President's Perspective
Talk about a catch-22 situation!
THE TERM "politically correct" is not just the basis for the name of a popular late-night television program, but is also the term given to an entire set of highly controversial and generally bewildering rules that govern our conduct within this great American society.
It doesn't sound complicated until you consider that these rules are not written anywhere, are not consistently applied, and are subject to change without notice.
All of that is bad enough, but the worst part is that each person in this country gets to apply his/her own rules. It is so pervasive in our society that one must be very careful to be "politically correct" in the words used to describe being politically correct (see his/her in the previous sentence).
As any organization is virtually forced to do, AMA does its best to be "politically correct," but sometimes it's almost impossible to do so without someone taking offense at your attempts to avoid offending someone else. Talk about a catch-22 situation!
AMA found itself in such a situation, and it created some controversy. Model Aviation had a picture of a Scale model of a World War II German airplane that had the swastika on the vertical tail — just as the "real" one did. The editorial staff, recognizing the sensitivity to this issue, airbrushed the swastika out of the picture, thinking that would avoid creating any controversy or possible consequences for the young modeler who built the airplane.
I cannot fault the staff for this decision, as it was made with the intent of avoiding any problems. Well, that decision brought a small firestorm of condemnation from some people who felt that "historical correctness" was more important than "political correctness." Talk about a can of worms! This was the ultimate in being between a rock and a hard spot.
Most of the rules of political correctness are intended to avoid offending a group of people, and while the term "politically correct" has been the butt of many jokes, it has created a greater level of sensitivity to the entire subject of prejudice and ethnicity.
In this instance it created a conflict between historical correctness and political correctness, and that is a no-win situation.
What should we do with this sensitive issue? I am absolutely sure that whatever we do will be condemned by someone. I am willing to accept the fact that we cannot be correct in everyone's opinion, so we need to create a compromise that will probably be equally condemned but hopefully accepted by those on all sides of the issue.
After discussions with members of the editorial staff, I am recommending a new policy on this subject to the Publications Committee. A picture of a Scale or semiscale model of a full-scale aircraft that bore a swastika may be published, provided that the insignia is realistically sized and shaped. However, a picture with a swastika displayed on a nonscale model, clothing, etc. in a non-historically correct manner will not be printed.
I am sure this will require some judgement in its application, but at least it gives some guidelines.
I like to read the political-commentary part of the newspaper, as it usually reveals a little of what people in our society think about what is happening around them. Typically included in this section is a political cartoon — a feature I always enjoy but don't always agree with.
While I was writing this column I saw a cartoon that sent a chill up my spine. It was a commentary on the tragic situation in which a kid in Florida crashed a Cessna 172 into a building in downtown Tampa.
The cartoon depicted two "security" agents hauling off a couple of kids with model airplanes. One agent said to the other, "We need to detain all of these kids with this dangerous interest in aviation."
Somehow my reaction was not "politically correct." In fact, it was probably not even "grammatically correct."
Dave Brown AMA president <REDACTED>
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
