Portland Community College drew fire from conservatives for its plan to hold a “Whiteness History Month” in April.
The project aims to examine whiteness as a social construct and system of power. Unlike Black History Month, which takes place during February, WHM “is not a celebratory endeavor,” according to the college. Instead, the project's goal is “to challenge the master narrative of race and racism” in an “effort to change [the] campus climate.”
Organized by a subcommittee of PCC’s Cascade Campus Diversity Council, the project asks questions, such as:
What is whiteness and how is it socially constructed?
In what ways has whiteness been institutionalized, imposed, and internalized?
Who benefits from consequences of whiteness? Who loses from whiteness? How?
What are the roles and responsibilities of white people and people of color in dismantling whiteness?
The project goes to great length to distinguish “whiteness,” a description of a system, from “white,” a term to describe people. Campus administrators have planned “presentations, lectures, panel discussions, film and music analyses, workshops, plays, art, etc.” over the course of the month.
"[A]s you can imagine, we've seen a range of responses, both positive and negative, from students, staff, and faculty," PCC community relations director Kate Chester told NTRSCTN in a statement. "This mirrors reactions witnessed nationally as similar conversations related to issues of social justice, race, inequity, and the like have taken place at colleges and universities around the country."
Campus Reform, an educational “watchdog” site published by the conservative Leadership Institute, accused the project of such in its headline on Monday. (The article itself simply laid out the WHP's objectives, however.) Similarly, conservative-news site the Daily Caller ran a story on the project, in which an embedded poll showed 95 percent opposition to the program, although it does not disclose how many people voted.
School officials, however, say that conservative news organizations and critics have taken WHM out of context, according to the Oregonian. Chester told NTRSCTN that "the projected is not intended to 'shame or blame' anyone."
The term "whiteness," Chester said, has been prevalent in academia since the 1990s as a descriptor "social construction of the white race and the system of normalcy surrounding beliefs, cultural norms and privileges." The concept, however, has been referenced even earlier in history by noted black scholars, such as W.E.B. DuBois and James Baldwin, she explained.
Portland Community College began discussions about organizing WHM in 2014. Advocates reportedly drew inspiration from #BlackLivesMatter and campus movements, such as the recent calls for racial equality at the University of Missouri, Yale, and Brown.
"As Oregon's largest post-secondary educational institution, PCC has a responsibility to participate in and/or lead courageous conversations like these," said Chester. "And as an organization, PCC is strongly committed to advancing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion for all we serve."
Portland Community College is currently accepting proposals for White History Month, which will continue as planned, until Feb. 1.
UPDATED 4:30 p.m. ET: The latest version of this story includes official comment from a Portland Community College spokesperson.
