The past few months have seen protests sweep across U.S. universities. Students demanded an apology from a master at one of Yale’s residence halls over an email regarding insensitive Halloween costumes. The University of Missouri has been gripped by protests regarding racial discrimination, culminating in the president’s resignation. A similar scene unfolded at Claremont McKenna College where protests and a hunger strike led to a dean’s resignation. This is just a snapshot of larger student discontent at many universities in the U.S. over issues ranging from racial discrimination, lack of diversity (of many forms), and sexual assault on campus. The larger question is, why now? These issues did not just spontaneously appear. They have been simmering beneath the surface for quite some time. In particular, the eruption of outrage at racial discrimination on campus is not surprising given the abundance of egregious examples of police brutality against African Americans that have come to light over the past few years. The issues these students are protesting over are legitimate. What these protests have devolved into, however, is not.Over the past few years, universities across the United States have seen the resurgence of a new political correctness culture that is the result of many factors, including the issues that students are currently protesting about. I say “new” political correctness culture because, as Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt pointed out in their article “The Coddling of the American Mind,” published in The Atlantic, the PC movement today is nothing like the one in the 1980s and 1990s which sought to oppose hate speech and encouraged the inclusion of “more diverse perspectives” in higher education (1). The new movement is instead “largely concerned with well-being… [and] it presumes and extraordinary fragility of the collegiate psyche” . This is a disturbing development because movements based on emotions often give voice to the loudest and drown out any voices of reason. I, like many of my fellow students here at NYU Shanghai, sympathize with student groups who are protesting legitimate discrimination that occurs on college campuses, such as the racist death threats posted on Twitter that ultimately led to the arrest of one student at the University of Missouri. For far too long administrators and many students alike have refused to discuss these issues. However, political correctness isn’t doing these movements any favors. It has led to students directing just as much outrage at micro-aggressions as major aggressions and has led to students to view more safe spaces as a remedy. Before examining the implications of the new PC culture, let’s begin by defining what these terms mean. Micro-aggressions are seemingly innocent actions that are actually somewhat malicious beneath the surface. A white student asking an Asian student to help them with their math homework is an example because the white student is stereotyping that all Asians are good at math. Safe spaces are, in essence, places in which people, typically those of minority groups, can gather and be their true unadulterated selves without fear of judgment or reprisal. An LGBTQ society or a school's Black Student Union are good examples.Let’s start with micro-aggressions. They’re called “micro”-aggressions for a reason. People commit them on a daily basis because they seem like things that wouldn’t be offensive. They are committed as a result of subconsciously ingrained stereotypes about certain groups of people. You cannot get rid of these ingrained stereotypes without engaging in respectful dialogue with those who subscribe to them. It is for this reason that much of the anger on college campuses seems misdirected. Micro-aggressions cannot be legislated out of existence by a school’s disciplinary board. A great deal of anger has been directed at administrators for something that largely needs to be solved amongst students. What is offensive to some isn’t offensive at all to others. While we all need to be more conscious of our choice of words, we also need to accept that sometimes people will unwillingly say things that offend us, not out of malice, but unintentionally. It will take years of constructive, respectful dialogue to eliminate these ingrained stereotypes. We can’t get too offended in the meantime.Moving on to the subject of safe spaces, in theory, they seem like a good idea and sometimes they are in practice as well. This isn’t to say they shouldn’t exist at all. It’s an incredible feeling to be in a place where you don’t have to worry about being your true self. Nevertheless, the concept of a safe space has morphed into something almost hilariously absurd. Last spring Judith Shulevitz wrote an article for the New York Times, entitled “In College and Hiding From Scary Ideas,” where she described the safe space created by some students at Brown University when two speakers were invited to debate about sexual assault. These students, fearing the damage caused by one of the speakers who had criticized the term “rape culture” in the past, set up a safe space that “was equipped with cookies, coloring books, bubbles, Play-Doh, calming music, pillows, blankets and a video of frolicking puppies, as well as students and staff members trained to deal with trauma”. This sad display of treating Ivy League college students like preschoolers needs to be addressed. It needs to be made clear that there is a distinct difference between dealing with those who have experienced legitimate trauma and shielding the emotionally immature from ideas they don’t like. Safe spaces are not the answer to issues that are a direct result of lack of dialogue. They will only insulate people further from dealing with the ignorance that needs to be addressed openly. Ignorant people need to be able to say ignorant things, as offensive as they may be, so that people can, in a respectful way, correct them (Disclaimer: hate speech/death threats should not be tolerated and should be dealt with swiftly, as was the case at Missouri). The world is not a safe space. Being a social justice activist is a great thing, but being realistic is the key to being a successful one. There are some battles not worth fighting. With that being said, it is possible to be both aggressive and respectful in advocating for change. We, as college students, can demand change from administrators who have for too long ignored racial discrimination, mental health issues, sexual assault, and a litany of other issues, but also realize that the real change must come from ourselves. Those who seek to divide us and sow discord must be confronted, but they should be given a voice. For the very principle that gives them the right to speak is the same principle that gives us a right to challenge them. Emotional well-being is important, but not to point of eliminating free expression. Most of our generation does not have the chance to go to a four-year college. We are all very fortunate and privileged to have this opportunity. Let’s not waste it by creating an environment that encourages self-censorship under the guise of political correctness instead of an environment that encourages free expression. The proliferation of infantilizing safe spaces, such as the one at Brown, doesn’t have to become the norm. Those of us who attend four-year colleges are, in theory, supposed to be the best and brightest of our generation. Let’s act that way.This article was written by Benjamin Haller. Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Konrad Krawczyk