Grouchy Old Cripple picks up on something I had intended to comment upon but then set aside for other things, probably less important.
He refers to the tale of the perfessor in Caliphornia who made so bold as to correct the capitalization and spelling of a (privileged) minority student. The resulting foofaraw at UCLA, formerly an institution of learning set off the usual sort of mau-mauing.The act of correcting a black student was "micro-aggression," according to the members of the student group "Call 2 Action: Graduate Students of Color," which launched a sit-in during a subsequent meeting of the class.This is the first instance in my entire life of encounter with the term "micro-aggression," but it is one which I'll add to my ever-increasing vocabulary, not all of which consists of bad words.
Let us ponder for a moment the literal meaning of the term: an aggression which is microscopic. It is too teeny-tiny to be seen with the naked eye, something in the category of a whack on the elbow by a gnat, perhaps even a hefty blow delivered by a parmecium.
This is Eric Margolis on steroids... No. Wait. It's simply the logical evolution of Eric Margolis and his description of a nation laboring under repression so subtle as not to be felt.
At some point, probably in the time of our grandchildren or great-grandchildren, they're going to deal with this kind of ideological aggression, which is not micro at all. The pendulum will swing the other direction, the tumbrils will roll, and their own grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be shocked at how blood-thirsty they're going to be.