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DAVIS | The Weaponization of Safe Space
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By ADAM DAVIS
In the news lately, we have witnessed the rise of a political movement based not on facts and logical demands, but emotion. Some members of this movement certainly have noble intentions: they seek to “protect” those they deem “vulnerable.” But they have chosen to do this in a way which infringes on the freedom of others, all in the name of creating a “safe space” for themselves and others like them. I am talking, of course, about the anti-refugee backlash in the wake of the recent terror attack in Paris. Of course much has also been made lately about those other “safe spaces” — so many campus activists seek their creation as places where marginalized students can seek refuge from racism, classism, homophobia and various other forms of bigotry. This concept has fallen under particular scrutiny recently due to the protests that have sprung up at college campuses throughout the United States, from Yale to Missouri to just down the road at Ithaca College.