OK, but I’m tired of hearing complaints by the group that came for all those other groups.
Edited to add: Maybe that’s a bit harsh. But what I’m trying to say is that people in power can blithely ignore being offensive as long as they have all the power–but when the power starts to be spread around, then they want everybody to matter, everybody to be considerate, etc.
All that being said, I do think we’re seeing a pendulum swing toward excessive touchiness.
I think the real loser in all of this is the Latina student. If she has been taught and encouraged to think and feel the way she reveals in her emails, she is locked into a life of resentment, anger, distrust, where she is only able to interact freely with people she perceives as exactly like her.
This is a sad fate for anyone, anywhere.
Perhaps the power structure in the US is changing, which prompts the historically powerful group (white males) to start feeling aggrieved when their feelings of marginalization are not acknowledged. What defines the “power” group anyway? In CA, Asian Americans get the most spots at our top public universities, Latinos make up the largest racial group, and of course, we have a black President.
True, the joke isn’t so funny any more when it starts to be on you.
No one ethnic group has the monopoly on coming to get people, and it’s irresponsible to suggest that. Genocide has happened all over the world without the help of American white males.
You certainly are a cynic, Hunt. If that is what is happening, its unfortunate that the formerly aggrieved groups didn’t learn anything from it.
Well, there was this commentary back in 2012: http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2012/Pres/Maps/Aug20.html#item-5 .
Irresponsible, my foot. My point is that it’s lame for a white male to talk about how awful it is to be insulted when white males have been riding high in this country from the beginning, and have fought hard (including a civil war) to maintain that power. So now that things have evened up a bit, suddenly white males have tender feelings about being offended?
So now some poor college student is being held responsible for slavery?
Yes you can blame the white males of our generation but it’s not the fault of young white males that other groups were mistreated historically
Hey, I love equality. But I also recognize that it’s convenient for me, as a white male, to say, “Sure, we white males have had all the power for generations–but now, nobody should have the power–I mean, it’s not some other group’s turn to have all the power–we should all share the power equally, now, right?” I agree with that, actually, but there is a certain tone there…
Again, the problem starts when people are not seen as individual people, but rather representatives of some larger group to which some history is attached. The kid is just a college kid trying to organize an intramural soccer game. He does not represent the perpetrators of oppression who acted before he was even born. And the girl is just a college kid, who cannot presume to speak for all the Hispanics on the campus, much less in the country.
Trying not to be hyper-sensitive here . . . but I have to object to Hunt’s opening line of post #160. The “they” who came for all of those other groups mentioned in the quotation in post #159 by TheGFG was pretty clearly the Nazis, and not European Americans, nor white people in general.
I lost an aunt in WW II. She was a nurse, serving those who were fighting the group that was “they” in #159. She died before I was born. My dad was a pilot, shot down over Germany, and he almost starved to death in a German POW camp.
I don’t feel aggrieved as a rule, but even though I have partial German ancestry, I have zero connection to the “they” in referred to in posts #159 and #160. I take the issues that TheGFG raised there to heart, and believe it is important to oppose all injustice, no matter what person or group it is directed against.
“I think the real loser in all of this is the Latina student.” She has probably already graduated.
This happened a little over two years ago, and was dredged up for the magazine article. Anyone who reads the emails can see that she had an issue with his playing style (he doesn’t pass to other team members, steals the ball, etc). He responded to her, “F— off” among other things, and goes into a discourse about how his godparents are Latino and he actually knows quite a bit about the culture, and who is she to judge him. The emails are straightforward for anyone who cares to read them and draw their own conclusions. It should have been handled in private, the principal parties have obviously moved on, and IMO it was a lousy example to pick for a purportedly serious discussion of microaggression by the Atlantic author.
I don’t want to paint with too broad of a brush, but it’s sad to read stories of self-segregation in schools: blacks with blacks, asians with asians, whites with whites, etc.
It’s sad because I think most people today would say that they are, or would be, comfortable hanging out with others based on common interests/personality, not skin color. Certainly when people of different races meet on a subway car or restaurant or movie theater, pleasant small talk is shared. So, why is that not happening at colleges? Do we act differently than how we feel and think? Is fear of a racism charge overriding what would otherwise likely result in greater integration? (and wouldn’t that be ironic!)
I realize there are plenty of exceptions – some people do mix well with others of different race/age/sex (etc.) – but the stories of racial self-segregation are troubling.
I think the reason I think the “they came for…and I said nothing” idea doesn’t work for me here is that, by and large (and I don’t mean any individuals on this thread), the people who are complaining most loudly about offenses to white people and Christians (in America) are not people who said something when other groups were mistreated.
@TheGFG #146:
The Oberlin microaggressions site, as far as I can tell, is a tumblr that has absolutely no connection with the college itself—it’s a completely independently-run thing, and Oberlin has no control over it and doesn’t condone it.
Well, if my high school student were to start a blog or make a Face Book post blasting a fellow student–especially one who is a member of an ethnic minority–her actions would constitute online bullying and she would face serious consequences from the school administration, regardless of the fact the school is not affiliated with Face Book or the blogging site. Also, in other CC threads we saw a number of cases in which the off campus actions of a college student resulted in on campus repercussions, such as in the case of a student accused of sexual assault that happened during winter break in another state. So, Oberlin does indeed have control if it wants on the grounds of its student conduct code, which I am sure has some reference to harming the harmony of the college community.
I seem to recall a previous discussion about Oberlin’s speech code.
My DH and I were foster parents for about 10 years. Many of the biological parents we were “co-parenting” with were AA. I can tell you that a few (NOT most) said some incredibly insulting things to me. Two that stand out are being accused of only wanting black kids around to be my slaves (we fostered ages birth to 4 and most were infants) and that they couldn’t wait until the tables were turned and the Black majority made the whites slaves so we could see how it feels. That’s just plain aggression, and frankly it hurt.
But here’s the thing. I’m not a victim of anything. Some people said some things to me. Angry, mean-spirited things, but just things. Maybe my pasty privilege has buoyed me up enough that I can rise above it. Or maybe I just believe that it’s my choice to “give as good as I get” or to “give as good as I can”. I choose the latter. I have done my best to teach my children to do the latter as well.
Religious and nonreligious alike should see the Golden Rule as beneficial for individuals and society IMHO.