A helpful guide from the University of Wisconsin.
I have trouble taking some of their examples seriously. "That's so White of you"? I read that in a book, once. I have a sense that it was Greenmantle or The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, though I can't find it in the etexts of either book.
Others are very strange. It's a microaggression that there is an overabundance of liquor stores in "communities of color"? I assume the liquor stores are there because it's profitable for them, so the abundance (or lack thereof) is within the community's control (even lacking zoning laws). Furthermore, what sense does it make to describe this as a microaggression? No one decides to create an "overabundance" of liquor stores: they decide to open one more. If they are misjudging the community's demand for liquor, the punishment will be delivered naturally by the market via the loss of their investment.
Certainly people should be courteous. I wouldn't want to be misunderstood as advocating discourtesy. Still, part of courtesy lies in not willfully giving offense, and another part lies in not willfully taking offense where none was intended.
"Microaggression" is the jargon du jour. It gives instant righteousness, so stick that phrase on all your complaints.
ReplyDeleteMy first encounter with the "white" bit was Sammy Davis, Jr, saying to Archie Bunker, "You're a real white guy, Arch."
ReplyDeleteUW's PC guide is itself a microaggression.
Eric Hines
"Asian Americans" and "Latino Americans" in UW's "Themes" are microaggressions bu suggesting these folks aren't fully American.
ReplyDeleteCrap.
Eric Hines
I'll worry about micro aggression for a femtosecond.
ReplyDeleteE Hines:
ReplyDeleteIndeed, for what it is saying is that people of one race need to be walking on eggshells much more than those of any other.
"I'll worry about micro aggression for a femtosecond."
ReplyDeleteThat's a good one!