Northwestern University is currently in the midst of a six-week “social justice education” program that is exclusively for white students. The program, titled “Deconstructing Whiteness,” is a “six part workshop series for students who self-identify as white,” according to the university website.
A flier advertising the program states that “Deconstructing Whiteness” is intended to answer questions white students might have about race such as “Why do I have to feel guilty about being white?” or “How can I talk about race as a white person?” or “What does it mean to be white?”
Students applying for the program are required to commit to attend all six sessions, seemingly preventing students from abandoning the program if they don’t like it or feel uncomfortable. The program began on January 26 and will run through March 3 and is being hosted by the university’s Women’s Center. The university refused to answer any of The Daily Caller’s questions about the event, including questions about what advantages there might be to the racially-exclusive education programs.
Northwestern does not appear to have any similar “social justice education” events exclusively for non-whites. The university will, however, sponsor a blacks-only “healing space” on February 25 as part of the university’s Black History Month festivities. T
he university website justifies the racially-exclusive healing space by explaining: “Living and being a black student at Northwestern, let alone a black person in the world, is a difficult burden to carry. This healing space is meant to give people the chance to talk through the state of our communities, blackness in the world, and day-to-day struggles of being black at Northwestern.” The university website states that the event is “a black student and community affinity space.”
Northwestern is just the latest university to sponsor racially-exclusive social justice programs. Oregon State University held several social justice retreats in January that were exclusive to white, black, and mixed-race students. Similarly, the University of Vermont held a three-day “white privilege” retreat in November that was exclusively for white students.
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