The University of Minnesota has a training program for librarians that teaches them about microaggressions and how to intervene if they see one.

The intention of the guide, of course, is to make the library a more comfortable place for everyone to study — but a lot of its advice could actually have the opposite effect.

For example: Just like the Gonzaga University gender studies handout that I covered earlier this week, this training also claims that “[a]sking an Asian person for help with math and science” is a microaggression because what you’re really saying is that “[a]ll Asians are intelligent and good in math/sciences.”

First of all, fact check: Asking an Asian person for help in math or science does not automatically mean that you think all Asians are good at math and science, it means you think that particular person – who happens to be Asian – is good at math and science.

Second of all, it’s obvious that this line of thinking could make the library a little weird. If a librarian sees a student getting math or science help from an Asian student, is he or she supposed to intervene? Go up there and say, “Hey, I see that that kid helping you out is an Asian, why did you ask him for help? Are you perpetuating damaging cultural stereotypes? Go get help from a kid of another race, please!” Sure, it may sound crazy, but any librarian following the guide literally would have to at least consider it. Perhaps any Asian-on-non-Asian tutoring at U Minn will just have to be done in secret.

Another item on the list that could create problems in the library: “Telling a person of color that they are too loud” is a microaggression because that’s “pathologizing cultural values.”

Following this guide, a librarian — whose job includes telling people to quiet down so others can study  – would have to allow students of certain races to yell and scream as much as they want in order to be not racist. This is insane, seeing as the idea that you are supposed to be quiet in a library has nothing to do with “cultural values.” It’s basic respect, and turning the expectation of basic respect into some kind of racially charged issue isn’t going to make the library a better place for anyone. As was the case with the previous example, librarians adhering to this advice could make it harder for students to learn, and call me crazy but I don’t think that stopping kids from learning is what librarians are supposed to do.  

I just don’t see how any of this is necessary. After all, the guide itself acknowledges that microaggressions are, by definition, “subtle” and “ambiguous,” so why aren’t we expecting adult students to be able to handle “subtle” situations on their own? Even kindergarten students — four-year-olds who have much less experience navigating social situations than the adults in colleges — generally don’t experience this level of social policing. Elementary-school students handle even less-than-subtle-spats among themselves on playgrounds every day, and I think it’s about time we challenge higher-education students to do the same thing.

The training was first offered in 2014 and is still offered today, according to an article in the College Fix. 

—Katherine Timpf is a reporter for National Review Online.