A Portland State University professor is blaming white liberals for stifling the school’s diversity efforts, according to Campus Reform.
The professor and longtime PSU faculty member, who wishes to remain anonymous, complains that “white paternalism” is hindering PSU’s diversity efforts and stifling the progress of movements and protests. The professor says that white paternalism is when white students claim to represent minority students.
“While you have the rise of conservatism on some college campuses that are really trying to do away with ethnic studies and other programs, we have an administration [that] is genuinely trying to do the right thing by addressing inequities, but a group of leftist whites, who claim to be representing students of color, have stifled progress. This is the ultimate example of white paternalism,” the professor said.
One protest that the unidentified professor points to as an example of white paternalism was a staged “die-in” by students who opposed letting campus security guards carry guns. The protest was unsuccessful, but the professor said the protest gave the students a chance to gripe about capitalism, racism, and the patriarchy.
Portland State, like many colleges and universities nationwide, have taken many steps in an effort to increase diversity on their campus.
According to Diverse Issues in Higher Education, PSU started a four-year strategic plan in 2016, one part of which is called “equity lens,” which encourages faculty to think of “race and ethnicity and through the prism of the lived experiences of marginalized communities” as they analyze the plan.
“Our aim is to address the roots of inequities, including but not limited to racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, classism, and the intersection of these inequalities,” the plan stated.
“We commit to inclusion of historically marginalized communities and those underrepresented in higher education. We commit to ensuring that equity is integral to all elements of this plan—in its design, substance, implementation and the metrics used to measure progress,” the document also stated.
Portland State University prides itself on the fact that 28 percent of the student body is made up of underrepresented minority students.
