Guest Post: You can spell Chile without "PC"

Brad here with a little story about Chile's casual relationship with political correctness. In the US, the term has become a buzzword for any vexing, superfluous social norm that only serves to formalize what could otherwise be inoffensive human interaction. After a few months, it has become obvious to both Amy and me that this particular annoyance does not afflict the average Chilean.

If you look up Chile on the CIA World Factbook, you will find that 95% of the Chilean population is described as being either white or white-Amerindian. That's right, there are very few racial minorities here, which probably makes things that much more difficult for that small sliver of the population. Many times, Amy and I have observed Chileans gawking (literally) at the sight of an African in public. Amy herself has, on a number of occasions, been the recipient of rather benign but inappropriate comments from men on the street, owing partially to the fact that she is one of the few natural blonds in this country. It seems to me that PC is not so bad after all.

I had never been a party to this kind of behavior, until I found myself forced into being politically incorrect. A few days ago, I met one of the newly-hired paralegals in the office. This young man, who appears to be more Amerindian than white, introduced himself as "Juan José" but then instructed me to call him "Negro." You see, many of the Chileans in my office go by a nickname, and he seems to prefer one that reflects his relatively dark skin tone. Even though this nickname sounds less offensive to the gringo's ear when pronounced with a hearty Latin American accent (NAY-gdo), I still can't bring myself to use it.

I can't. This guy is going to be "Juan José" (or maybe "Juanjo"?) to me, whether he likes it or not.