My generation has a knack for standing up for what they believe in. We are one of the first generations to have been born after the civil rights era of the 60s and also have constaaccess to the internet.
Thus, it is no surprise our knowledge of the atrocities our own country has perpetuated combined with the unlimited potential of the internet often inspires us to be very open with our opinions.
However, for all the good this does, there are quite a few people, college-aged in particular, who use this power to spread the wrong message.
These “social justice warriors” take extreme stances on most social issues, shunning everyone who does not agree with them and even those that do not agree with them to as extreme of a degree.
This has fostered an atmosphere of intolerance and abuse within American society, when most of the offenders would claim to be making a stand against this very idea.
Medium phrases it better than I can: “…In attempting to solve pressing and important social issues, millennial social justice advocates are violently sabotaging genuine opportunities for progress by infecting a liberal political narrative with, ironically, hate.”
Admittedly, I am an opinion writer, obviously also very prone to expressing my opinions, and I do not just do so via The Reflector. I often take to social media to display more informal versions of what I write here, and when I do, I notice quite a few others taking the same liberty.
I do not think there is anything wrong with a person simply expressing an opinion, even if it is an opinion I utterly disagree with. However, I find it irritating that people post information that could influence others with little to no research on a topic and a closed-minded attitude to opposing opinions.
Mississippi is a hotbed for hypocrisy on the latter, as an often-touted opinion is that Mississippians are close-minded about racial equality, homosexuality, gender-fluidity and many other “liberal” topics.
While these allegations are true in many cases, the prejudice on the other side is almost equally bad, especially amongst college students. It is almost as if a moderate stance on something is a sin.
When I share my opinion on social media, I make sure to include a disclaimer that my words are not intended to be intolerant in nature, and this is not because I am saying anything that could be considered intolerant.
This is simply because my lack of a pure left-wing stance is considered bigotry, racism or stupidity by many. The Huffington Post describes the phenomenon by stating, “The main problem is that anyone who doesn’t agree with strict rules on language is often labelled as a rabid right-winger, even if they are actually moderate progressives.” This hits home for me, as a “moderate progressive” concerning social policy in America.
However, this problem is not just an inconvenience to those who do not label themselves a pure liberal or a pure conservative. It is not even a problem for those of us who do consider themselves conservatives.
These social justice warriors are hurting their own cause, because their outright intolerance of opposition causes the issues and organizations they fight for to take a hit.
Feminism is an excellent example of an ideology that suffers because of the close-mindedness of those who often fight for it. I agree that empowerment for women is a very relevant and noble cause. However, I also acknowledge there are enough angry extremists within feminist ranks that have caused the otherwise noble term “feminist” to seem almost derogatory.
Feminism is not the only cause in which supporters’ extremism harms the cause itself. I routinely hear about Black Lives Matter supporters physically assaulting and verbally abusing those who disagree with their methods.
Many Bernie Sanders supporters make a habit of calling everyone else delusional. There are many under these social umbrellas who fight for their beliefs in ways that do not discount everyone else or cause emotional and physical harm.
The people who are damaging to others in supporting their cause, however, give their opponents all the ammunition in the world to blast them.
This causes the legitimacy of their movements to fall into question. If they are not concerned with being level-headed in terms of their cause, one would think these individuals would at the very least be concerned with their own reputations.
As a sophomore in college, it boggles my mind to see others my age participating in this, pun intended, sophomoric behavior.
As a supporter of many of the causes I mentioned above, it hurts to see a lot of the older generations discounting these causes and, by association, our generation as a whole.
Millennials have to wake up and see the harm their well-intended actions are causing, especially if they ever intend to create real social reform. If they do not, our generation will become the very thing we fear most: ineffective in causing change.
