Anonymous wrote:I mean I grew up a liberal in AZ. I just got in a lot of arguments. lol.

I grew up liberal in a small town in southern IL. I didn't even get in a lot of arguments. Yes, I disagreed - sometimes strongly - with some people but the majority of people were just people...and totally fine.

I didn’t read all the responses, but what are you talking about? College campuses and college towns are often way more liberal than the surrounding area. Get out of your bubble.

I mean I grew up a liberal in AZ. I just got in a lot of arguments. lol.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am OP. I grew up in a place like this. When I went away to college I learned that I had all sorts of backwards ideas about groups of people even though I didn't know it at the time. I didn't realize how hurtful many of the terms we used to describe people were. I know now, and I live in DC now where my kid was raised with what I consider more evolved ideas.

Those of you acting like there aren't differences among people across regions of the country and in rural towns are full of it. I'm not saying that every person there thinks this way, but i am saying (accurately) that there are different norms in these places.

Astounding.

How would you describe yourself, OP?

Bigoted? Closed-minded? Hateful? Non-inclusive?

You are all of these things. And yet, you cannot even see yourself for who you really are.

I am seriously worried for you. But more-so for your children, and what you’ve done to them.

Your mentality is so horrendously harmful to the future of our nation.

Agreed.

And the worst thing is that so many people like this live in the US capital creating a bubble of ignorance, intolerance and hate.

Time to move DC to, I don't know, Austin at least? Santa Fe?

The smugness in DC is revolting. It is astounding to meet so many who’ve earned a degree, yet lack any ability for critical thinking.

Anonymous wrote:I was just talking with a kid raised in DC in a multiracial home with friends from other races and lots of LGBTQ friends and family. The teen is going to attend college in a conservative part of the country in a few months. How do these DC kids raised here in a "bubble" where misogyny, racism, and homophobia are not tolerated do when confronted with this sort of thing in Red states or rural America small towns where it's common to make fun of people who are offended by this stuff? What's the best advice to give these teens? I doubt that many realize what they're about to step into, so warning or preparing them seems like a good idea.

Let them experience life outside their bubble on their own terms. They'll be fine. Don't underestimate your kid.

If you want to prepare them, give them the book "Think Again" by Adam Grant. No need to say anything.

Anonymous wrote:This is a troll post. OP is a LWNJ troll.

She already knows at all universities liberal professors outnumber conservatives 12 to 1.

Study after study confirm what even the most casual observer of higher education has long known — that conservative professors are vastly outnumbered by liberal ones — but they also show the problem is getting worse.

Published in Econ Journal Watch last month, one study looks at faculty voter registration at 40 leading universities and finds that, out of 7,243 professors, Democrats outnumber Republicans 3,623 to 314, or by a ratio of 11 1/2 to 1.
This study comes after a tumultuous few years at American colleges and universities, marked by campus race protests, the disinvitation of conservative speakers and the popularization of phrases such as “trigger warning” and “safe space.”



https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/6/liberal-professors-outnumber-conservatives-12-1/

What “study after study” has shown is that education correlates with liberal politics. This is because American, right wing politics are an internally inconsistent mess driven primarily by the business interests of a few billionaires and media personalities who profit from stupidity, so they tend to fall apart when objectively analyzed (“freedom!” - except if you are gay or trans or need an abortion, “guns!” - unless you’re a Black person who owns a legal firearm, “God” - unless you’re Muslim).

That said, OP expressed themselves badly. Of course, everywhere in the country there are anti-racist, tolerant people, and the DMV is full of people who define themselves as liberal but are pretty intolerant.

As someone who lived for a long time in conservative areas, what’s different is threats to physical safety for people who aren’t straight, white, cis Christians. I was involved in three violent physical altercations in my 20s in South Carolina - one when a me and a mixed race groups of friends were accosted by a pickup truck full of drunk racists, and two others when people said anti-Semitic things to me and friends I was with. That has never happened to me outside of the south.

Some of our need seriously go spend some time in other parts of the country.

The purple parts. This stuff just doesnt come up in regular conversation. And if it does, most people share their opinion, and then move on.

Not every part of the country is as extreme as the DMV or Wyoming

Please, OP, don't expose your child (oh, sorry, young adult) to a difference in opinion. Keep them close and monitor them at all times.

We wonder why kids have higher levels of anxiety and depression? They can't even think for themselves as they move into adulthood.

We moved to a red state. People have all sorts of opinions here, some conservative, some liberal, some mixed and mingled. There is no universal way of thinking. OP is engaging in literal crazy talk. Just simply crazy.

The smallest towns I’ve lived in have been the most open minded overall. People didn’t care as much about politics, religion, race, what people wear, what school they send their kids to, etc. It’s more live and let live mentality. Watch out for your neighbors, treat everyone with respect, but if you don’t mesh it’s not the end of the world you just move on.

I encountered more bigotry and hatred in more populated areas where there were local “norms” and people were quick to chastise those that didn’t agree with their perceived “norms”. They labeled themselves as tolerant but often times that only meant tolerant to those that shared their own background and opinions.

Sure there are obviously places that still exist that are blatantly unopen to outsiders, sometimes blatantly racist, but usually it comes from a place of hating outsiders in general. Usually very very rural areas where you won’t find a grocery store much less a college, so I doubt you really have much to worry about on the college front.

In most small towns though what you perceive as racism is usually more lack of cultural understanding. While people may say things that some might find offensive, it’s usually coming from a place of inexperience with a particular culture rather than a hatred for that culture. If you immediately shut someone down for using an antiquated term then you also shut down the chance to teach someone else about a culture they may never have experienced.

There are good and bad people of every race, origin, etc living in all types of places and to generalize entire areas based only on your own limited experiences is very short sighted.
Whether living in a small town or large city, one just needs to look past the sometimes antiquated language and stereotypes to find common ground to establish friendships and understanding.

If you want to change the world to be more tolerant, then jumping on someone about their lack of cultural understanding probably isn’t the best method. Find common ground, establish friendships, then you can discuss nuances like language and cultural differences. Chances are you’re more alike than you think, you just have to be willing to give things a chance.

If you are stuck on maintaining only one way of thinking, or immediately criticize people for using a word you don’t like, that’s not really being tolerant or being open to individual growth (as one should hope to be at 18 years old and college bound).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a troll post. OP is a LWNJ troll.

She already knows at all universities liberal professors outnumber conservatives 12 to 1.

Study after study confirm what even the most casual observer of higher education has long known — that conservative professors are vastly outnumbered by liberal ones — but they also show the problem is getting worse.

Published in Econ Journal Watch last month, one study looks at faculty voter registration at 40 leading universities and finds that, out of 7,243 professors, Democrats outnumber Republicans 3,623 to 314, or by a ratio of 11 1/2 to 1.
This study comes after a tumultuous few years at American colleges and universities, marked by campus race protests, the disinvitation of conservative speakers and the popularization of phrases such as “trigger warning” and “safe space.”



https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/6/liberal-professors-outnumber-conservatives-12-1/

It isn’t a “problem” that liberal professors outnumber conservative ones.

The “problem” is such binary thinking, which seems to be a toxic side effect of conservative mentality (you’re either with us or against us, we’re so persecuted, whine whine whine).

The reality is this is a center-left country. Sometimes it is subjected to minority rule due to gerrymandering and archaic election practices. And right wing extremists screech loudly on their own freaky media network. And they have an absolute right to do so. But it’s not a “problem” that an institution of higher learning skews liberal. Not a problem at all.

Your “binary thinking” is as much a characteristic of the liberal mentality. See the behavior of Stanford Law School students and admin toward a conservative federal judge they invited to speak on campus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have taught them tolerance of different opinions, right? Then they’ll be fine.

It is more than “different opinions.” I can appreciate where the OP is coming from. Tolerating different opinions is one thing. Opinions which deny another person’s identity or judge/shame them is quite another. Yes kids can learn to respectfully disagree about many issues; however hate and denying someone’s truth is not so simple to “respectfully disagree.”

Of course in day to day world , people go about it. I think the OP means if the people her child tries to build friendships with and connect with come from a place of hate or condemnation of race, sexuality, religion, gender then that is something their child is not used to.

Hmm - so let me understand you:

- you are all for “difference of opinion.” But you you cannot tolerate “hate.”

Why do you think people will not simply declare any opinion they don’t agree with to be “hate,” and totally dismiss the other person?

How do you suppose an academic debate society would work if every participant simply declared their opponent’s position to be “hate” and therefor invalid, and therefore they win the debate?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am OP. I grew up in a place like this. When I went away to college I learned that I had all sorts of backwards ideas about groups of people even though I didn't know it at the time. I didn't realize how hurtful many of the terms we used to describe people were. I know now, and I live in DC now where my kid was raised with what I consider more evolved ideas.

Those of you acting like there aren't differences among people across regions of the country and in rural towns are full of it. I'm not saying that every person there thinks this way, but i am saying (accurately) that there are different norms in these places.

Astounding.

How would you describe yourself, OP?

Bigoted? Closed-minded? Hateful? Non-inclusive?

You are all of these things. And yet, you cannot even see yourself for who you really are.

I am seriously worried for you. But more-so for your children, and what you’ve done to them.

Your mentality is so horrendously harmful to the future of our nation.

Agreed.

And the worst thing is that so many people like this live in the US capital creating a bubble of ignorance, intolerance and hate.

Time to move DC to, I don't know, Austin at least? Santa Fe?

Anonymous wrote:I am OP. I grew up in a place like this. When I went away to college I learned that I had all sorts of backwards ideas about groups of people even though I didn't know it at the time. I didn't realize how hurtful many of the terms we used to describe people were. I know now, and I live in DC now where my kid was raised with what I consider more evolved ideas.

Those of you acting like there aren't differences among people across regions of the country and in rural towns are full of it. I'm not saying that every person there thinks this way, but i am saying (accurately) that there are different norms in these places.

Astounding.

How would you describe yourself, OP?

Bigoted? Closed-minded? Hateful? Non-inclusive?

You are all of these things. And yet, you cannot even see yourself for who you really are.

I am seriously worried for you. But more-so for your children, and what you’ve done to them.

Your mentality is so horrendously harmful to the future of our nation.

Anonymous wrote:This is a troll post. OP is a LWNJ troll.

She already knows at all universities liberal professors outnumber conservatives 12 to 1.

Study after study confirm what even the most casual observer of higher education has long known — that conservative professors are vastly outnumbered by liberal ones — but they also show the problem is getting worse.

Published in Econ Journal Watch last month, one study looks at faculty voter registration at 40 leading universities and finds that, out of 7,243 professors, Democrats outnumber Republicans 3,623 to 314, or by a ratio of 11 1/2 to 1.
This study comes after a tumultuous few years at American colleges and universities, marked by campus race protests, the disinvitation of conservative speakers and the popularization of phrases such as “trigger warning” and “safe space.”



https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/6/liberal-professors-outnumber-conservatives-12-1/

It isn’t a “problem” that liberal professors outnumber conservative ones.

The “problem” is such binary thinking, which seems to be a toxic side effect of conservative mentality (you’re either with us or against us, we’re so persecuted, whine whine whine).

The reality is this is a center-left country. Sometimes it is subjected to minority rule due to gerrymandering and archaic election practices. And right wing extremists screech loudly on their own freaky media network. And they have an absolute right to do so. But it’s not a “problem” that an institution of higher learning skews liberal. Not a problem at all.

Why are you so worried about your child being exposed to others. It is not a bad thing for your child to be exposed to other ideas, other values, etc. Maybe your child will develop the ability to think for himself and not jump to conclusions about groups of people based on where they live, what they look like, or what their jobs are.

That said universities and colleges skew very liberal.