Diversity Cafe 2021-2022

Article about "white spaces" where white people meet to discuss issues of race and racism in their lives and their communities.

Tips: Don't be afraid, Find a support system, Be suspicious, Practice self-love, Don't expect others to understand your struggle, and It's OK to not have it all figured out.

"Because when white people feel unsafe, they are unsafe for black people to be around."

"Welcome to the home space for #BlackintheIvory— a “hashtag turned movement” that amplifies the voices of Blackademics who speak truth about anti-black racism in academia."

"...implicit and explicit messages of racism follow students throughout their educational and professional journey in higher education, leading to issues of retention, exclusion from academic opportunities, unequal pay and unequal work, and more."

"The legal legacy of slavery and of the seizure of land from Native American peoples is not merely a regime of property law that is (mis)informed by racist and ethnocentric themes. Rather, the law has established and protected an actual property interest in whiteness itself, which shares the critical characteristics of property and accords with the many and varied theoretical descriptions of property."

Having 'the hardest year of my life' at 'a school that's mostly white, conservative and isolated - everything I wasn't"

"Whiteness and white racialized identity refer to the way that white people, their customs, culture, and beliefs operate as the standard by which all other groups of are compared. Whiteness is also at the core of understanding race in America. Whiteness and the normalization of white racial identity throughout America's history have created a culture where nonwhite persons are seen as inferior or abnormal."

"Black people experience discrimination every day – it’s knowledge inaccessible to white people and, when confronted with it, most are incredulous"

Jasmine Razeghi writes on her transition to a predominantly white institution and what these colleges are doing wrong.

"Overwhelmingly white neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, restaurants, and other public spaces remain. Blacks perceive such settings as “the white space”... Meanwhile... many whites assume that the natural black space is that destitute and fearsome locality so commonly featured in the public media... White people typically avoid black space, but black people are required to navigate the white space as a condition of their existence."

"This study examines adjustment differences between in-state Black students who are familiar with rural and predominantly White environments versus out-of-state Black students who mainly come from segregated, Black neighborhoods and larger cities."

"The aim of this study is to explore how racial minority students experience campus climates when attending Predominantly White Institutions. This research provides a qualitative analysis of the campus climate at a PWI in the Midwest. The study explores the experiences of racial minority students using a narrative approach, which allows us to hear the stories as told by the students, a voice that is often left out in the dominant discourse surrounding PWIs."

"The national prevalence of systemic bias, such as police brutality, has influenced resistance to institutionalized racism on college campuses. Because of the daily microaggressions Black students experience at predominantly White institutions, they often utilize various forms of engagement and activism to hold institutions accountable for equity in higher education. Through this study the authors examined how Black student leaders challenge inequitable policies through their individual as well as collective efforts."

"This article explores the connections between white institutional spaces, emotional labor, and resistance by illuminating the shared experiences of people of color in elite law schools and the commercial aviation industry."

"The purpose of this article is to critically examine the term "predominantly white institution." The premise is that what is predominant at these institutions stems from much more than simple numbers of white students as compared to numbers of students from underrepresented racial groups. Patterns of representation are examined through a lens of critical race theory (CRT)."

"This study investigates the ways in which social context affects processes of black authenticity, resulting in shaky ground for authentic blackness among black college students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Because of normalized whiteness, black PWI students are negotiating authentic blackness in social contexts that limit black expression and identity through external pressure from nonblack students, in addition to experiencing intraracial pressures from black peers."

"Predominantly white institution (PWI) is the term used to describe institutions of higher learning in which Whites account for 50% or greater of the student enrollment."

"Students of color often perceive the campus climate more negatively than do their White counterparts. Our study begins to uncover what students of color experience in residence halls."

"Though Whiteness permeates all United States colleges and universities, a concerted effort in postsecondary education to shatter White institutional presence and nurture inclusive and equitable environments for Black student affairs professionals does not exist. This qualitative study focuses on the narratives of three Black, entry-level student affairs professionals who share their experiences of working at a large predominantly White institution."