I have done some due diligence on the subject of micro aggression and trigger warnings.

Lets start with micro aggression:

You and I could have some fun with this one... I read several articles regarding this theory for the most part I have been cracking up ever since. While this theory was first described in the early 1970's but it really didn't come up until a group students at UCLA declared the campus to be a hostile atmosphere. When I reviewed the content of a list of these racial slurs it reminded me of the ebonics thing in Berkeley a few years ago. Here are some links to the best comments I was able to find.....

Microaggression and Changing Moral Cultures - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Urban Dictionary: Trigger warning

Not sure how you go into being worried about this but from my research this "movement" is not going all that well.

Take Care.

I am glad you find humor in this subject..this is from your first link...speaking of micro aggression

"The conflict is important because its outcome will determine the fate of higher education. Victimhood culture and its manifestations on campus threaten the goals of the academy. Honest inquiry and communication are bound to offend someone, and, if colleges are to continue, they must have a climate in which people are less — not more — prone to outrage than elsewhere."


The purpose of your second link talking about computer talking is well beyond me and has nothing to do with the concern not even broaches the subject being discussed.

This is from an article in Time Magazine from March of last year...they do not seem to find the humor that you did...

"Here’s what they are: The concept of microaggression has leapt from the shadows of academic writing into the bright light of general conversation, especially in the wake of widely consulted work by professors Derald Wing Sue and Madonna Constantine over the last seven or so years. Microaggressions, as these academics describe them, are quiet, often unintended slights — racist or sexist — that make a person feel underestimated on the basis of their color or gender."

They wrap this article up with....

"However, there is something equally counterproductive about the microaggression concept, at least as it is currently being put forth. The scholars promoting this concept claim that it is a microaggression even when someone says “I don’t see you as black,” or claims to be colorblind, or purports not to be a sexist, or in general doesn’t “acknowledge” one’s race membership or gender.

But let’s face it — it’s considered racist for whites to treat any trait as “black.” If we accept that, then we can’t turn around and say they’re racists to look at black people as just people. That particular aspect of the microaggression notion seems fixed so that whites can’t do anything right"


'Microaggression' Is the New Racism on Campus - TIME

AGAIN, the humor you saw in links that do not even apply to the subject being discussed seems to have escaped them.
AGAIN, the humor you saw in links that do not even apply to the subject being discussed seems to have escaped them.

I am sure you have heard of the magazine Psychology Today....I think they ta
am sure you have heard of the magazine Psychology Today....I think they take things seriously.....they took it from the campus where you evidently left it...


"Microaggressions are typically associated with everyday verbal and nonverbal slights, insults and putdowns directed towards socially devalued group members. However, environmental microaggressions can reside in the "climate" of an institution or even in the broader society. For example, when women in the workplace enter a conference room where portraits of all the past male CEOs or board of directors are honorifically displayed, the message given is that women are less competent and that a glass ceiling exists in the company. Over the past few months, similar environmental microaggressions have been communicated via the guise of the debates surrounding federal and state budget woes. In particular, the issue of developing a federal budget was and continues to be complicated by several issues, including America's growing deficit and the proposed tactics for reducing the deficit. Now, this posting is not going to advocate for a particular tactic for reducing America's deficit, but instead will discuss the covert messages communicated by the debate surrounding proposed budget cuts, specifically concerning Planned Parenthood."

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...-environmental

So it is not even all about race as you presented it. And one thing you were close to correct....it did begin in the 70's but is not as restricted as you see it.

"The term racial microaggressions was first proposed by psychiatrist Chester M. Pierce, MD, in the 1970s, but psychologists have significantly amplified the concept in recent years.
In his landmark work on stereotype threat, for instance, Stanford University psychology professor Claude Steele, PhD, has shown that African-Americans and women perform worse on academic tests when primed with stereotypes about race or gender. Women who were primed with stereotypes about women's poor math performance do worse on math tests. Blacks' intelligence test scores plunge when they're primed with stereotypes about blacks' inferior intelligence.
Meanwhile, social psychologists Jack Dovidio, PhD, of Yale University, and Samuel L. Gaertner, PhD, of the University of Delaware, have demonstrated across several studies that many well-intentioned whites who consciously believe in and profess equality unconsciously act in a racist manner, particularly in ambiguous circumstances. In experimental job interviews, for example, whites tend not to discriminate against black candidates when their qualifications are as strong or as weak as whites'. But when candidates' qualifications are similarly ambiguous, whites tend to favor white over black candidates, the team has found. The team calls this pattern "aversive racism," referring in part to whites' aversion to being seen as prejudiced, given their conscious adherence to egalitarian principles.
Sue adds to these findings by naming, detailing and classifying the actual manifestations of aversive racism. His work illuminates the internal experiences of people affected by microaggressions—a new direction, since past research on prejudice and discrimination has focused on whites' attitudes and behaviors, notes Dovidio.
"The study of microaggressions looks at the impact of these subtle racial expressions from the perspective of the people being victimized, so it adds to our psychological understanding of the whole process of stigmatization and bias," Dovidio says.
Research shows that uncertainty is very distressing to people, Dovidio adds. "It's the uncertainty of microaggressions that can have such a tremendous impact on people of color," including on the job, in academic performance and even in therapy, he and others find.

Unmasking 'racial micro aggressions': Some racism is so subtle that neither victim nor perpetrator may entirely understand what is going on--which may be especially toxic for people of color

So, as always you mock something that is serious which means something but I sure do not get it. Why is everything with you something to mock and make fun of without even understanding what you are talking about.

I hope that my links do not keep you from "cracking up" as you say this subject made you......it is a movement; it is a serious movement; and I find no humor.

Now on Trigger Warnings....I am sorry that the only link you could find was the Urban Dictionary....not sure what that means....but here is some reading and I sure hope I am not being a downer on all the humor you get from this stuff....

From the New York Times...

"Should students about to read “The Great Gatsby” be forewarned about “a variety of scenes that reference gory, abusive and misogynistic violence,” as one Rutgers student proposed? Would any book that addresses racism — like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” or “Things Fall Apart” — have to be preceded by a note of caution? Do sexual images from Greek mythology need to come with a viewer-beware label?

Colleges across the country this spring have been wrestling with student requests for what are known as “trigger warnings,” explicit alerts that the material they are about to read or see in a classroom might upset them or, as some students assert, cause symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in victims of rape or in war veterans.

The warnings, which have their ideological roots in feminist thought, have gained the most traction at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where the student government formally called for them. But there have been similar requests from students at Oberlin College, Rutgers University, the University of Michigan, George Washington University and other schools.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/us...uirm.html?_r=0

This is from the Boston Globe, and despite you finding all this funny...cracking up is the word...they seem to find it serious enough.

"WARNING: THIS column may contain material you disagree with or find offensive. It may provoke a strong reaction, making you feel angry or exposed. Of course, you can log off or turn the page. But this is the opinion section of a general-interest newspaper. Shouldn’t you expect to find provocative, even threatening ideas? And shouldn’t other readers be able to see this column without a cautionary note that it might do them harm?

Something similar is happening on college campuses, where reasonable concern for students who may have suffered terrible traumas has morphed into a serious threat to intellectual freedom. Increasingly, students are expecting “trigger warnings’’ to be issued before they are asked to read certain texts or view course material that may be troubling. It can be something as raw as a graphic rape scene or a bloody wartime battle, or more conceptual, such as themes of racism or oppression. At some schools, students want to be allowed to skip a class or reading if they fear it will trigger a stressful reaction."

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...2I/story.html#

Everything that others say is not fodder for your mocking and making fun. You actually used the URBAN DICTIONARY to say something or other about Trigger Warnings. Sometimes it is nice to have a conversation with an adult who actually is aware of what is going on.

Look obviously this is quite serious to you.....but I found this quote pretty fun

Some colleges have moved toward an institutionalized recognition of micro aggression. The student government of Ithaca College, for example, passed a bill calling for a campus wide online system through which students could anonymously report micro aggressions. The University of California system has issued guidelines for faculty members warning that statements such as "America is a melting pot" or "I believe the most qualified person should get the job" could be micro aggressions.

In response to that document, the UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh wrote, "Well, I’m happy to say that I’m just going to keep on microaggressing." Clearly not everyone is on board with these kinds of policies. From the Chronicle of Higher Education....

How in the H*LL can "I believe the most qualified should get the job" be a micro aggression? It's just plain stupid.

Don't know why you are so fired up about it but you are.... You asked me to look into this, which I very diligently did. I just don't share your passion....

Yours is probably the most sensible post on here!
I can understand the trigger warnings but seriously doubt if they would be hoked onto well known pieces of literature. Before graphic films, yes, but not literature.
Micro-aggressions are a new one to me. I really doubt if those are taken seriously in college and certainly not in lower grades in school.

I am the OP on this thread and the reason I referenced "trigger warnings" and "micro aggressions" in my original post was because it clearly illustrated a phrase I define in such actions. People serious about and experiencing trigger warning and micro-aggressions are what I refer to as"intellecutalizing themselves into stupidity". It is circular thinking at best and a serious emotional issue at its worse. And the one thing they all have in common is "self" Its all about them

What intelligent person goes through his or her life viewing everything and anything as having some intentional slight. It borders on paranoia and thus you are never going to have a cogent discussion with such a person.

So the next time one of you find your instant reaction, in a discussion, to be he is a racist, a bigot, a homophobic you may want to re-examine why you pulled the trigger so quickly on your opinion and consider that the speaker is referencing something else entirely.

Personal Bet Regards:

I happen to agree with the OP that this is a very disturbing trend and how anyone as the one posters insists finds this funny escapes me.

Thomas Sowell, just a few weeks ago said this about micro aggression...

"Word games are just one of the ways of silencing politically incorrect ideas, instead of debating them. Demands that various conservative organizations be forced to reveal the names of their donors are another way of silencing ideas by intimidating people who facilitate the spread of those ideas. Whatever the rationale for wanting those names, the implicit threat is retaliation.

This same tactic was used, decades ago, by Southern segregationists who tried to force black civil rights organizations to reveal the names of their donors, in a situation where retaliation might have included violence as well as economic losses.

In a sense, the political left’s attempts to silence ideas they cannot, or will not, debate are a confession of intellectual bankruptcy. But this is just one of the left’s ever-increasing restrictions on other people’s freedom to live their lives as they see fit, rather than as their betters tell them.

- See more at: Thomas Sowell: 'Micro-aggression' is micro-totalitarianism | New Hampshire

While some find it funny, I find it a bit unnerving that something like this has gained such momentum.

From JULY 9, 2015

Microaggression and Changing Moral Cultures - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education

FROM JULY 10, 2015

University of California System Stirs Up 'Microaggression' Debate, but is it Too Much? : News : University Herald

From June 30, 2015

Wisconsin university dubs 'America is a melting pot' a racial microaggression - The College Fix

To those who feel this is a non serious and even fun thing, I do not know what to say.

The fireman in MN had absolutely no right to fly a Confederate flag on what the OP calls "his fire engine". The choice to put that flag on the truck at this time is a very very clear political statement supporting that flag. I don't think he was just supporting the Dukes of Hazzard, but it does not matter what I think.

The truck is not his personal billboard. The truck belongs to the government and is absolutely not "his fire engine" If the fireman had instead chosen to fly the hammer and sickle flag of the old USSR would that have been ok? If he had chosen to fly the rainbow flag of the gay right's movement, would that have been ok? He can do what he wants on his own car, and take the flak he gets for his decision as a private person. But he has no "freedom" to use the government's vehicle for his personal speech. That he even for one moment thought that adding the KKK's favorite flag to fly alongside the US Flag makes me seriously question this person's wisdom.

...

The title of this thread has intrigued me: "The Assaults on Freedoms by Progressives".

Don't they realize that "progressive" means to go forward?:22yikes:

The opposite of "progressive" is "REGRESSIVE".

Would you rather be identified as a Progressive or a Regressive?

Really only those two choices?
I think not. Maybe for those who have a preconceived notion that a position must be one or it is the other. Most issues in life are not that simple.

And the sadditional notion that one is better than the opposite is also agenda convenience and nothing more.

For example where would the status quo fit in/ Well it doesn't if one limits the choices to only two.

The problem of today is just that; some folks just do not take the time or some are not capable of or just do not want to think beyond what they feel is convenient or obvious. Because it is easy and does not require much if any thought processing.

The classic used in open thinking classes? How many uses are there for burned out light bulbs? A rule of the session is no laughing or ridculing any suggestions (which is a matter of course for some here). The objective is to determine how many uses there are. To help some out here is a short list of 20:

20 Brilliant Ways to Repurpose Lightbulbs | Brit + Co

The notion of being limited to a concept of being ONLY one or another is just not reality.....no matter how it is presented or stated.

Given the choice between just two radical views, and no others ?

For me, that is easy...regressive. And that term does not apply, but as usual, as this thread points out, control of the conversation becomes vital to progressives. Either stifle conversation on certain subjects because THEY find it offensive, or choose the choices. They want racial discourse, but they pick the manner, otherwise you are a racist. They want illegal immigration discussions, but they pick what you shouldn't say or you are a bigot.

And you do understand, with your question you totally ignore anyone who does not go to the extreme, and in doing so, really point out the problem.

There are some who find it cute to use "regressive" in posts, but they do so to mock, AND to stifle any real conversation, which was the premise of the OP.

Really...only two choices...progressive or regressive..come on

I think there are other choices other than PROGRESSIVE or REGRESSIVE

"“I’m not a liberal. Never have been. I’m a progressive who mostly focuses on the working and middle class.”

That is Bernie Sanders as quoted jn the NY TIMES today.......

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/up...abt=0002&abg=1

Well, you can go forward (progress), go backward (regress), or stay put ( status quo).

Which leads somewhere? Which shows gains? The answer is Progress!

If only REAL life was as simple as yours seems to be !

Give everyone a label, and then you define those labels and that is it....pretty simple, hey ?