A black day for political correctness

As PC-speak has swamped political-speak all over the world, the objection by some Rajya Sabha members of the Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) to the term 'black money' on the grounds of racism appears to be rather belated and misdirected. While the suggestion that 'black money' be henceforth referred to only as 'dirty money' is a sensible one, the proposers surely must know that the actual Bill makes no allusions to hues of any kind. Indeed, it goes by the eminently colourless nomenclature of Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015. The addition of black as shorthand for illegal — by speakers both inside and outside Parliament — can be put down to that universal human tendency to deem anything dark to be dubious.

Indeed, it is patently unfair to link the colour — and word — black automatically with racism. And calling for its proscription on such grounds would set a dangerous precedent in Parliament, with other colours making it to the hit list for different reasons depending on the perceptions of our legislators. At the very least, it would then spell the death knell for a slew of common phrases from black magic, black sheep and black humour to blackout, blackmail and little black dress as their meanings would be definitely altered if 'dirty' is sought to be inserted as a non-racist substitute.