I&#x27;m a student at Brown University, and these issues have been at the front of campus-related tensions for the last 2 years (perhaps longer, but I wasn&#x27;t aware of them then). Your post reflects the most vocal attitude on campus at the moment (the &quot;free-speech&quot; faction is shrewdly keeping silent). I&#x27;m up-voting your post because you echo the perspective of many of my peers who I respect, and I want to give others on HN the opportunity to respond to your post without it being hidden.<p>I do not know of any black people at my school who openly criticize this recent string of college protests (the debate seems to be predominantly centered around blacks in these incidents). Surely, if this pain is something only black people can understand and they are so united in this movement, then it suggests that their grievances ARE legitimate.<p>... and yet, something feels wrong here. Something feels wrong when I see hyperbolic signs like &quot;our culture is not a costume&quot; or retroactive counterarguments like &quot;it&#x27;s not only about the Halloween Costumes&quot;. Something feels wrong when I see people sharing FB statuses with #concernedstudent1950 when it implies they support the demands made by the student group [1]. Something feels wrong when my peers believe that whites cannot be the victims of racism, due to their racial privilege. I don&#x27;t have a good response to your points, but I&#x27;m interested to see others&#x27; replies to your comment.<p>At any rate, all I&#x27;m sure of is that the political climate has dramatically changed in the last 2 years.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com&#x2F;columbiatribune.com&#x2F;content&#x2F;tncms&#x2F;assets&#x2F;v3&#x2F;editorial&#x2F;3&#x2F;45&#x2F;345ad844-9f05-5479-9b64-e4b362b4e155&#x2F;563fd24f5a949.pdf.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com&#x2F;columbiatribune....</a>