College Has Gone PC (And it tells us a lot about Gen Z)

The tail end of the Millennials and Gen Z aren’t accepting our exclusive society

One of the big trending issues back in 2015 (practically forever ago) was the rise of PC culture on college campuses.

2015 saw the advent of the safe space, spaces for people of color to be safe from white people and a general lurch away from anything that might offend anyone at any time. To many older people, this might seem a little crazy. Why would young people want to restrict free speech and free and public spaces simply for the “safety” of people’s feelings? Obviously, this has created an interesting debate online and there are usually two camps: those in favor it and fighting for more of it and everyone else.

Now political correctness has been a catch all phrase the carefully decided language that politicians and public officials use to make that they don’t annoy or offend any potential voters. Back in the 90s and the days of “Politically Incorrect” PC-ness was as much a joke as it was serious. But now in our modern age of “Social Justice Warriors” and deep activism from many fronts on a variety of seemingly inequitable issues, how inclusive our society, who is marginalized and why has never been more on the minds of Americans. Allowing oppressed voices to be heard is trending on college campuses and in the art world. Breaking down the ceiling of the dominant cultural narrative is fueling the exciting creativity right now and is bound to for the next several years. I would argue that within this PC movement, which seems at odds with itself because it’s calling for more open conversation while being incredibly close-minded to any view other than its own, is really inspiring a deep cultural change that is shaking things to a core level deeper than the cultural changes in the 1960s. This current movement asks not just for freedom sexually or physically. It’s asking us to redefine our entire national narrative. That is very hard. Stories don’t die easily, if they can help it.

The PC college movement is cultural backlash stemming from a culture that
hitherto has been exclusive and keeping people out and a desire to move towards a culture of inclusivity.

And this is important not only because our culture needs to learn to include more people than just white people and others who fit within that narrative but also it tells us interesting things about the policies and voting decisions of the next generation of kids coming up. Now that they have been exposed to the multitude of cultures in our society they are going to expect tolerance and equal treatment for everyone in a really inclusive way that makes sure that people can exist in society and not be constantly offended or told they simply don’t fit in. Paradoxically, the same online environment that created this trend is surprisingly hostile not only to this trend but to people that don’t fit in with the dominant culture and it’s way to looking at the world. That said, the internet is only a platform and a variety of things happen at once. Everything from Kim Kardashian’s app to this very blog post you are reading.

Will there be struggle? Yes

Will it cause social upheaval? Yes

Will it be hard? You had better believe it.

Will our society be better for it? I think so.

Respond, let me know what you think!