US The Coddling of the American Mind

beancounter

beancounter

The Fire That Burns Within
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An article that explains what's going on at college campuses and how it started.

"Something strange is happening at America’s colleges and universities. A movement is arising, undirected and driven largely by students, to scrub campuses clean of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause discomfort or give offense."

How Trigger Warnings Are Hurting Mental Health on Campus

And one college that is pushing back against this scourge.
Dean Warns Freshmen That University Of Chicago Values Academic Freedom
 
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Two white dudes said:
It is creating a culture in which everyone must think twice before speaking up, lest they face charges of insensitivity, aggression, or worse.
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Being a decent human being is so hard.
 
Two white dudes said:
For example, by some campus guidelines, it is a microaggression to ask an Asian American or Latino American “Where were you born?,” because this implies that he or she is not a real American.
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"He's like, 'Hey, man, where are you from?' So I told him, 'I'm from Queens, New York.' And then he's like, 'No, I mean where are you really from?' Which, for those of you who don't know, that's code for, 'No, I mean, why aren't you white?'" --Hari Kondabolu

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Interesting subject.

I must say, when I see somebody who is obviously not looking like all the other people in the region, I am curious as to where s/he came from and I might want to find out more about the place s/he is coming from.

So, am I still allowed to inquire about that?
I certainly do not want to give anybody the impression that I do not think s/he do not belong here. (That has actually happened to my kids, when schoolmates in Germany asked them (verbatim) "So, where are you from, you obviously do not belong to Germany" :mad: )

I myself have now lived in countries different to the one I was born in for more than 20 years.
 
Andy_T said:
I must say, when I see somebody who is obviously not looking like all the other people in the region, I am curious as to where s/he came from and I might want to find out more about the place s/he is coming from.

So, am I still allowed to inquire about that?
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I don't think it's a good idea to ask random strangers where they're from just because they look "different".
 
I fully agree.

However, when I am in a company meeting with other colleagues, or at a school's parent's day, and I notice a colleague / other parent who is, e.g. of Asian heritage, I might be interested to get to know him/her better...
 
As an immigrant myself, I am always interested in others' immigrant/multinational experiences. However, I have come to realize that not everyone has the same reaction I do, so I don't ask where someone is from unless they ask me first (although I don't have an accent, I have a distinctively non-American name).
 
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Another article on the freedom from speech movement infecting college campuses.

How 'safe spaces' endanger American freedom

"Our nation is plagued by political correctness run amuck. Too many of us live in daily fear of microaggressions and the need to warn of triggers, all part of a diversity movement to create "safe spaces" on university campuses by eliminating any actions that could be remotely offensive or upsetting to minority (or even majority) groups."

"Some administrators go so far as to caution against statements like "America is a land of opportunity" or "if you work hard you can succeed" because they "microinvalidate" (yes, an actual word!) the experience of marginalized minorities."

"These overly idealistic, zealously evangelized "no offense" policies offer a window into our impatience to ferret out every last vestige of sexism, racism, and all other -isms lurking in the deep structures of the human mind. But this progressive push doesn't avoid culture clashes — it heightens them. The growing and ideologically eclectic list of campus speakers who have been disinvited in recent years because some student group found them offensive has become a flashpoint in the culture wars."

"Indeed, a movement that gives so much normative weight to subjective triggers cannot be harnessed for constructive purposes because it has as many fissures points as it has members. Furthermore, everyone has an incentive to weaponize their personal angst, turning each against the other, which is why the movement has reached a point where it is devouring its own ideological kin and threatening to finish off the progressive project. "

It's not just about being a nice person. This movement is psychotic...
 
Moll Flanders said:
The Prime Minister, Theresa May, mentioned the subject of safe spaces in universities the other day.

Theresa May criticises university 'safe spaces' for shutting down debate | Education | The Guardian
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Thanks for the article!

"“Freedom of speech is a fundamental British value which is undermined by so-called ‘safe spaces’ in our universities where a sense of entitlement by a minority of students means that their wish not to be offended shuts down debate,” Atkins said."
 
I get that question all the time... I never used to mind it but it is a reminder that people who live here dont think I look like someone who could be from around here...
... mostly I just find it amusing and enjoy their confusion.

It also leads to interesting situations while travelling.
 
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I used to not know what they were saying when I was a kid, like they would say "where are you from?" And I would say "New Zealand" and then they would say "No, but where were you born?" and I would say "New Zealand." and the questions would continue but I didnt understand why they were asking me that, I just thought they were dicks really. It didnt occur to me what they were really asking me as I didnt understand figurative speech as a kid.
 
robert99 said:
Why do people want to know is the real question.
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It could be a variety of reasons. Personally, I won't blurt out with the "where are you from" unless I feel quite confident they're really not from "here" originally. Usually, I use their speech (accent / dialect) to try and figure out if they're from somewhere else. If I ask about someone's origin, it's to try and learn something about the person. Maybe to see if we have something in common. They're from Poland? Some of my ancestors came from what is today Poland. They're from Croatia? I've been there on holiday. Etc.
 
I wouldn't say "where are you from?" as I often hear different accents and can usually work out where they are from. I might say "where is your accent from?" I wanted to ask my vet where he was from as I couldn't place the accent, but I looked up his surname online and turns out he was Swedish. I doubt he would have taken any offence if I had asked him.:confused:

I remember when I went on holiday to Turkey with my mother (we both had our hair coloured blonde) and my brother is fair too and people who worked in restaurants and bars would constantly come up to us and speak German or Swedish as they assumed we were from there. Actually when I had my hair coloured dark a few years ago a kid in my street came up to me and asked if I was English, obviously his parents had said that they thought we were foreign or something as my husband has dark hair and eyes.:rolleyes: I think you can tell if someone is just being friendly or they have a underlying prejudice to the question.
 
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