Racism by any other name…
Posted on November 28, 2007
Filed Under Off the beaten path
This landed in my email a short time ago, it’s mind boggling to believe this could still be happening on a college campus in 2007. Below is part of the University of Delaware Office of Residence Life Diversity Facilitation Training manual used just this last August. The full document can be found here.
Excerpts from University of Delaware Office of Residence Life Diversity Facilitation Training Manual:
“A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality. By this definition, people of color cannot be racists, because as peoples within the U.S. system, they do not have the power to back up their prejudices, hostilities, or acts of discrimination. (This does not deny the existence of such prejudices, hostilities, acts of rage or discrimination.)” - Page 3
“REVERSE RACISM: A term created and used by white people to deny their white privilege. Those in denial use the term reverse racism to refer to hostile behavior by people of color toward whites, and to affirmative action policies, which allegedly give ‘preferential treatment’ to people of color over whites. In the U.S., there is no such thing as ‘reverse racism.’” - Page 3
“A NON-RACIST: A non-term. The term was created by whites to deny responsibility for systemic racism, to maintain an aura of innocence in the face of racial oppression, and to shift responsibility for that oppression from whites to people of color (called “blaming the victim”). Responsibility for perpetuating and legitimizing a racist system rests both on those who actively maintain it, and on those who refuse to challenge it. Silence is consent.” - Page 3
“Have you ever heard a well-meaning white person say, ‘I’m not a member of any race except the human race?’ What she usually means by this statement is that she doesn’t want to perpetuate racial categories by acknowledging that she is white. This is an evasion of responsibility for her participation in a system based on supremacy for white people.” - Page 8
It appears that this program was discovered by an outside organization and canceled this year. The university president claims to have had no knowledge of the program until recently. No apology has yet been offered although the student newspaper recently published the following story with a little more background. The whole thing reads like a bad episode of ‘The Office’. I guess sometimes life imitates art.
Until next time…
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