The University of California has been the subject of derision lately for its recent faculty seminars designed to wipe out so-called �??microaggressions,�?� which the university describes as �??everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs or insults�?� that �??communicate hostile messages�?� to members of �??marginalized�?� groups. These can be unintentional and even �??preconscious�?� or �??unconscious�?� slights.

Some of the media barbs have been focused on a fact sheet, distributed by the UC president�??s office, that gives examples of such behaviors that create a hostile environment �?? e.g., asking a person of Asian or Latino descent where they are from, saying that �??America is the land of opportunity,�?� or criticizing affirmative action as �??racist.�?� UC identifies other microaggressions as mistaking a female doctor for a nurse or �??being forced to choose male or female on a form.”

According to literature suggested by the university to its faculty members, such behaviors can �??contribute to a diminished mortality, augmented morbidity, and flattened confidence.�?� Are people like me �?? the son of an immigrant who loves to ask about people�??s backgrounds and celebrates the American melting pot �?? a danger to public health?

�??Contrary to what has been reported, no one at the University of California is prohibited from making statements such as �??America is a melting pot�?? �?�,�?� said Dianne Klein, the media relations director for UC�??s Office of the President. These are just voluntary seminars for deans and departments heads, she added, �??to make people aware of how their words or actions may be interpreted when used in certain contexts.�?�

But UCLA professor Eugene Volokh argued in the Washington Post recently that such an approach dampens academic freedom: �??I�??m afraid that many faculty members who aren�??t yet tenured, many adjuncts and lecturers who aren�??t on the tenure ladder, many staff members, and likely even many students �?� will get the message that certain viewpoints are best not expressed when you�??re working for UC.�?�

The training seems based on Critical Race Theory, described in one article recommended by UC as a philosophy that �??starts with the premise that race and racism are endemic to and permanent in U.S. society.” The theory �?�challenges claims of objectivity, meritocracy, color blindness, race neutrality and equal opportunity, asserting that these claims camouflage the self-interest, power and privilege of dominant groups.�?�

That�??s a controversial political approach, despite some associated silliness. For instance, I took an online quiz linked to by the university. One part of it showed pictures of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Quiz-takers were asked about their attitudes toward our current president in comparison to previous (white) presidents. Another quiz asked how strongly I agreed with statements, including this one: �??Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs.�?� Do our views toward such comic-book-type conservatism really reflect the degree of our inherent racism and phobias?

Most students and faculty �?? liberal, conservative and otherwise �?? no doubt roll their eyes and go on with their work. But many critics say it poisons the campus atmosphere.

�??It promotes infantilism,�?� said Tibor Machan, a retired Chapman University professor of business ethics. �??Colleges become kindergartens. �?� Luckily only about 10 percent of students fall in line with this, but they are encouraged by ideological professors and administrators. �?� (S)imple civility gets mixed up with often-politicized civil rights.�?�

An effort to identify �??microaggressors�?� creates a world �??where people don�??t talk to each other,�?� adds William Anderson, an economics professor at Frostburg State University in Maryland. �??It�??s absolutely destroying relationships. Anything you do (or don�??t do) is going to be construed as a microaggression.�?� He points to a UCLA professor who in 2013 was accused of such aggressions and the subject of a campus sit-inbecause he corrected the spelling and grammar in papers submitted by African-American students.

Is this what our top university system should be encouraging? I�??d say �??no,�?� but that�??s probably evidence of the hostile intellectual climate my column is creating.