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UW Madison again: ‘White Privilege 101’ and … ‘sifting and winnowing’ to replace ‘safe spaces’?

The university which has given us the notorious “The Problem of Whiteness” class yesterday hosted a workshop “which encouraged attendees to understand the concept of privilege and acknowledge the privilege that comes with their identities.”

The University of Wisconsin Madison’s Multicultural Student Center sponsored a “White Privilege 101” get-together and its leader, “social justice educator” Khaled Ismail, “provided attendees with an understanding of their privileges,” according to The Daily Cardinal.

He also offered up brainchilds for students “on how to use their privilege” to correct day-to-day racism:

“The goal of this workshop was to engage white-identified people in a conversation about what is their experience in the world; what does this experience look like in relation to others around them and what can we all start doing to create a more equitable campus experience and community around this,” Ismail said.

Attendees were required to break the ice with other students in the room they had not met before and discuss the presence of race in their lives. Students shared how much they agreed or disagreed with questions about their privilege, like whether they should give up their privilege, in an interactive activity that asked them to imagine the room as a spectrum and place themselves where they felt was right.

Ismail also educated attendees about the differences between prejudice, discrimination and oppression. He discussed using allyship to eradicate these concepts, which involves being aware of one’s privilege and of other people that are coming from different starting points.

Given Ismail’s undergraduate and graduate background in Women’s Studies and Northwestern’s Offices of Social Justice Education and Multicultural Student Affairs respectively, it’s should be fairly easy to guess just what that … “education” entailed.

And in two weeks: Ismail and the campus MSC will be offering “3 days and two nights of learning about social justice, developing […] leadership skills, and building community” via the Social Justice Leadership Retreat.

In the meantime, the Multicultural Student Center is also dealing with Caucasian snowflakery in the form of feelings of exclusion — thanks to the term “safe spaces.”

Adding to the (unintentional) hilarity, UW Madison Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Laurent Heller apologized to the MSC for even bringing this up — since members of the Engagement, Inclusion & Diversity Council(!) were concerned that any (terminology) changes “would ‘side-track’ conversations in the EID Initiative.”

As a result, the Council came up with “sifting and winnowing” to replace “safe spaces” … but only for “their terminology to describe discussions.”

As the cliché goes, you just can’t make this up.

Read the full Daily Cardinal articles.

(h/t to Badger Pundit for the “safe spaces” tip)

MORE: University offers class on ‘The Problem of Whiteness’

MORE: Ohio State class teaches students to detect, respond white privilege

MORE: Public university to host whites-only retreat on ‘white privilege’

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About the Author
Associate Editor
Dave has been writing about education, politics, and entertainment for over 20 years, including a stint at the popular media bias site Newsbusters. He is a retired educator with over 25 years of service and is a member of the National Association of Scholars. Dave holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Delaware.