University of Denver Hosts ‘White Privilege Symposium’
Adam Sabes, Campus Reform, October 31, 2018
The University of Denver will host and sponsor the annual “White Privilege Symposium,” (WPS) which is set up to “examine patterns, cultures, and systems that contribute to identity, power, and privilege,” on Friday and Saturday.
The symposium will feature breakout sessions such as “Anti-Racist Allyship: Avoiding The Pitfalls,” “Colleagial Check-In for POC: Needing Connection While Managing Whiteness,” “Colored White: A Discussion On White Identity,” “White Accountability,” and more, according to the symposium website.
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“Helping white people understand the difference between accountability and blame and challenging white people to use this knowledge to check their own white [privilege] and to dismantle the systems of racism that permeate this country,” is the stated purpose of the session.
Another workshop titled “Similar but Separate” seeks to explain the difference between black and brown women to the audience.
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The “Anti-Racist Allyship: Avoiding the Pitfalls” workshop even criticizes the “good progressive or liberal” who considers themselves an “anti-racist ally.” {snip}
“Quite often, POC find ourselves disappointed, shocked, and saddened by how frequently the ‘ally,’ especially the white ally, reveals themselves to be anything but,” it explains. “How are folks engaged in this work really problematizing their own white fragility, defensiveness, tokenization of POC, etc., and how can you become an even better ally/accomplice?”
When Campus Reform asked the University of Denver what the university is doing to sponsor the program, the school said it is letting the WPS use university space. {snip}
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The UD Graduate School of Social Work is sponsoring the WPS as well as The University of Colorado-Denver.
