Mike Pence and The Roots of the Right-Wing "Political Correctness" Conspiracy Theory
Chip Berlet printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Thu Jul 21, 2016 at 12:43:56 AM EST
The term "Political Correctness" was hijacked by right-wing ideologues in the late 1980s to trivialize and disparage concern for basic human rights for people whose race, gender, ability, size, or other attributes were inconsistent with the norms established by straight, White, Christian men.

Before then the term was seldom used other than among Leftist to discuss political ideology.

The idea of claiming there was a Culture War by liberals and leftists against America was formulated over several years by right-wing ideologues Patrick Buchanan, William Lind, and Paul Weyrich.
Of these it is William Lind's development of the idea of a Culture War led by "Cultural Marxists" using "Political Correctness" that incorporated antisemitic conspiracy theories and made of Lind an hero to Norway mass murder terrorist Anders Behring Breivik. Breivik not only cited and quoted Lind on the subject, but plagiarized whole section of a Lind manifesto.

It is Weyrich, however, who lays out the case in clear prose:

Paul Weyrich:
February 16, 1999

 ..."I am in the process of rethinking what it is that we, who still believe in our traditional, Western, Judeo-Christian culture, can and should do under the circumstances. Please understand that I am not quarreling with anybody who pursues politics, because it is important to purs