we want to make it clear that we do not tolerate comments like hers in this dorm. Our theme… is intended to make this space safe and fun for you this quarter.”
The supposed transphobia isn't enough: she's now anti-semitic and racist as well. And no doubt disablist, homophobic, and ageist too. Probably not so great with the personal hygiene either, come to mention it. And see those warts? Yep, she's a witch.
Right now, we are living through a moral panic. This panic goes by many names (wokeness, cancel culture, identity politics, etc) and it is corroding major institutions, including journalism, government, and academia. When otherwise thoughtful and well-intentioned people — in this case liberals concerned about racism, broadly speaking — get caught up in the panic, evidence and process become secondary considerations, and narratives take over.
Rowling’s witty heroine Hermione Granger once observed that "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Our moral panic has produced an environment where the fear of a word like “racism” has disproportionately increased fear of the thing itself. Let me explain:
The goal of increasing societal awareness of racism where it exists is both laudable and desirable. But we are no longer in a stage of increased awareness — or even hyper-awareness — of racism. We are now witnessing the mass hallucination of racism. The obsessive search to uncover bigotry in everything and everyone has led people to see bigotry where none exists.
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