The University of Wisconsin-Madison is at the center of another controversy this week over its diversity training program. The mandatory diversity training at Wisconsin instructs students that “people of color” are incapable of being racist. That claim has long been voiced by radical elements in academia, but its incorporation into a mandatory training program has raised new questions over the leadership of President Jennifer Mnookin, a former UCLA law professor, and Law Dean Daniel Tokaji.
This training is part of the ABA Standard 303’s requirement for all law schools and was presented by consultant Debra Leigh, Vice President for Cultural fluency, equity, & inclusion at St. Cloud Technical & Community College.
The controversy was featured on a couple of conservative sites such as College Fix after law students complained about the first-year law student training. Leigh has long been controversial for her views, including that those who claim to be “colorblind” are racist.
The required reading list for student “Re-Orientation” includes instruction on indications of “white guilt, denial or defensiveness.” It then explains how “People of color, as a social group, do not have the societal, institutional power to oppress white people as a group. An individual person of color abusing a white person – while clearly wrong, (no person should be insulted, hurt, etc.) is acting out a personal racial prejudice, not racism.”
Thus, people who have accused figures like Leigh of being racist in her own writings are categorically wrong and racist themselves. No matter what Leigh says about white people, she cannot be racist.
The explanation in the material is self-serving and shallow. The idea that racism is premised on the ability to yield power is not accepted by many, if not most, citizens. Racism is a matter of prejudice, not power. It is racism whether it is in a country, state, or city dominated politically by whites or racial minorities. It is an expression of ignorance and hate that uses the racial identity of others as the basis for claiming inferior or dangerous qualities.
The site also identified other controversial claims, including how seeking to learn about racism can be racist. Leigh explains that “I want to stop acting like a racist, so please tell me when I do something you think is racist,” is a “common racist [attitude]” or behavior.
She is quoted as adding “While it is vitally important for white anti-racists to work with other white people, this detour again results in white people controlling the direction and focus of anti-racist work.”
The controversy could not come at a worse time for the university, which recently agreed (after considerable debate and pushback) to cut down on its diversity-related materials in exchange for $800 million in funding from the state. The board originally refused the money rather than cut back on the training before finally yielding to the pressure.
The immediate responsibility for the training material falls on the shoulders of Tokaii, whose staff approved this mandatory training and presumably reviewed the material in advance. If they did not, they are equally at fault.
The University issued a response to the College Fix that stated:
“The session was interactive, with ample opportunities for students to engage in dialogue with each other. A core goal was to help students develop their critical thinking skills with respect to these topics.
We do not expect students to automatically accept the views expressed in the document referred to, any more than they would the reasoning of a legal brief, judicial opinion, or their professors… Accordingly, we welcome and encourage vigorous debate over important questions of law and policy, and this session provided a forum for such discourse.”
However, the pamphlet does not present these claims as springboards for discussion, but as facts to be learned in the mandatory training. The pamphlet entitled “Common Racist Attitudes and Behaviors that Indicate a Detour or Wrong Turn into White Guilt, Denial or Defensiveness,” lists 28 potential hazards for well-meaning white people on their redemptive journey.
It starts with the affirmative statements:
“Below is a list of 28 common racist attitudes and behaviors that indicate a detour or wrong turn into white guilt, denial or defensiveness. Each is followed by a statement that is a reality check and consequence for harboring such attitudes.”
It rails against “colorblindness” as a tool of white racial evasion that “negates the cultural values, norms, expectations and life experiences of people of color” and “denies the people of colors’ experience of racism and your experience of privilege.”
These are controversial and contested views that the University of Wisconsin is training law students to accept. There is no indication in the material that these are offered for debate.
Universities are facing increasing legal action for the diversity programs. Recently, we discussed how Penn State lost a critical motion in a lawsuit brought by a faculty member.
Likewise, at Johns Hopkins Hospital chief diversity officer Sherita Golden issued an apology after an outcry over her “privilege” list from the Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity program.
The newsletter stated
“Privilege is an unearned benefit given to people who are in a specific social group. Privilege operates on personal, interpersonal, cultural and institutional levels, and it provides advantages and favors to members of dominant groups at the expense of members of other groups…
In the United States, privilege is granted to people who have membership in one or more of these social identity groups: White people, able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, males, Christians, middle or owning class people, middle-aged people, and English-speaking people.”
What is most disturbing about the Wisconsin material is the inclusion of political viewpoints as categorical examples of racism, including objections to reverse racism. They include statements that:
A. “People of color are just as racist as white people.”
B. “Affirmative action had a role years ago, but today it’s just reverse racism; now it’s discriminating against white men.”
C. “The civil rights movement, when it began, was appropriate, valuable, needed. But it’s gone to the extreme. The playing field is now level. Now the civil rights movement is no longer working for equality but for revenge.”
For a law school to train students that such viewpoints are inherently racist, including the very premise of reverse racism, is chilling for free speech and inimical to the academic duty to protect a diversity of viewpoints on campus.
The material also tells students that reference to the “Rugged Individual, the Level Playing Field and the Bootstrap Theory” are all racist tropes. Indeed, they are present as the “three of the crown jewels of U.S. social propaganda.”
How is that fostering “discourse,” as claimed by the university? They are stated affirmatively as the object of the training. The suggestion is that students are to adopt and recite, not debate and challenge such viewpoints.
The suggestion that this is a sounding board for discussion is refuted by even a cursory review of the material. Students are given facts to be learned and the material attacks those who question these facts as demonstrably racist. Even those who espouse anti-racist viewpoints are reminded that they remain racist:
“You righteously consider yourselves white people who have evolved beyond our racist conditioning. This is another level of denial. There are no ‘exceptional white people.’ You may have attended many anti-racism workshops; you may not be shouting racist epithets or actively discriminating against people of color, but you still experience privilege based on your white skin color. You benefit from this system of oppression and advantage no matter what your intentions are. This distancing serves only to divide you from potential allies and limit your own learning.”
To question such material on campuses today is to invite cancel campaigns and a pariah status. Few professors want to risk such controversy, which can sharply curtail academic opportunities and even the renewal of academic contracts.
Yet, this training is now being replicated in many other schools. It is part of a rising orthodoxy in higher education. There are important elements to this material which should be part of a dialogue on campuses. Those, however, are lost by the heavy-handed indoctrination shown in this material.
The struggle is not over… the Struggle Sessions that is.
DIE ideology is worse than a grift. As others have pointed out below, it is cultural Marxism, an ideology which separates people into groups that war against each other so that, out of that conflict, some kind of utopia will emerge. This is briefly explained here:
https://docsandlin.com/2018/04/23/cultural-marxism-simply-explained/
DIE is a cancer that is killing the host body (Western civilization). Like any other cancer, it cannot be reasoned with. It needs to be removed from the body and destroyed. If not, it will metastasize and the host body will eventually die.
I can and do proudly proclaim I am of the Rugged Individual, Bootstrap Theory kind.
I did not get to where I am today without a good work ethic, saving money, being fiscally responsible, being personally responsible for my actions, working hard and being able-bodied.
BTW, I am not white.
What do you expect from an entity that is given MILLIONS as a staff of DEI officers, assistants and clerical members? These DEI Departments need to be disbanded because what else do they do other than file grievances, concoct moronic racial policies and attack those not in their group?
DEI is a grift, a money making scheme by those without talent, skill or productive ideas. When the University of Michigan spends 18 MILLION DOLLARS on their 142 DEI staff members what do you suppose these parasites do for their $100,000+ salaries? They need to self-perpetuate by continuously finding racial fault, gender (pronoun) “assaults” and other white, hetero “aggressions”.
DEI is a parasitic scam that is destroying productivity, moral, freedom and the right to have your own ideas. End DEI now!
“University of Michigan [. . .] 142 DEI staff members . . .”
They really have that many? Good grief.
The Soviets planted “political officers” everywhere — to spy, to sniff out and punish dissenters.
Their political officers are our “staff members.”
I’m Hispanic but hold very unwoke ideas on race, culture, immigration, gender, DIE (sorry, I mean DEI). Can I be “racist”?
It’s interesting but I rarely receive blowback from other Hispanics for the above, it almost always anglo white s@@tlibs who are horrified that one of their pets doesn’t appreciate their efforts at saving you. I truly despise those people. They talk a good game but rarely get their hands dirty.
antonio
Easy Answer…TAKE Away Democrats Money! They steal to give to the RICH!
You will enjoy your fascism or else.
Democrats JUDGE YOU on your Race, Gender, Sexual preference, Democrat Party Allegiance…and will destroy you given their bias!
Democrats are Anti-America…and the Party needs to be DESTROYED for this THEIR Second Civil War Against America!
#DefundDemocrats or the US will be Destroyed
Remember China has Given Millions to Democrat who they prefer…because they WISH to Destroy America from within!
Bidens are Obvious Criminals…but nothing happens…why?
Democrats PICK Blacks of MUCH less Ability over whites of greater ability….pure RACEISM…that is a FACT!
“You righteously consider yourselves white people who have evolved beyond our racist conditioning. This is another level of denial. There are no ‘exceptional white people.’ You may have attended many anti-racism workshops; you may not be shouting racist epithets or actively discriminating against people of color, but you still experience privilege based on your white skin color. You benefit from this system of oppression and advantage no matter what your intentions are. This distancing serves only to divide you from potential allies and limit your own learning.”
This part of the article completely describes one of my sister’s views of white people. She has stated she is ashamed to be white and I and my siblings have only succeeded because of white privilege. The only thing that matters to people like my sister is the color of your skin. This kind of thinking is destroying our country as it is brainwashing and will only get worse unless our children are not taught this hatred. Just look at the results in how Palestinian children are taught to hate Jews and how that is manifested into suicide bombers
There is no one more hate filled, greedy, hypocrite than a Democrat
Time to END all Federal Aid and Loan Guarantees for cities, colleges, states and non-profits where anyone gets $100k+
Let Democrats fund their brain washing
Yeah…
I am sure the typical White second semester 1L is going to be more than happy to stick his/her chest out and challenge this harbage before professors they’ll be facing for the rest of their law school career.
The more disturbing fact is apparently the ABA requires this BS (or similar) to maintain accreditation.
This is Marxism indoctrination dressed in disguise. It is meant to pit one class of people against another. The oppressed and the oppressors. It is a larger design to dismantle our social and governmental structures, much like the Mao reeducation camps.
You can fill in the blanks as to who is the oppressed and those who are oppressors. It is dangerous and will lead to violence and discord. The students are taught to pigeonhole individuals into groups and subgroups (tribes or classes).
E.M., I just wrote the same thing in reply to one of the more obtuse “Anonymous” guys above.
E.M.
I am not white and as far as I am concerned I am not oppressed by anyone nor do I oppress others.
Okay, maybe I am oppressed by the government.
Seems to me, if I am forced to take one of these DEI classes, am I not being oppressed?
EM, I agree with you that this is a Marxist power play, but not just Marxists are involved, though I believe them to be the most firmly entrenched behind these movements.
There are a lot of malnourished minds in our country that support pure lunacy. A transgender will march for Hamas, and Hamas will throw the transgender off the roof. We are fighting multiple mind wars, of which the Marxists are most prominent, but the Islamists (not including non-Islamists) combine themselves with Marxism but are not necessarily Marxist Revolutionaries.
Face it folks….the Progressive Leftist Agenda proves itself to be not just wrongheaded but dangerously evil in its goal…..brainwashing the Children.
Remember what Lenin had to say about this…..mind you all he wanted was four years….not twelve to sixteen years.
“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.
Vladimir Lenin”
Call it what you want but boiled down to its basic substance….this is classic Marxist-Leninism designed to bring about a Communist takeover of this Country of ours.
No matter how you dress it up or how hard you deflect or deny it….that is the true nature of it.
It must be destroyed…not explained, not mitigated, not excused, and darn tooting not be ignored.
We must rid society of that kind of thinking and get back to traditional American concepts such as expressed by such Americans as Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Sowell, and so many others that followed on in the Founder’s footsteps.
No reasonable person is fooled by this tripe. Students just learn to parrot back the nonsense required to pass. In reality this fosters racism as people naturally resent this sort of indoctrination.
It is not harmless! These law students are being indoctrinated into believing that there is some risk to them personally and professionally if they step outside this doctrine! How many are likely to defend the future victims of this racism?
they don’t care…this is about MONEY and POWER!
Try saying the N word as a white you will be cancelled… But as a Black you get a FREE pass and pat on the back…and a JOB for less ability. Words are race based…who knew?
Democrats have been racists since the founding of their party and still are! Democrats are not looking to benefit people…they are looking for money and power…by any means!
“This distancing serves only to divide you from potential allies and limit your own learning.””
If I have limited their learning how did they become so wise, how will being allied with them remove a limit from my learning? I’m afraid I’m just going to have to risk it and not accept any ‘potential’ allies at this point in time, kthxbye.
As a University of Wisconsin-Madison alumus with two advanced degrees from that school, I am alarmed and extremely disappointed in this. And as a recent retiree, finally in a position to make substantial financial contributions, I will not send any money to UW-Madison until this and other DEI related issues are improved. A recent survey indicates that 60% of UW-Madison students are afraid to voice what they think in class. This is not the same school culture of academic freedom and free speech that characterized UW-Madison when I attended.
Hopefully you will communicate these thoughts to the governing boards at UW-M, especially telling them why you–as an alumnus–won’t be giving them any money. Alumni giving is important to ALL colleges, so cutting off the source is especially important now, if any kind of dent is to be made in DEI nonsense such as this.
So discrimination due to immutable physical characteristics is now the aspirational goal?
Leftist lack any hint of self awareness.
Conservatives allowed this to happen. They went about trying to make money and take care of families, leaving education of the young and impressionable to people who are now in charge. Who knows if this indoctrination can ever be reversed
Thank you Professor for shedding light to this scary doctrine being force fed to our young.
This is standard “anti-racist” training that is found everywhere, including in the training of K-12 teachers. I am glad that the Professor is highlighting it but surprised that he thinks it extreme or unusual. It is what has outraged many for a long time.
“The explanation in the material is self-serving and shallow.”
It is also stupid. That “educated” people can believe such tripe is a clear indication of mental illness.