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And im not really sure what the punishment is for using these are but it is the general effect of trying to police peoples language and always assume the worst in what people are trying to say.
Well, you should probably find this out before you get all worried about it. My guess is that there is no punishment and these are suggestions of how speech
might come across and what potential ignorance you're showing.
By way of anecdotal example, I ran a stand at a Fresher's Fair for our uni's poker society. We had a not particularly famous UK poker pro who came to help us out and talk to people, share some free merchandise with sign ups, a guy in his 70's who I'll not name. A friend of mine, who happens to be black, and very attractive, comes over to talk to me briefly. When she's gone, old guy who'll remain nameless says "She's a looker, where's she from?" and I say I think she's from London, and he says "Not that, where's she actually from?". I happen to know that her grandparents still live in Nigeria, but she's from England. So let's say he'd asked her this to her face, the implication, intentional or not, is that she's not
really English like I am. She's Nigerian,
really. And let's say she gets asked this a lot, which I happen to know she has been. Do you see how that could be really grating on someone who identifies primarily as English or British, someone born and raised here?
Best as I can ever tell, that's all these "microaggressions" are about. Those seemingly insignificant remarks, generally genuine and said without any intention of offence (old guy is a lovely bloke, even if some of his attitudes are a bit like what you'd expect for someone his age), that add up to be at least a little bit annoying or aggravating to the recipient. And that being aware of that kind of thing means that maybe you'll sound a bit less of a tit to those people and make them feel a little more respected or accepted. Does any of that really sound bad?
As for the Canadian teacher, my reaction is that the link you've given me is to a religious pro-life site, who are talking about an anonymous case of a teacher being fired for merely daring to voice that he was pro-life. Does that article pass the smell test for you? Doesn't do anything for me.
And sure, maybe religion was a factor in the Catholic Church, but has anyone suggested we haven't cracked down on them because of political correctness?
As for Operation Yewtree, it's more than just one lone wolf. Max Clifford, Rolf Harris, Dave Lee Travis, and new evidence against our old favourite Gary Glitter, they all went down, and they all have victims in the wake telling the same stories about how people suspected or knew what was going on and nobody did anything. So again, don't buy into the BS that the Rotherham case is special. Only the excuse is different.