Beyond micro-aggressions...

      Last week I was privileged to attend an outstanding, day-long program on racism.  in which a substantial part of the  presentations and discussions focused on micro-aggressions... those little insults and slights that spring from insensitivity and a lack of empathy.  A panel of very bright and articulate LGBTQ and African-American students candidly talked about their personal experiences with micro-aggressions and the cumulative effect they can have.  While I'm all for free speech and academic freedom, especially on our college campuses, I can report that I am won over by their revelations.

     But let us look beyond micro-aggressions to the broader umbrella topic of good manners.  Many an American poo-poos manners.  Some revel in their rudeness, brashness and their big mouths.  You know some, just as I do.  They miss the point: manners are the essential veneer that turns the rough surface of human interaction into a smooth and attractive surface.  In many respects, manners make civilization viable.

     I used the word "empathy." The great English philosopher, David Hume, understood that empathy is the societal glue that makes social justice possible.  He argued that justice is possible because each of us is able to relate to the feelings and desires of others, and thanks to that empathy, can negotiate the gaps between us.  In the words of one Hume scholar, "[T]he principle of impartial benevolence, associated mainly with writers in the Utilitarian tradition, especially David Hume and Adam Smith,... states a moral act is one that takes into account all people likely to be affected by it --- at the face-to-face level this has become a principle of caring about the well-being of others, including their need for self-respect, dignity, and avoidance of pain."

     More than any of the policies espoused by Donald Trump, his utter disregard for these principles constitutes his greatest threat to American government, culture and society.  By his obnoxious behavior he tells that substantial part of the populace who follow him that this behavior is now acceptable in our society.  He has already taken political discourse way beyond micro-aggressions.

     Let me suggest on this Sunday morning that combatting this behavior on our campuses and beyond is now a front-burner challenge for we who are university administrators and faculty.  If not us, who?