Recently, the organization Sustainable Dartmouth sent out a campus-wide BlitzMail message titled "A Clarification and an Apology." The e-mail responded to criticism and apologized for a previous campus-wide e-mail that referenced "hav[ing] a drum circle and smok[ing] lots of pot" on the Green in celebration of Earth Day. The author of the blitz apologized after certain members of the Dartmouth community brought to his attention that members of the Native American community deemed the remarks insensitive because drum circles serve an integral role in Native American spiritual tradition. Furthermore, they found offensive what they assumed to be an insinuation that ritual drum circles include marijuana use.
After reading the e-mail, it is completely clear to me that its author aimed solely to self-mock the traditional communally oriented, peace-loving "hippy" stereotype that is so closely associated in American pop-culture with the environmentalist movement. He was in no way - and he reaffirmed this in his unnecessarily apologetic second e-mail - poking fun at, making light of, or even referencing in any way sacred Native American traditions. In actuality, drum circles are not unique to American Indian culture at all, as they originated outside of the Americas and are used across the globe by various cultures for various reasons. Equally unfounded is the claim by members of the Native American community that the marijuana reference was also inappropriate and hurtful, given that again, the reference was made implicitly in regards to "hippies'" use of that substance.
The Native Americans at Dartmouth - NADs for short - need to realize that they are living in a community more diverse than just their own. This most recent response is indicative of a self-centered trend whereby the NADs continue to segregate themselves from the Dartmouth community at-large. They claim to seek goals of full integration into the larger Dartmouth community, but frequently take steps backward from this goal by continually choosing to isolate themselves.
Perhaps a more proactive approach to full assimilation would entail becoming involved in campus organizations and campus life outside the walls of the NAD house. Not everybody on this campus holds ill-will towards the NADs, yet by inferring false motives from organizations such as Sustainable Dartmouth, the Greek System or Dartmouth Alumni Magazine they would have you believe that this is the case. This most recent example of undue backlash from the NAD community is perhaps the most outrageous, as it is quite obvious that the e-mail in question had nothing to do with Native Americans whatsoever.
Political correctness has run amok on the Dartmouth campus and to a lesser degree in American society at large. If you try hard enough, you can make almost anything seem offensive to a particular individual or group of people. Disturbingly, the standard of proof for assumed insensitive comments or actions on this campus seems to require no more than a potentially frivolous accusation in order to reach a conclusion of guilt. To draw conclusions so quickly regarding the intent of messages, such as that sent out by Sustainable Dartmouth, does a great disservice to society.
Freedom of expression is slowly being squashed on this campus in favor of special-interest minorities who cry wolf whenever they feel they have been dealt an injustice, regardless of the legitimacy of their claims. Although not as guilty as these seekers of offense, the "guilty" parties who immediately kowtow to the special interest and offer hollow apologies for their innocuous statements or actions do not help to solve the problem. Unless action is taken to defend these rights of innocent expression against special interests who engage in political correctness witch hunts, soon no one will be free to express his or her opinion on this campus without first exhausting all possible angles by which it may be deemed offensive.
