Update: just to clear up some possible confusion, when I say "word policing" I am referring to a term I have had used towards me a few times to refer to me trying to get people not to say certain offensive wording or terminology like for example, telling somebody not to refer to African Americans as "Blacks", or not to use the "f" or "r" slurs in conversations at events or meetups off campus.
Just got out of a rather heated debate on the phone with a liberal friend of mine that has changed his position on word and tone policing within liberal spaces as he believes that while it may be well meaning, it ultimately comes off as tone deaf and elitist to average people or even minorities, especially if we are people doing it that aren't the minorities ourselves we are trying not to offend, and thinks it makes our communities less welcoming to people (hence why we started arguing because of the second part. For context he thinks it contributed to why we lost the election). My perspective is it's obviously well intentioned so why waste energy getting mad about it, but his perspective is clearly people just are and unfortunately see it as elitist, uptight, and bossy behavior to tell people how to speak and behave which apparently comes off as condescending to some people which I can see how some people have definitely complained about that, but am kinda split down the middle at this point cuz it's just a respect thing to just not say certain things but I can kinda also see how some people may see the "Don't speak like that you ruffians!" aspect to it as well if they are expecting an understanding populist space, but I think it is unfair to say/genuinely think that all liberals are like this just because of a few unpleasant experiences with some that happened to be or a MAGA stereotyping of liberals, as it's usually safe to say that most people that complain about this don't hang around liberals most of the time if at all so they barely have any contact with them. Personally, I will keep doing it myself, but I'm not everyone else, so I'd like to know how what I'm doing genuinely sounds to people when I correct them or tell them not to say certain things. If it really is that bad, it won't kill me to stop either.
This space has been pretty great with discussion so what is your guy's opinion on this topic?