There is an insidious epidemic infecting our society. This epidemic is especially prevalent among our college age population, yet has also taken hold with many on the political left.
This scourge hides behind many monikers, such as political correctness, cultural (mis)appropriation or racist micro-aggression. However, many believe a more appropriate name is needed. One that fits the oversensitive, whiny and frankly narcissistic mindset that are symptoms of this epidemic. To understand this epidemic better, one only need to look at recent “incidents” that have created utter hysteria on three college campuses.
The first incident occurred at Emory University. Students awoke this past week to find that a hideous act had been perpetrated throughout their campus. What was the nefarious deed? A cross burning? A hanging in effigy? Maybe a swastika? Not quite. Some dastardly deviant ran about the Emory campus with chalk and wrote “Trump 2016.” In response to this most heinous act, and when the Emory administrator did not immediately react to the “chalking,” a small band of student activists gathered together and shouted “You are not listening! Come speak to us, we are in pain!” Still other students, such as Paula Camila Alarcon expressed fear, stating “I legitimately feared for my life. I thought we were having a KKK rally on campus.” Or, Jonathan Peraza, claiming “It was deliberate intimidation. Some of us were expecting shootings. We feared walking alone.”
“In pain,” “legitimately feared for my life,” “Some of us were expecting shootings.” Really? Trump 2016, “deliberate intimidation.” Try overreaction, based more on an inflated sense of self-righteousness that goes beyond commonsense.
Next up, the mere scribbling of the hashtag “#Trump2016” on a whiteboard prompted a call to campus safety at Scripps College. This whiteboard graffiti provoked Minjoo Kim, Scripps College student body president, to state “This racist act is completely unacceptable. Regardless of your political party, this intentional violence committed directly to a student of color proves to be another testament that racism continues to be an undeniable problem and alarming threat on our campuses.” If #Trump2016 is considered an act of “violence” and “racist,” imagine how someone suffering from pyrophobia must feel about “Feel the BERN!”
Now, I do not support Trump, and find many of his statements to be concerning. I also know many of Trump’s statements have been mischaracterized and used to create a circus-like atmosphere more for political gain than anything else. I believe students should speak their minds, and when the time comes, speak with their vote. However, these reactions border on delusional, if in fact they really believe them. We are long past the “sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me” phase of kindergarten playground etiquette. We have millennial-aged adults afraid to “walk alone” and are screaming “racism” because someone wrote “Trump 2016.” Clearly, these special snowflakes fail to realize how completely ridiculous their first-world problems are when you look at examples of real racism, and actions that cause actual pain and fear.
The final episode demonstrates how misguided far too many on our college campuses, and in general society, have become. Cory Goldstein is a white student at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Goldstein was stopped and attacked by an African-American female, Bonita Tindle, for having dreadlocks in his hair. Goldstein stated “the girl (Tindle) apparently followed me down two flights of stairs to approach me about this whole situation, in which case I tried to leave multiple times and she wouldn’t let me. She kept grabbing me pushing me back to try and make her point. I didn’t want to talk or discuss this situation with her at all.”
This was an actual assault in which Tindle, who is a student assistant employed by Associated Students of SFSU, pursued, grabbed, blocked from retreat, and then threatened to cut Goldstein’s hair off. All because Tindle believed she had the right to assault and bully another innocent person out of some distorted belief that she and her “culture” had been violated. How did someone like Tindle, a college-educated adult, not only get these kinds of ideas in her head, but also violently act upon them? This was deliberate intimidation, racism and real violence. A full video of the incident can be found at http://tinyurl.com/gwhs3dw
How have we gotten to this point, when writing a candidate’s name, or the free expression through a hairstyle or fashion choice, is now considered a high crime? We have created a society that manufactures “trigger warnings” and is determined to create and foster a victimhood mentality. Overreactions like the examples listed above only serve to diminish legitimate issues of racism and acts of violence, not only on college campuses, but throughout our society.
