Moving away from the template of 'oppressor vs. oppressed'

The violent campus takeover by protesters — some of them students, many not — has had the unintended effect of discrediting the premise underlying the protest. That premise is that the world is divided between oppressors and the oppressed, and that the oppressors are always evil and their victims already virtuous.

It’s a premise that runs against common sense and is readily rejected by anyone with more than a smidgen of knowledge of history. Common sense tells us that people who are treated badly often behave badly in return, which is why people are favorably impressed by those who rise above adversity.