Although I am technically a minority (half black), I was never heavily involved or even remotely informed in social justice until I arrived at SOU. So what's it like to be an apathetic minority in a social justice revolution? It's been an interesting two years to say the least.
First, a little background. Growing up in the "nice" part of the Bay Area, I was never privy to social injustice, so any opinions shared from here on are my own. They may not all be based around fact or sound reasoning, but they have been shaped by my upbringing as well as my experiences over the last few years.
First off, I have one thing to ask: why is everyone nowadays so offended about literally everything? I'm not sure if the rest of the world has been hiding all its problems or SOU as a whole is just ahead of the game. When I came here in the fall of 2015, I registered late for classes, meaning I didn't really have a choice when it came to my USEM or HSEM class. Whatever fit my schedule I just had to take. I ended up in the Social Justice House.
From the very beginning I was not too pleased about this. As far as I was concerned, this class would do me no good and I would get nothing out of it. Almost immediately we were discussing issues I had never heard about or could have even imagined existed.
I won't claim that oppression doesn't exist or that the system isn't set up to help cis/white/hetero/male people and isn't as fair to minorities. I get it, I really do. A year of that class explained so much to me, but there's a lot that still goes over my head.
As soon as I hear about a new social justice movement, my first instinct is to cover my ears and head the opposite way. Not a day goes by where someone isn't being oppressed in some new manner. I think that the main issue with any movement is that they alienate the majority (this makes absolute sense since the majority isn't facing oppression, inequality, etc). Even at SOU, there are so many extremists that preach their way or the highway. As someone who isn't overly involved or up to date, it doesn't seem that there is any room for positive conversation.
Not a day goes by where someone on Facebook isn't complaining about how the system is rigged against them or that they are a victim of oppression just by being near people that have it better than them. I wholly understand that there is a need for social justice and that certain events in recent history have caused it to move to the forefront of media and political discussion. As real as these issues are, from the outside looking in, it just looks like a bunch of young people complaining just because things aren't going their way.
I'm sure that intentions are good, but if you are involved in any of these movements try your best not to be the boy that cried wolf because your life isn't picture perfect.
