Re: How ?
Political correctness is an exact mirror response to low self esteem. Political correctness is a pulse point on our fractured psyches. It is a way to save us from our insecurities about ourselves. Because we easily take offense to things outside ourselves, we have found a way to create further separation by policing word play lest we find pain in a given word exchange.
As an example, imagine what would happen if people stopped clinging to the swastika sign as a reminder of nazi atrocities and reclaimed it for a symbol of something else, something that enables human spirit rather than strips it down.
It is our choice to take offense to mere words or go beyond them and recreate a meaning that empowers us.
Being a white male I always laugh when whites are referred to as "crackers.' Yet replying in kind can get you killed. Weird world where mere words evoke such negativity, when we can gate keep and modify meaning in our minds.
Our collective self esteem is at an all time low and this is one area where it shows.