Safe spaces give minorities a much-needed escape from white and hetero-normativity, which is epitomized by non-minorities’ undue exercise of privilege in minority conversations. Take the following example: In the midst of a conversation about the racialization of poverty, a white person asserts that white people are poor, too. While the statement in and of itself is correct, it is irrelevant to the topic and effectively shuts down the conversation. Moreover, while this kind of defensive response can be made in good faith, it is too often accompanied by truly racist or otherwise discriminatory allegations: for example, that race has nothing to do with poverty, and that colored people have nothing to complain about.
Safe spaces counteract this problem—they provide sanctuary from these typical privileged/minority interactions, in which privileged people silence minority conversations through the conscious or unconscious exertion of privilege. Moreover, they allow minorities to freely discuss discrimination, identity, and other topics with people who truly do check their privilege at the door. No longer obliged to justify, cater, or defend their discussions to privileged people, minorities can focus on their own matters.
—Jennifer Alzate, a Columbia College sophomore majoring in English.
(http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2011/04/03/safe-spaces-dont-want-your-privilege)
i defeintely wouldn’t have made it through my undergrad in one piece if it hadn’t been for Common Ground.
