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Political Correctness Doesn't Only Threaten Speech
Townhall.com ^ | September 16, 2016 | David Limbaugh

Posted on 09/16/2016 9:21:20 AM PDT by Kaslin

Many, including me, have lamented that political correctness, especially on university campuses, is undermining free speech. That's true, but I'm not sure that political correctness is the only culprit or that free speech is the only casualty.

Most of us have heard about "white privilege," "trigger warnings," "microaggressions" and "safe spaces." Let me provide rough definitions from an online dictionary and other websites. I'm sure that I could be accused of a microaggression for failing to be more precise, but I'm trying.

White privilege is the notion that whites have an advantage in getting societal benefits in Western countries, to the disadvantage of nonwhite people under the same social, political or economic circumstances. Trigger warnings are communications warning that the content of a text, video, etc., might upset or offend some people, especially those who have previously experienced a related trauma. Microaggressions are subtle but offensive comments or actions directed at a minority or other non-dominant group, often unintentionally or unconsciously reinforcing a stereotype. The original idea of safe spaces was that educational institutions should not tolerate anti-LGBT violence, harassment or hate speech. Therefore, certain places were designated as safe for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. The term has been expanded to protect all minorities.

Last year, just a few days before Halloween, there was a firestorm involving these concepts when a Yale University professor responded to an email sent to students by the university's Intercultural Affairs Council. The council had advised students not to wear costumes that would "threaten (the) sense of community" there.

Some students and faculty members took umbrage to the email because they considered it patronizing and also unnecessary because, in their view, it "had no applicability to the culture and the actual history" at Yale. But when professor Erika Christakis -- who was also an associate master of Silliman, one of Yale's residential colleges -- took exception to the email in her own email to Silliman students, many students, sadly, didn't receive Christakis' message with good cheer. Christakis wrote, "Have we lost faith in young people's capacity -- in your capacity -- to exercise self-censure, through social norming, and also in your capacity to ignore or reject things that trouble you?"

Instead of applauding her for vouching for their maturity, they interpreted it as inviting insensitivity to the experience of minorities. Some 700 people, including students, faculty and alumni, fired off an open letter in response to Christakis' email, saying, "In your email, you ask students to 'look away' if costumes are offensive, as if the degradation of our cultures and people, and the violence that grows out of it is something that we can ignore."

Christakis' husband, Nicholas, who was the master of Silliman, made the mistake of meeting with students and not sufficiently throwing his wife (and himself) under the bus for her email. Nicholas met with a large group of students, who surrounded him in the residential college quad. The encounter was captured on four videos, totaling some 24 minutes, and I watched the entire thing (titled "Yale Students and Nicholas Kristachis" on YouTube). To me, it is appalling and horrifying.

Christakis calmly, respectfully and cordially responded to one student after another, most of whom treated him with utter contempt and disrespect, used invectives, and demanded an apology for his wife's email. Several rebuked him for not remembering their first names from his previous interactions with them. When he acceded to their demands to say he was sorry for hurting their feelings and the pain it had caused them, they were unmoved. When they further demanded that he also acknowledge that the email created "space for violence to happen" and apologize for it, he drew the line, saying, "That I disagree with."

One student then said, "It doesn't matter whether you disagree." Another launched into an endless rude diatribe, and when Christakis tried to calmly respond when she'd paused, she cut him off, saying he shouldn't get to speak.

You will have to watch the video to get the full flavor of how hateful it was, how unreasonable the mob of students was and how patiently and calmly Christakis tolerated their bullying.

Shortly thereafter, about 1,000 students conducted a "March of Resilience" against an "inhospitable climate for people of color on campus." Then a smaller group submitted a list of demands to the university's president. It said the school must immediately implement "lasting policies that will reduce the intolerable racism that students of color experience on campus every day." Among other specific demands were that all undergraduates be required to take courses in the "Ethnicity, Race, and Migration" program, that mental health professionals be permanently established in each of the four cultural centers with discretionary funds, that the annual operational budget for each such center be increased by $2 million and that the Christakises be removed from their positions as master and associate master of Silliman College.

Believe it or not, despite the fact that there were no documented examples of racism giving rise to their complaints, the university surrendered and granted most of their demands.

Much has been written about the danger to free speech such events represent. There is no question that is the case. But I am far more concerned with what they reveal about the state of race relations in this country -- at least on college campuses -- and the messages we are sending to young people, namely:

--They are too fragile to deal with perceived, let alone actual, adversity.

--If a charge of racism is leveled against a "non-minority," it must be presumed valid, and the accused won't even be allowed, in some cases, to explain or deny it.

--Any perceived slight must be addressed, and all demands must be satisfied, no matter how unreasonable.

--We must be forever obsessed with race, gender and sexual preferences.

--Rudeness and disrespect will not be punished but will be rewarded.

The atmosphere on many college campuses on these issues is toxic. Those engaging in the indoctrination don't appear to seek improvement in race relations and don't appear to seek resolution.

Is it not obvious that a flagrant contradiction underlies these complaints? Those crying "racism" and "sexism" demand that they be treated equally and nondiscriminatorily, yet virtually every demand they make screams just the opposite. How can we be colorblind and color-obsessed at the same time?

Many people don't have the courage to address these issues, because they fear the mob would descend on them if they dared to challenge its claims. Yes, but if we keep pretending that the mob's claims are true and rolling over, things will only get worse. When can it possibly end?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: pc; politicalcorrectness; racism; yale

1 posted on 09/16/2016 9:21:20 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

What about those of us who do not celebrate Halloween, out of religious reasons?

PHOOEY to political correctness!!!!


2 posted on 09/16/2016 9:24:53 AM PDT by Honorary Serb (Kosovo is Serbia! Free Srpska! Abolish ICTY!)
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To: Kaslin
You will have to watch the video to get the full flavor of how hateful it was, how unreasonable the mob of students was and how patiently and calmly Christakis tolerated their bullying.

But...but..."Diversity is our strength!!" And War is Peace!!

How else will the runaway PC freight-train run off the rail and further divide America? (Yes, viewing this video will blow minds.)

A pathetic and unnecessary apology by a dopey Prog teacher was intended to appease insane pseudo-intellectual Prog student Brownshirts-in-training, but it only drove the vultures to circle in for the kill and become *more* insane. This incident was Progressivism defined.

Had this trial-by-diverse-mob their way, a gallow would have been in place and Mr. Christakis' with his pale privileged neck directed to accommodate the noose (with mentor 0blah-blah's nod and blessing.)

3 posted on 09/16/2016 9:57:13 AM PDT by HangUpNow
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To: Kaslin

A private religious school near us that taught traditional marriage in class and mass was targeted by LBGT activists. This same scenario has happened at other schools, but I’ll relay the one near us.
Cute little kindergartener’s mother asks for enrollment paperwork. Delays on admitting the other parent who is supposed to sign off on educational policies is a woman, then at the last minute says it is too late, you have to take us.
School says you don’t meet our standards, here’s your money and list of public and private schools you can enroll at.
They immediately go to the press, major story locally, mentioned nationally.
Hate mail, hateful phone calls all start. Death threats to teachers, administrators, for months.
In the name of “tolerance”, they threatened to kill those who disagree with them. Because you’re so right and untouchable a pure self that no one is allowed to disagree with you, and you’re so much better than the horrible evil haters, because you’re so good and right and moral, those who disagree must be the evil opposite.
In that thought bubble, someone thought it was fine to issue a death threat to burn down the school with the children inside. In the name of love, you threaten to kill the children of the “haters”, because you’ve wrapped yourself up in the brand of peace, love and tolerance and smear the rivals as the opposite, and no one is ever allowed to disagree, so you get a group that then thinks it is even OK and takes action to threaten mass murder of children.

Pogroms of Jews were possible because of the constant criticism, jokes, demonization of them as not people, the enemy, the other.
The hatred directed at whites enables blacks to post videos of the “knockout” game and “polar bear hunting” and almost never face consequences. Feds get involved in the fewer than 10 inverse cases of white on black versions of “hit in head, win if they pass out”.
Black kids beat up white kids in schools shouting racial insults, but it isn’t racism, they are told so, and it is reinforced by the teachers and the media that whites are bad, they’ve done all these bad things, it is OK to hate them and their disagreement with you is evil in itself.

The evil of political correctness is turning the majority of the nation into a class of untouchables against which you can commit violence and threaten murder with impunity. In this regard, the authoritarian left is copying Islam’s belief that criticism of the faith is an attack on all believers, speech equates to violence, so you can kill the apostate and critic.

White is the new black.
Christians are the new dhimmi.


4 posted on 09/16/2016 10:01:20 AM PDT by tbw2
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To: Kaslin

While I think that both of the Christakises have resigned from their posts at Silliman College but continue to hold faculty positions, it should be noted that Yale has discontinued the use of the term “Master” as being offensive to Yale snowflakes. It should also be noted that the Silliman College / Christakises kerfuffle is also tied up with Yale’s heritage difficulties, having a John C Calhoun building, the namesake founder, Elihu Yale, being a slave owner and an enterprising custodian knocking out a window for having slavery connotations.

All of which goes to show that this has exceeded political correctness and become coercion by the most easily offended. The lesson to be taken from these scenarios, is the same that SHOULD have been learned over the past 50 year; conceding to fanatics just leads to increased fanaticism! Of course in modern academia, the faculty and administrations are already fellow travelers and, as such, easy to force concessions from!


5 posted on 09/16/2016 10:22:36 AM PDT by SES1066 (Quality, Speed or Economical - Any 2 of 3 except in government - 1 at best but never #3!)
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To: tbw2
The evil of political correctness is turning the majority of the nation into a class of untouchables against which you can commit violence and threaten murder with impunity.

Yea, verily, we are the 'Deplorables', the *_phobes, whom our masters in the 'intelligentsia', regard as irredeemable and unfit for their society! Waiting to get my T-Shirt & baseball cap!


6 posted on 09/16/2016 10:34:48 AM PDT by SES1066 (Quality, Speed or Economical - Any 2 of 3 except in government - 1 at best but never #3!)
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To: Kaslin

Why does no one, when confronted by these cretins, have the stones or vaginal fortitude to tell them to STFU.

NO such thing as white privelege. And damn little racism. There IS a growing intolerance for the absolute stupidity of these azzholes.


7 posted on 09/16/2016 10:51:59 AM PDT by Adder (Proudly Deplorable.)
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To: Adder

Because 12 years in a brainwashing system of group-think prevents the majority from daring to “disagree” with the mobs/majority. The Marxist grouping techniques (multiculturalism/tolerance/diversity) actually creates hate for others. Ideas given to small immature children (all of them are immature and irrational) will embed hate naturally for the “Other”—they prefer the SAME...we are HERD ANIMALS with herd instincts. Schools constantly point out the DIFFERENCES to embed hate in little children. It will create hate for self—or others. (It is forcing self-hate on Christians and White cultures intentionally-—the ones which created Philosophy and the Age of Reason-—critical/abstract thinking. They need “bots’ for the NWO where children are not capable of Reason or Logic-—so they will go along with the slavery of the State (psychopathic sodomite elites who want the children—Corey Feldman).

It is the natural instinct “political animals” to enjoy being with people who are alike—it is how Aristotle put it.

We are conditioned (brainwashed into dependency) in our “education” system to FEAR disagreeing with the authority figures and majority.....so we COWER at the THOUGHT that someone will know that we “think” differently-—we will be grouped and HATED by the mob.

The Fear of Rejection is great in children-—and traumatic-—and that is how the Marxist system of “education”—which is only operant conditioning to Fear Man and not believe in Christianity—they demean and ban Christianity at every grade to normalize materialism, hedonism and narcissism so the children grow up to “hate” the Other.

To Love the “Other” is true maturity (and of course, the Christian goal—to Love all human beings and give ALL human beings dignity and worth-—never to use them as an object in irrational, vile ways-—like in killing, sodomizing, etc.-—dehumanizing, vile use of the human body which defies Truth/Reality and Human Rights for ALL human beings particularly the unborn—their natural rights to a future, life and their biological mother and father.

The Marxists (all PC is Cultural Marxism) is to erase all Wisdom and Traditions of Western Civilization (Christianity) which created Free Will and Indivdualism. Collectives can’t function with the diversity of minds and Free Will-—choice for the masses who won’t CHOOSE their slavery.


8 posted on 09/16/2016 11:29:03 AM PDT by savagesusie (When Law ceases to be Just, it ceases to be Law. (Thomas A./Founders/John Marshall)/Nuremberg)
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To: savagesusie

It takes the will and fortitude to say NO. As parents we need to empower our children to stop this and as parents we need to stop funding it.

I understand the problem. I am just wondering when we say e-damn-nuff.

Electing Trump would be a start but at some very near point we have to retake our schools from the Marxist fascists and remove them from power over our kids.

However physical that needs to be. Its not going to stop otherwise. I do not think it will happen “through they system” because the system is corrupt.


9 posted on 09/16/2016 11:47:10 AM PDT by Adder (Proudly Deplorable.)
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