Millennials destroyed by PC

To the editor:

Twitter is, in many ways thankfully, what Tumblr didn’t become. Rest in peace to an iconic social media app of a generation.

What I’ve noticed as a young millennial who is primly in-tune with social media as a tool in the general sense is that there is an element of manipulation and bias that haunts each one of them. And it really is no fault to the creators, but mostly maximized by our own hyper-focus on social currency.

Political correctness culture is, on its base, a nice tool to possess in day-to-day speech. It officially and rightfully so exists in professional spaces, and can ward off things like hate speech. But on the flip side, it’s creating an atmosphere of young voices that are too afraid to challenge anything.

We are, in effect, becoming slaves to what we are told to believe and respect as offensive.

Although I’m relatively just fully reaching adulthood at 21, the transformation we have universally taken as a community — especially here in the United States — is evident.

As a child in high school, it wasn’t unusual to have discourse that, by today’s standards, would be considered “racist,” or not “body positive” along with whatever else has been shunned as disgraceful by online community standards. In my opinion, as a woman of color who faced many challenges connected to my culture and class distinction, I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up any other way.

Through these trying moments, I learned something that can’t be taught. It’s called grit.

Now, people my age — and those even younger — are effectively being pacified.

What’s quite amusing is the fact that the presence of those online who have amassed a grand social stature is that of perfection, and not ever someone who might say something borderline contemptuous.

But once their phones are put to the side and reality hits, nobody is clocking anyone in real life for having a different point of view, or saying something unfavorable.

Now, am I here promoting bad speech or bullying? Absolutely not. But I am also not going to stand by and accept the United States becoming one big “safe space” where everyone cancels each other? The answer is an even greater “no.”

That, in my opinion, is more chaotic and frightening than anything someone would say at face value.

Dystopian societies can take many forms. Let’s recognize this and correct problems instead of painting over them like glazed pastries.

Kena Dijiba

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