Last semester in Anthropology class reading "Gang Leader for a Day"and "Dancing Skeletons', got me in hot water with some sorority girls. The class discussion topic at the end circled back to inequality and social mobility. The group consensus was that the poor of Chicago had as much chance of advancement as the people of West Africa (Niger). I disagreed and stated that the people of Chicago had opportunities for advancement. They could join the military and that "as Americans people have so many options". A sorority girl got pissy and stated something along the lines of "so they can go overseas and murder people", at which point the professor stepping in and said "whoa, no personal attacks". Professor said that she apologized after class ended.
Afterwards there were other female comments regarding "the government isn't paying my school" and other jabs. Point I'm trying to make is that these kids just pretend to be open minded. As soon as you make them look like fools, you become a social pariah. Not that it matters.
Edit: For most of us stuff like this is a non issue. The problem is that these kids can reinforce narratives that are socially corrupt and blatantly incorrect. (ie Bernie Sanders) They also wield enormous influence over their peers, especially in academia. With their ease in navigating social media and other alternate forms of communication, this generation doesn't have to be right. They just have to have the loudest voice. Whoever doesn't go along with them is pretty much outcast, at the same time these kids are protected as they know that you cannot lay a hand on them. To fix it, the narrative has to be changed from the inside by people who haven't lived insulated by the walls of academia.
Sorry if that is too wordy. My brain is no good.
