Whites-Only Group Explores Its ‘Racist Superiority’ at MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) now has a “White Person’s Accountability Group” to help white people understand their “roles both in perpetuating systemic racism and in dismantling it.”

According to a copy of the group’s mission statement, it was formed in reaction to the notorious “White Privilege Conference,” during which “a mixed-race group of MIT community members” realized “how different their experience had been in the WPC [White Privilege Conference] space and that there was a lot they could do with other white people to dismantle internal and structural racism.”

Drawing on that experience, white members of the group decided to begin holding monthly meetings to “hold one another accountable to advancing racial justice in [their] own personal, institutional, and societal spheres.”

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“The purpose of a white caucus is to provide a space where white people can share struggles and challenge each other as they seek to uncover the depths of their internalized racist superiority (IRS) and build their capacity for solidarity with people of color,” the guidelines explain, warning that “as long as IRS goes unrecognized and unchecked by white people, its manifestations will at the least create unhealthy relationships with people of color and eventually make solidarity impossible.”

MIT students and faculty who wish to start a “white caucus” are advised to “provide a summary report of each meeting [to] people of color,” remembering that “people of color should be the ones to determine what is appropriate,” but are also warned that “there is a fine line between seeking accountability and adding another burden on people of color.”

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