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| The April 27 meeting on political correctness Photo by Nipuni Gomes |
By Nipuni Gomes
Toward the end of the past spring semester, amid the stress of preparing for final exams, about 30 Trinity University students still found the time to attend a meeting regarding political correctness and free speech.
They engaged in a heated debate at the April 27 meeting.
“Political correctness is nonsense. We need to throw it out, and we need to go ‘bye-bye,’” said Reece Ringnald, a sophomore and member of Tigers for Liberty at that time, but was later dismissed from the organization.
“We were based off of free speech in this country,” Ringnald said, calling political correctness “a manufactured term.”
His view was challenged by other students at the meeting. “If you’re not able to respect where the other person is coming from, you are not going to be able to convince them of your opinion,” said Benjamin Collinger, a first year student and president of Trinity Diversity Connection.
“I just don’t care!” Ringnald replied.
“Then why are you here?” several other attendees asked in unison.
The meeting was sponsored by various student organizations, including Trinity Progressives, Trinity Diversity Connection, and Tigers for Liberty. Professor David Crockett, chair of the Department of Political Science and faculty advisor for Tigers for Liberty, and Stacy Davidson, director for academic support at Trinity's Student Success Center, were also in attendance.
Crockett contrasted political correctness with rudeness or boorishness and stressed the importance of good-mannered expression of political opinions. “The point is to allow a genuine discourse and deliberation in search of the truth. It’s not just a question of simply the use of free speech for the sake of free speech,” he said.
“I think we just need to engage each other with kindness and respect and dignity, while honoring other people’s humanity,” said Davidson. “I think that we need to be considerate about other people’s life experiences. I don’t want to spend my life being offended. I want to spend my life creating teachable moments.”
Collinger agreed that political correctness is about being respectful. “Both sides should present their ideas as they see them, and frame them as they see them, and then there should be an intellectual debate on those ideas,” he said during an interview after the event. “If you really care about your ideas, your ideology, and your policy, to convince people that you’re right, the only way that you can do that is by respecting other people and making them feel like you respect them, because otherwise they will just shut down.”
This meeting was just one in a series of events hosted by student organizations here at Trinity in the past semester to address issues of microaggressions, racial tensions, free speech, and political correctness.
The term “microaggression” was coined in 1970 by psychiatrist and Harvard University professor Chester M. Pierce. Pierce used the term to describe insulting behavior, usually by white people, that he regularly witnessed toward African Americans. Over the years, the term has expanded to include other minorities as well as women, members of the LGBTQ population, and individuals with disabilities. Today, microaggressions are generally defined as subtle insulting behavior or speech resulting from a bias toward a certain group of people.
In the past year, microaggressions on college campuses were brought to the media spotlight due to student protests such as those at the University of Missouri. Students here at Trinity have been engaging in this national conversation.
In January, Trinity Progressives, a student organization advocating progressive thought and student activism, hosted a Racial Climate Town Hall.
At the meeting, students discussed microaggressions, stereotyping, and racism, as well as hostility and the pressure to be considered “authentic” within racial communities. The meeting concluded with a call to action by the attendees for more cultural education on campus to increase sympathy among people of different groups.
In late February, a picture of a rifle pointing out of a car window appeared on a Snapchat account called “Trinity Snaps,” where users—not limited to Trinity University students—can post pictures and videos anonymously. The picture had the Black History Month filter and a caption with a racial slur.
Crockett contrasted political correctness with rudeness or boorishness and stressed the importance of good-mannered expression of political opinions. “The point is to allow a genuine discourse and deliberation in search of the truth. It’s not just a question of simply the use of free speech for the sake of free speech,” he said.
“I think we just need to engage each other with kindness and respect and dignity, while honoring other people’s humanity,” said Davidson. “I think that we need to be considerate about other people’s life experiences. I don’t want to spend my life being offended. I want to spend my life creating teachable moments.”
Collinger agreed that political correctness is about being respectful. “Both sides should present their ideas as they see them, and frame them as they see them, and then there should be an intellectual debate on those ideas,” he said during an interview after the event. “If you really care about your ideas, your ideology, and your policy, to convince people that you’re right, the only way that you can do that is by respecting other people and making them feel like you respect them, because otherwise they will just shut down.”
This meeting was just one in a series of events hosted by student organizations here at Trinity in the past semester to address issues of microaggressions, racial tensions, free speech, and political correctness.
The term “microaggression” was coined in 1970 by psychiatrist and Harvard University professor Chester M. Pierce. Pierce used the term to describe insulting behavior, usually by white people, that he regularly witnessed toward African Americans. Over the years, the term has expanded to include other minorities as well as women, members of the LGBTQ population, and individuals with disabilities. Today, microaggressions are generally defined as subtle insulting behavior or speech resulting from a bias toward a certain group of people.
In the past year, microaggressions on college campuses were brought to the media spotlight due to student protests such as those at the University of Missouri. Students here at Trinity have been engaging in this national conversation.
In January, Trinity Progressives, a student organization advocating progressive thought and student activism, hosted a Racial Climate Town Hall.
At the meeting, students discussed microaggressions, stereotyping, and racism, as well as hostility and the pressure to be considered “authentic” within racial communities. The meeting concluded with a call to action by the attendees for more cultural education on campus to increase sympathy among people of different groups.
In late February, a picture of a rifle pointing out of a car window appeared on a Snapchat account called “Trinity Snaps,” where users—not limited to Trinity University students—can post pictures and videos anonymously. The picture had the Black History Month filter and a caption with a racial slur.
Following the incident, both the Student Government Association and Trinity University President Danny Anderson sent out campus-wide emails stating their disapproval of Trinity Snaps and encouraging students to stop following it.
According to Trinity’s Dean of Students David Tuttle, people reacted in different ways. Some were unsure whether the post was done in jest, while others articulated that they did not feel safe on campus anymore.
“This raises a topic that I’m seeing more and more, where there is a clash of values of freedom of speech and the freedom to live and study on campus free from fear,” Tuttle said.
According to Trinity’s Dean of Students David Tuttle, people reacted in different ways. Some were unsure whether the post was done in jest, while others articulated that they did not feel safe on campus anymore.
“This raises a topic that I’m seeing more and more, where there is a clash of values of freedom of speech and the freedom to live and study on campus free from fear,” Tuttle said.
(The story continues in Part 2)
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