Story highlights John McWhorter: Liberals tend to focus on political correctness that affects people of color

President-elect Trump won the votes of many whites who felt they were being stereotyped, he writes

John McWhorter teaches linguistics, American studies, philosophy and music history at Columbia University and is the author of "Words on the Move." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) We wonder what the election of Donald Trump means for America. I suggest one thing it means is that educated Americans need to do a reset on what we mean by "politically correct." We need a new PC.

The simple fact is that a core constituency of white people just aren't going to "get it" the way the left wants them to. This is the case, for example, on race.

The left wants white America to see itself as profoundly culpable, as the bad guy in the drama. For many black people, for instance, the very definition of black identity is enduring racist dismissal from whites. To claim that any other particular trait is "black" is considered stereotyping, as we are to see black people as endlessly diverse.

John McWhorter

The one thing that doesn't count as a stereotype, which is thought to unite us all, is experiencing racism. Moreover, it is considered key to intellectual and moral engagement to be in eternal battle against the stain of racism in the American fabric.

That is understandable in itself. But naturally it can be hard to be white under this analysis. (Note: anyone who thinks this editorial is a defense of racism will likely feel differently if they read to the end.) One likely tires of being endlessly assailed as complicit in sin.