The
word “microaggression” has cropped up with increased frequency over the last
year, to the point that now I see it almost daily! What does it mean?
Webster’s says
it has “no meaning.” It’s not a word. It doesn’t exist! Various blogs, papers,
and online source provide a definition, but they’re not “official”
dictionaries.
And then, I
found www.microaggressions.com. This site was obviously built by people who can’t stand
anyone who might, kinda, sorta, could have some kind of privilege going for
them. According to this site “microaggression” is defined as:
“Racial micro aggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal,
behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional,
that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and
insults toward people of color.”
I have said it
before… words no longer have meaning and this is another perfect example of
why. This definition specifically says it’s aimed at people of color.
Based on the
many “microaggression” stories I’ve covered, the definition should read as
follows: micro aggressions are brief
and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether
intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative
slights and insults towards; __________. (INSERT – anyone identifying as
LGBTQ, a woman, a minority, or some other subset of people, no matter how
ridiculous).
Recently at
Brandeis University, the Asian American Students Association was accused of
microaggression for putting up a display to explain microaggression using only
Asians… REALLY?
A group at
Oberlin University had to issue a warning of microaggression or triggering
alerting readers they were about to see “Discussion of rape culture, online
harassment, victim blaming, and rape apologism and denialism. REALLY? They
needed a warning?
Recently Johns
Hopkins University refused to allow Chick-Fil-A to
open on campus because the campus LGBTQ club considered it an act of
microaggression. So now anyone or anything that offends is microaggression?
Well, kinda sorta. It really only seems to apply to certain groups.
If you ask me
to remove my Bible from view, you would consider that your right not to be
“assaulted” by my belief. But by the definitions above, wouldn’t that be
considered a microaggression toward me and my religion?
The latest in
microaggressions was reported at Arizona State University. Students petitioned
staff to change the name of pedestrian walkways. Why, you ask? Because not
everyone can walk and that COULD be viewed as a microaggression to someone in a
wheelchair or on crutches. Even the people who were supposed to be offended
(those in wheelchairs or on crutches) thought this was ridiculous.
So what’s the
magic formula? Is it considered a microaggression if it leaves out even one
person? Have we raised a group of individuals who don’t know that pedestrian
crossings were put in place to protect people not in a vehicle?
Since most of
these microaggression dustups seem to happen on college campuses, maybe we need
to add “Common Sense Definitions 101” to orientation.
One of the people interviewed at
Arizona State said, “I was on crutches for 5 weeks and felt uncomfortable when
seeing this sign.” Why? What would make this a big deal for this person? A sign
made them uncomfortable. He was on crutches for a temporary period for whatever
reason. Was he concerned someone would see him on crutches and he was
embarrassed? Was it because he felt guilty for using the crosswalk when he was
so healthy otherwise? It makes no sense. It’s a crosswalk. That doesn’t mean
it’s for people with 2 physically healthy legs. It means it’s for non-vehicles.
This person is
going to have a very hard life if a crosswalk sign caused him this much trauma!
So again I ask,
what is the magic formula? Is it how many people are offended? A percentage of
the whole campus or event? Does it only apply to certain groups?
What about some
of the curriculum that’s offensive to certain religious groups? Is that a form
of microaggression? Probably not. Religious people are weird, so it’s ok to
make fun of them and treat them differently. No problem!
Based on my
research, I’ve concluded that microaggression is defined as:
A made-up word used to try to intimidate those who are too concerned
about political correctness. It is aimed at non-issues that ultimately hurt no
one but a few overly sensitive “humans” (that’s
still an OK term, I hope) to
create a distraction away from the real issues.
Our kids are
graduating with record high debt, few prospects for jobs, and are still
undereducated. Oh wait, that’s probably a form of microaggression. But isn’t
everything?
http://eaglerising.com/18652/microaggression-liberals-new-method-for-killing-free-speech/
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