Letter: Being politically correct won’t make us normal

Friday, Sept. 28, 2001 | 4:25 a.m.

In the midst of the collective shock and grief that we all feel for the victims of the attack on our nation, we are being urged to return to our normal lives as quickly as possible. That's good advice for it is essential we get back to the theaters, the ballgames, the malls, the restaurants, the travel, the fun.

But returning to normal will be that much harder if we have to worry about being politically correct. For example, if disc jockeys won't play classics like "American Pie" for fear of being insensitive, and if the Secretary of Defense has to change the name of our military operation to one that's less offensive, and if Bill Maher can't say anything politically incorrect without losing his sponsors, and if citizens can't wear ribbons, wave flags of wear buttons saying they're proud to be an American because they might make someone feel uncomfortable, then we're not going to return to normalcy anytime soon.

We do need to be respectful, but without letting political correctness rule what we do or what we can say. Americans can't walk on eggshells. That's not being normal. We need to reclaim our lives as we lived them prior to Sept. 11 or we will hand the terrorists a victory.

We all need to feel free to question and criticize our political leaders and their policies again. Our late-night comedians can help by returning to what they do best. They should be irreverent, satirical and just plain old funny again. We need them to be politically incorrect so that we can all laugh again without feeling self-conscious or guilty. That's when we'll be back to normal.

JOYCE SEGAL

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