“Being mean” is construed incredibly broadly. Questioning people’s ideologies is now considered intolerance to the point that those who consider themselves woke are rarely aware of why the so-called bigots actually believe what they do.

It’s true that there are very real problems with racism, sexism, and homophobia, but the problem is that the approach to these issues is incredibly one-sided. For instance, it used to be politically correct to say that you “don’t see race”. Now, anyone who says that immediately experiences the ire of those who “know better”, regardless of the sentiments behind the statement. They don’t even get a chance to explain themselves before they get shut down and labelled a racist.

Obviously, not everyone is like that, and it’s a two-way street–there are plenty of actual bigots, which is why non-bigots get the label in the first place. But it’s not any less frustrating that those of us with non-politically correct views are slotted into a very narrow box and not listened to.