A two-day professional development conference held recently at the University of Michigan included a training session that aimed to help white employees deal with their "whiteness" so they could become better equipped to fight for social justice causes, according to organizers.
Comment: Cause nothing says "Join Us" like adding "And be a second class citizen!"
Participants who took part in the "Conversations on Whiteness" session, held December 5 during the university's Student Life Professional Development Conference, were taught to "recognize the difficulties they face when talking about social justice issues related to their White identity, explore this discomfort, and devise ways to work through it," the university's website states.
The goal was to help participants in "unpacking Whiteness" to support students and staff with issues and efforts "related to identity and social justice," the website added.
Comment: Why bother? Sit back and let us oppress you.
The "Conversations on Whiteness" session was one of more than a dozen workshops offered at the conference, held Dec. 4 and 5. The whiteness session utilized the "Privileged Identity Exploration Model" to help white participants explore the "discomfort" of their "white identity," according to organizers.
First introduced in 2007 by University of Iowa professor Sherry Watt in a College Student Affairs Journal article, the model purports to be a method for understanding how people react to stimuli that alert them of the privilege they hold. The model is to be used by "facilitators" to "engage participants in discussions about diversity," according to Watt.
Comment: Is anyone surprised this is being organized by a feminist?
Watt states there are eight defenses people use to avoid recognizing their privilege. Examples of defenses include "denial," where someone simply refuses to admit their privilege, and "minimization," where someone trivializes the impact of their privilege.
Comment: Where am I on the spectrum? Cause I want more privilege, not less. It's like money.
Imagine for a moment this woman was giving a seminar to explore the discomfort people feel when she demands they give her all of their money.
Sherry: "Now Billy, I want you to give me all of your money. What's in your wallet, in your savings account all of it."
Billy: "Umm, how about no?"
Sherry: "But Billy, there are people in the world who aren't as rich as you, like me, don't I deserve to be rich."
Billy: "Uh, I guess so, how about you earn some money."
Sherry: "I am Billy, believe me, I am. I am earning it by showing you how you should give everything you've earned to me!"
Billy: "But I don't wanna."
Sherry: "That's a normal reaction Billy. You're in the first stage of wealth privilege. Denial of giving. That's where you just refuse to accept that you have to give me all of your money."
Billy: "But, why do you need all of my money, can't I just give you like half?"
Sherry: "Well Billy, that's stage two, minimizing. You see you think that you can decide for me what my needs are. But no one understands why I need all of your money like I do!"
The College Fix reached out for comment to the three university staff members listed as facilitators of the event: Abby Priehs: associate director of residence education; Steve Bodei: associate director of Student Life Leadership Education; and Nick Smith: director of campus involvement.
When asked why the "unpacking Whiteness" event was created, and whether or not students at the University of Michigan had complained about the quality of racial discourse on campus, Smith responded: "This is an internal training for U-M Student Life staff." A subsequent query to Smith was not returned.
Have you been convicted of a crime?
Have you ever been bankrupt?
Do you have any outstanding warrants or pending criminal cases against you?
Have you attended a Whiteness seminar?