I've been thinking about injustices and our responses to them a lot lately. People here see them everywhere they turn.
Things that could be interpreted as racist, homophobic, classist, etc. always are. And while, certainly, many racist, homophobic and classist things are said with intentionality, many are not. We are human beings after all. We make mistakes: Sometimes we are not fully informed. Sometimes we say things that don't come out like we intend them to. Sometimes we just don't know that what we are saying is hurtful. Sometimes we really do have good intentions.
I love that Swarthmore and all its students are quick to respond to injustices. It shows that we care.
But what happens when we spend our whole lives feeling angry, frustrated and offended because we simply choose to believe that everyone has hurtful intentions?
What good does it do to fight against every injustice if it's only going to further convince us of humanity's depravity  — if it's going to make us miserable?

Can we assume good intentions where we can? Won't this make us happier?

Can we be happy and still do good for the world?
Can we pick our battles?