and the Middle Grollnd
The PCers characterize those who do not go along with them as
conservatives, while some academics propose a so-called middle ground.
However, both these ploys are disingenuous. Left extremists usually try to
discredit their critics by labeling them conservatives or reactionaries.
Thus, the Stalinists called the anti-Stalinists imperialists, reactionaries, and
enen"lies of progress. The truth is there is no distinct conservative position
on traditional culture and education. The far right occasionally exploits
the situation for its own ends, but even they do not insist on a fixed
