Careful! Microaggression Ahead...

"There's a political correctness that has come to dominate all issues so that it is dangerous to make any remark that has the remotest connection -- not even a real connection -- to race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, whatever, because if you do, then you can suddenly be found to be insensitive."
There's also this whole theory that you can't be insensitive, you can't hurt anybody. It doesn't matter whether what you say is true or not, or whether it's reasonable or not, or whether it's funny or not. If it hurts, then it's wrong."
"We're perfectly prepared to hurt those who make the remarks in a completely disproportionate way in their career and in their future because somebody was supposedly offended or hurt."
Julius Grey, Montreal lawyer, former SSMU president, (past) McGill law school professor

"The fact that a complaint did come forward does prove that someone was harmed and did feel harm, and I think that there should be more apologies in society generally. I don't think much harm can come out of an apology."
"I am not a person of colour. I am white. I will never know what it feels like to experience racism, so I don't think it was a stretch for us to ask that there be an apology."
Joey Shea, vice-president, university affairs, McGill University

Executive Team from left to right: Joey Shea (VP University Affairs), Brian Farnan (VP Internal Affairs), Stefan Joel Fong (VP Clubs and Services), Katie Larson (President), Samuel Harris (VP External Affairs) and Tyler Hofmeister (VP Finance and Operations)

Among 22,000 recipients of a message it took one single, lone and dreadfully offended complaint to trigger an investigation under the Students' Society of McGill University's equity policy. As the uber-sympathetic to identity-defence malaise Ms. Shea, vice-president of student affairs put it, she did not personally feel offence, "But one person did".

The unfortunate affair began when McGill University student politician Brian Farnan forwarded a message to students last October, in a jocular attempt to proffer relief from exam tension. The message read: "Honestly midterms get out of here", and included with it was a link to a video that had become popular, doctored to portray U.S. President Barack Obama kicking open a door on the way out of a news conference.

The fake scenario of Obama kicking open a door .

The clip had evidently first seen airing during Jay Leno's monologue in The Tonight Show, a respectable enough provenance. Mr. Farnan is a vice-president of the Students' Society of McGill University. His message set off a storm of controversy when one single recipient of his message took umbrage, lodging a formal complaint of racial insensitivity. Forcing Mr. Farnan to issue a lengthy apology to those same original 22,000 recipients out of which total one person complained.

And a chastened Mr. Farnan was also coerced into a commitment to expose himself to 'sensitivity training'. "The image in question was an extension of the cultural, historical and living legacy surrounding people of colour -- particularly young men -- being portrayed as violent in contemporary culture and media", he wrote as part of his apology. "By using this particular image of President Obama, I unknowingly perpetuated this living legacy and subsequently allowed a medium of SSMU's communication to become the site of microaggression; for this I am deeply sorry."

Microaggression? This, evidently, is a pejorative term applying to the thoughtless among us who employ words, gestures, cartoons, references, anything that might be offensive to some unthought-of target. Insensitivity to minority groups. That there was no intention to disturb or offend anyone is no excuse for having committed such an unforgivable slight, and as such it cannot be overlooked; the perpetrator must be taken to the woodshed. Preferably, with full public spotlight.

An education professor at University of California at Los Angeles was accused by minority students of microaggression because he practised the unmitigated gall of correcting grammar and spelling in their dissertations. Someone has established a McGill Microaggressions website where students and staff are invited to report instances of "sexism, heteropatriarchy, transphobia, classism, racism [and] ableism". And, so there!

One complaint was lodged against a psychology professor who, on the first day of class announced a no-cellphone policy. "He says, 'We have sharia law here, you'll get stoned on the third ring'", wrote the anonymous complainer. "Why disgusting people like him are still allowed to teach is beyond me." Another student complained to a professor about being asked to respond male/female on a survey.

"When I mentioned to the prof that this reinforced the gender binary, he laughed and said, 'It's too difficult to change that'", reported the student in high dudgeon. Ms. Shea applauds the controversy for its effect of raising awareness about microaggression, as positively vital to the good functioning of society. "I microaggress all the time. You microaggress all the time. Even people of colour microaggress all the time", she said, no doubt with great satisfaction at crucifying everyone equally.

At risk of offending someone, somewhere, at some time, curiosity just gets the better and the question must be asked: What the hell is the matter with these people?