A Review of
Teaching Race at Historically White Colleges and Universities: Identifying and Dismantling the Walls of Whiteness
“Walls of Whiteness” in Historically White Colleges and Universities Uphold White Supremacy and Require Intentional Institutional Efforts to Deconstruct
Deconstructing walls of whiteness in historically white colleges and universities requires a bold and comprehensive institutional commitment that makes those institutions more responsive to and representative of historically underserved and marginalized communities.
Many white students enter postsecondary education fortified by “walls of whiteness,” or manifestations of racial privilege that shield white students from challenges to white supremacist assumptions about racial disparities and inequality. Those assumptions are reinforced in historically white colleges and universities that are predominately staffed by white male faculty and primarily attended by middle- to upper-class white students.
While these institutions are undergoing demographic changes that marginally disrupt their embedded class and race privileges, institutional symbols and norms continue to act as a “hidden curriculum” that reinforces the institution’s historic ideology and demography. This inconsistency with many universities’ stated missions of promoting critical thinking, diversity, and multiculturalism presents a critical challenge in disrupting these “whitespaces” and making them more responsive to and representative of historically underserved and marginalized communities.
David L. Brunsma is a Professor of Sociology at Virginia Tech, where he studies racial identity, the sociology of culture, critical race theory, and the sociology of education. Eric S. Brown is an Associate Professor at the University of Missouri researching urban sociology, inequality and stratification, and the sociology of social policy. Peggy Placier is a Professor Emerita in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Missouri.
Methods and Findings
Brunsma, et al., provide a comprehensive analysis of the various walls of whiteness that exist in historically white colleges and universities and propose methods for deconstructing them. They classify these walls into three categories: spatial walls, curricular walls, and ideological walls.
- Spatial Walls: Following the white flight era of the 1980s and ‘90s, many white students were socialized in primarily white spaces to adopt common behaviors, beliefs and norms that are accepted by the group as naturally occuring, rather than constructed. In these spaces, contact with people of color is largely limited to non-white low-wage employees, service employees, and impersonal public interactions, contributing to outgroup bias and negative views of racial minorities.
- Curricular Walls: Ignorance of the mechanisms behind and social realities of racial injustice allows white students to accept their privileged social positions without cognitive challenge. Through historically white colleges and universities’ formal academic curriculum, hidden curriculum of norms and values, and null curriculum of actively excluded information, universities fail to provide students with the tools to recognize and deconstruct prior assumptions about and justifications for racial inequities.
- Ideological Walls: Broader ideologies including color-blindness, individualism, and essentialism provide various justifications for racial inequities that obfuscate realities of injustice and oppression. Dismissal of racial inequalities through cultural or biological arguments ultimately serves to legitimize the marginalization of underrepresented groups and minimize the consequences of structural oppression.
The authors present numerous proposals to deconstruct each of these walls of whiteness in historically white colleges and universities. Spatial walls can continue to be challenged through the protection of affirmative action policies. These policies have enhanced the representation of minority students and produced a ‘welcoming’ effect not experienced by some minority students at institutions lacking affirmative action policies. Curricular walls can be deconstructed through semester-long courses on racism and integrating antiracism and historical context of social movements and global ideology into instruction of other relevant subjects. Ideological walls can be assailed by prompting white students to reevaluate their perceptions of society, acknowledge their role in upholding existing structures and institutions, and recognize the ways their actions might reinforce existing racial inequalities.
Deconstructing walls of whiteness in historically white colleges and universities demands a bold and comprehensive institutional commitment. Administration, faculty and staff must take initiative in disrupting these walls within institutions of higher education by introducing practices that prompt white students to critically reexamine their personal perceptions of society and inequality. Failure to make this change will only exacerbate the propensity of some white students to enter American society with little recognition of their privilege and their individual and collective roles in upholding or deconstructing the systems, institutions, and practices that reinforce racial inequality.
Further research may focus on identifying the pedagogical imperatives and methods necessary to significantly address walls of whiteness in historically white colleges and universities.
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"""Kuchunguza mbio za kufundisha katika vyuo vikuu na vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria vya wazungu: Kutambua na kuondoa kuta za Uweupe: Kuta za Uweupe katika vyuo vikuu na vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria vya wazungu hutegemeza utawala wa wazungu na zinahitaji juhudi za kimakusudi za taasisi za kuunda kuta za uweupe katika vyuo vikuu na vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria vya wazungu." Wanafunzi wengi weupe huingia katika elimu ya baada ya sekondari wakiwa wameimarishwa na "mipaka ya weupe" au maonyesho ya upendeleo wa rangi ambayo huwalinda wanafunzi weupe kutokana na changamoto za dhana za ukandamizaji wa weupe kuhusu tofauti za rangi na usawa. Kwa mfano, katika vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria vya wazungu, vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria vya wazungu vina wafanyakazi wazungu wa kiume na wanafunzi wazungu wa tabaka la kati hadi la juu. Wakati taasisi hizi zinapitia mabadiliko ya idadi ya watu ambayo huvunja upendeleo wao wa darasa na jamii, alama na kanuni za taasisi zinaendelea kutenda kama "mtaala wa kufichwa" ambao huimarisha itikadi ya kihistoria ya taasisi na idadi ya watu. Hii kutopatana na vyuo vikuu vingi 'iliyosemwa misheni ya kukuza kufikiri muhimu, utofauti, na multiculturalism inatoa changamoto muhimu katika kuvuruga hizi 'whitespaces' na kufanya yao zaidi ya majibu na mwakilishi wa jamii kihistoria underserved na marginalized. David L. Brunsma ni Profesa wa Sociology katika Virginia Tech, ambapo anajifunza utambulisho wa kikabila, sociology ya utamaduni, nadharia muhimu ya jamii, na sociology ya elimu. Eric S. Brown ni Profesa Mshirika katika Chuo Kikuu cha Missouri, akifanya utafiti wa jamii ya mijini, ukosefu wa usawa na stratification, na jamii ya sera za kijamii. Peggy Placier ni Profesa Emerita katika Chuo cha Elimu na Maendeleo ya Binadamu katika Chuo Kikuu cha Missouri. Brunsma na wenzake hutoa uchambuzi wa kina wa kuta mbalimbali za weupe ambazo zipo katika vyuo vikuu na vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria na kupendekeza mbinu za kuziharibu. Wao huweka kuta hizo katika makundi matatu: kuta za nafasi, kuta za mtaala, na kuta za itikadi. Baada ya kipindi cha 'White Flight' katika miaka ya 1980 na 1990, wanafunzi wengi weupe walianza kuishi katika maeneo ya watu weupe ili waweze kufuata tabia, imani na kanuni za kawaida ambazo zinakubaliwa na kikundi hicho kama za asili badala ya kujengwa. Katika nafasi hizi, mawasiliano na watu wa rangi ni kiasi kikubwa mdogo kwa wafanyakazi wasio weupe wa mshahara wa chini, wafanyakazi wa huduma, na maingiliano ya umma yasiyo ya kibinafsi, na kuchangia upendeleo wa kundi la nje na maoni hasi ya watu wa jamii ndogo. - Kuta za mtaala: Kutokujua utaratibu wa nyuma na hali halisi ya kijamii ya ukosefu wa haki wa rangi inaruhusu wanafunzi weupe kukubali nafasi zao za kijamii za upendeleo bila changamoto ya utambuzi. "Kwa njia ya vyuo vikuu na vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria vya wazungu, mtaala rasmi wa masomo, mtaala wa siri wa kanuni na maadili, na mtaala wa ""null"" wa habari iliyoondolewa kikamilifu, vyuo vikuu vinashindwa kuwapa wanafunzi zana za kutambua na kuharibu dhana za awali na uthibitisho wa ukosefu wa usawa wa rangi." - Kuta za Kihisia: Mawazo mapana ikiwa ni pamoja na upofu wa rangi, ubinafsi, na umuhimu hutoa haki mbalimbali kwa ukosefu wa usawa wa kikabila ambao huficha ukweli wa ukosefu wa haki na ukandamizaji. Kukataa kutofautiana kwa rangi kwa sababu za kitamaduni au biolojia hatimaye hutumika kuhalalisha kutengwa kwa vikundi visivyo na uwakilishi na kupunguza matokeo ya ukandamizaji wa muundo. Waandishi hutoa mapendekezo mengi ya kuharibu kila moja ya kuta hizi za weupe katika vyuo vikuu na vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria vya weupe. Kuta za nafasi zinaweza kuendelea kupingwa kupitia ulinzi wa sera za hatua za haki. Sera hizi zimeongeza uwakilishi wa wanafunzi wa wachache na kuzalisha athari ya "karibu" ambayo haijawahi kupatikana na wanafunzi wa wachache katika taasisi ambazo hazina sera za hatua za utetezi. "Vituo vya masomo vinaweza kuondolewa kupitia kozi za semesters juu ya ubaguzi wa rangi na kuunganisha ""upinzani wa ubaguzi wa rangi"" na muktadha wa kihistoria wa harakati za kijamii na itikadi ya kimataifa katika mafundisho ya masomo mengine muhimu." """Mipaka ya kiitikadi inaweza kushambuliwa kwa kuwafanya wanafunzi weupe kuchunguza upya maoni yao ya jamii, kutambua jukumu lao katika kuendeleza miundo na taasisi zilizopo, na kutambua njia ambazo vitendo vyao vinaweza kuimarisha ukosefu wa usawa wa rangi." Kuondoa kuta za wazungu katika vyuo vikuu na vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria vya wazungu inahitaji kujitolea kwa taasisi ya ujasiri na ya kina. """Usimamizi, walimu na wafanyakazi lazima kuchukua mpango katika kuvunja kuta hizi ndani ya taasisi za elimu ya juu kwa kuanzisha mazoea ambayo kuchochea wanafunzi weupe kwa ukosoaji kuchunguza upya maoni yao binafsi ya jamii na ukosefu wa usawa." Kushindwa kufanya mabadiliko haya kutaongeza tu mwelekeo wa wanafunzi weupe kuingia katika jamii ya Marekani bila kutambua upendeleo wao na majukumu yao ya kibinafsi na ya pamoja katika kuendeleza au kuharibu mifumo, taasisi na mazoea ambayo yanaimarisha usawa wa rangi. Utafiti zaidi unaweza kuzingatia kutambua mahitaji ya ufundishaji na mbinu zinazohitajika kushughulikia kwa kiasi kikubwa kuta za weupe katika vyuo vikuu na vyuo vikuu vya kihistoria vya weupe. Asante kwa kutembelea RAPP.Tafadhali tusaidie kuboresha tovuti kwa kujibu maswali matatu mafupi.