Have you ever felt like you can’t speak your mind in class or a social setting because you are afraid your friends and classmates will misunderstand and get angry at you? I certainly have.
As a political science student, I’ve found myself sitting in class several times listening to how professors and classmates recount past stories about governments and countries that I, as an international student, have had close experiences or encounters with. Sometimes, I would like to say that I disagree for whatever reason — perhaps because my experience with certain policies is different and more nuanced — yet, I often just stay quiet because I want to avoid what would be a very challenging and even upsetting conversation. I think of the names I would get called if I were to speak my mind; names that I’m sure you can imagine, if you have been in similar situations.
It had happened so often that I normalized it. I had simply accepted that perhaps I was in a school with a very specific demographic and that it was normal that my political views were uncommon. But this doesn’t sound right. Isn’t Penn supposed to be one of the most diverse universities? Don’t Penn students always claim to be open-minded and all about diversity? In theory, perhaps. But not in practice. Voices that deviate from the dominant, progressive narrative are constantly shut down and labeled as “fascists” or “Nazis” — something that doesn’t even make sense, given that fascism by definition refers to the suppression of all political opposition and the subordination of individual interests. If someone is open to having a conversation with you, that directly contradicts this now common notion of “fascism.”
At Penn, we have a misunderstanding of what open-mindedness is. Open-mindedness has become about respecting each other’s opinions, as long as the opinion only resembles yours and what you think is morally correct. It then becomes a free speech problem, where students find themselves self-censoring, afraid of the consequences of speaking out against widely media-fueled, progressive narratives. As a student put it: “Students can be quick to anger or become easily upset when hearing opposing opinions.”
Some students assume that their stance is the right one; they get on a progressive moral high horse, claiming they can’t even bear to listen to someone with a take that slightly veers from what they think.
Here’s the thing, though: There is no single, ultimate truth, and in politics, there is never just one right answer. Instead, politics hinges on lived experiences. What we go through inevitably shapes our political alignment. Which is why it’s not fair, let alone rational, to silence someone after learning what they think on “issue X” or who they voted for. Someone’s take on issue X is just the tip of the iceberg, and by silencing them you are missing out on an entire life story, let alone what could perhaps be a very fruitful discussion.
Penn students claim to be diverse, but sometimes they are not even interested in hearing the other side’s arguments. You can’t claim to be open-minded and in support of diversity if you silence entire experiences just because they don’t fit your preferred narrative. This progressive orthodoxy has reached a point where it gets hypocritical. True diversity isn’t only about gender, race, or background, but also about thought and perspective.
We often talk about the silent minorities, but if you ignore and block out every single person with a slightly different opinion, you don’t have a silent minority. You have a silent majority that is afraid to speak, fearing the effects speaking will have on their social and professional circles. Thinking that we can’t have challenging conversations because some takes widely differ from yours is not only close-minded but antidemocratic. I’m not saying you have to agree with every single person who thinks differently from you, but these people still deserve your respect.
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Political violence doesn’t start at the macro level. Political violence and exclusion start in small, micro settings like this, like Penn — the college campus where social dynamics give way to intolerance. Every time someone calls someone else a fascist or a Nazi — who’s likely not even fascist let alone Nazi aligned — because of their opinion they are increasing polarization even more. When you claim you can’t be friends with someone because they voted for someone different, you are being close-minded. This isn’t you being morally right. In reality, this brews intolerance and eventually violence. People can’t pretend to be sad or shocked when someone gets shot for speaking their truth, if, day to day, they ostracize students with perspectives outside the progressive mainstream, talk poorly about them behind their backs, make hate posts on Sidechat, and more. Diversity and open-mindedness are not something that should solely be taken care of by governments and congressional officials. It starts with you being open to having a difficult, challenging conversation with someone with a different perspective, and taking the time to understand where they come from. It starts with us being able to approach different political positions without violent labels.
MARIANA MARTINEZ is a College junior from Bogotá, Colombia studying international relations and classical studies. Her email is marmari@sas.upenn.edu.
