To claim a place in this “accepting” community, I had to think perfectly, talk perfectly, act perfectly, live perfectly. There was no room for unintended marginalization, for career considerations that paid too high, for ignorance towards the ever-expanding set of causes that the social justice movement adopts. As much as I want to sympathize, too much of it is unacceptably exclusive. Instead of focusing on the very real “bigots” of this world and tackling head-on the political structures of inequality, the loudest voices of the movement have become preoccupied with witch-hunting for “fake liberals.” There is this strange conviction that only the most extreme versions of a position can be true, and that all minor deviations, all attempts to compromise or to even consider the other side are forms of bigotry. The result of this extremity is a tendency to prioritize flashiness over truth. It means that if, as a woman, you suggest that being careful with clothing, especially when walking by yourself, is a good way to reduce the risk of sexual assault, you will be immediately caricatured as blaming women for rape. It means that if you talk about the higher SAT and GPA scores needed for Asian-Americans in college applications in a debate about affirmative action, you will be immediately shut down as trying to pit minorities against each other. Using exaggeration and shame to deny the tension of real nuances is both ignorant and irresponsible. No issue that deals with thousands of people can be so crudely simplified. And if my unwillingness to support these exaggerations earns me the ultimate disqualifier of “center-left,” that is the identity I want to embrace. Because this active polarization is more than a Harvard drama—it is a denial of humanity to the rest of this country.