One of the nastiest features of American higher education today is its incessant focus on division — how some groups enjoy “privilege” while others are “oppressed.” The mania over diversity is grounded in assigning individuals to various groups they supposedly represent, then harping on the fact that we don’t have mathematically equal representation. We find race-themed dorms and centers on campus where grievance-mongering simmers. And individuals who don’t want to play along are likely to be attacked as “traitors.”
In this Martin Center article, North Dakota State psychology professor Clay Routledge ruminates on how damaging this is and also on the lack of attention to our common humanity.
“The point,” Routledge writes, “is that people who on the surface appear very different from us actually have many underlying similarities. Indeed, psychologists have established that basic psychological needs as well as the structure of emotion and personality are universal.” But that message doesn’t help advance the leftist cause, which thrives on artificial division and conflict — which then gives campus or government authorities more to do.
This paragraph really nails the truth:
Instead of using diversity to promote a common humanity, they are using it to make students perpetually conscious of group membership. This increases the likelihood of ingroup bias. They are creating spaces, including residence halls, that are segregated by race or designated for the exclusive use of one particular group. This promotes distrust of and hostility toward members of different groups.
Exactly. The “progressives” who are always strutting their commitment to inclusion are (perhaps deliberately; perhaps not) bringing about distrust and exclusion. Theirs is a shameful and retrograde social movement.