Dartblog

In Tuesday’s issue of The Dartmouth, our College’s campus newspaper, Phil Aubart ‘10 writes on the rising tide of political correctness. Specifically Mr. Aubart highlights the following particularly absurd example:

After a white council member said a particular office had “become a black hole” where paperwork was sent and never returned, a black council member objected and said that really, the office was a “white hole.” Another black member subsequently demanded an apology from the white member for making what he felt was a racially insensitive remark.

Today I came across a similar story in which the following license plate was deemed racially insensitive:

Apparently the ‘NGR’ on the plate looked, to one woman, too much like an offensive slur and she refused to put it on her car. I think she might be reading a little too much in to random, computer-generated three-letter sequences but that’s just me. But, fair enough, why not give the lady another plate. My only concern is that with the clamor over NGRs and black holes we might be overlooking some issues and problems that are a little more tangible. Perhaps we could save at least some of our outrage for a rainy day.