University of Chicago’s ‘Problem of Whiteness’ Class Sparks Controversy

A University of Chicago course focusing on the “problem of Whiteness” sparked outrage on social media after one of the university’s students took to Twitter to share his concerns.

“Since I began college a year ago, I’ve documented all the anti-white hatred I’ve seen on campus. Without a doubt, this is the most egregious example,” sophomore Daniel Schmidt tweeted on Nov. 1.

The course was set to “[examine] the problem of whiteness through an anthropological lens, drawing from classic and contemporary works of critical race theory,” according to the course description.

“Critical race theorists have shown that whiteness has long functioned as an ‘unmarked’ racial category, saturating a default surround against which non-white or ‘not quite’ others appear as aberrant,” the description said. “This saturation has had wide-ranging effects, coloring everything from the consolidation of wealth, power and property to the distribution of environmental health hazards…

“Yet in recent years, whiteness has resurfaced as a conspicuous problem within liberal political discourse.”

Schmidt, a self-described “right-wing college activist,” said issues escalated after instructor Rebecca Journey received pushback from those outraged by the course offering.

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Schmidt received pushback from Journey for allegedly pushing a “targeted cyberbullying campaign” against her.

“This was a malicious attack not just on me as a teacher but on anti-racist pedagogy writ large,” she said, according to the Sun-Times’ report.

“I am absolutely moving forward with this class as planned. We can’t let cyberterrorists win,” she added.

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