“Good racism”. Racism that benefits the race(s) you want to benefit at the expense of the race(s) you are OK with being discriminated against. We’ve talked about it many times here.
These days there are so many examples of “good racism”, especially in academia, that it would be hard to chronicle them all. Here’s just one.
From Susan Snyder’s article for the Philadelphia Inquirer, via msn.com:
A former faculty member at Pennsylvania State University’s Abington campus says the school discriminated against him for speaking out against anti-racist policies and failing to make sure students of different races received similar grades regardless of performance.
Zack K. De Piero, an assistant teaching professor of English and composition, said Penn State pressured him to ensure consistent grades for students across “color line[s],” otherwise his actions would demonstrate racism and he would be condemned as a racist, he said in a lawsuit filed in federal court last month.
De Piero, who filed multiple complaints with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discrimination, said he and other white professors were targeted as racist “simply by virtue of teaching while ‘white,’” the lawsuit said.
Penn State declined to respond, saying it generally does not comment on litigation.
However, a group of Penn State professors Monday began circulating an open letter, calling the lawsuit an attack on programs aimed at promoting inclusivity and equity.
“We … stand in solidarity with our colleagues at Penn State who have embraced ongoing efforts in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), which must be in addition to, not a substitute for, affirmative action and antiracist programs and policies,” the professors wrote. “We understand the stakes of this lawsuit, which regardless of its outcome will have a chilling effect on DEIB and antiracist initiatives throughout systems of higher education. We call upon our communities to join us in showing support for colleagues who are being unjustly targeted by groups espousing hateful ideologies.”
Do you find the information presented Ms. Snyder’s article – particularly the professors condemning Mr. De Piero, to be overtly racist…not to mention chilling in its racial implications? I sure do.
What the school, and this group of “professors”, are saying, in so many words, is that if non-White students do not do as well in class, their grades should be artificially raised so they look the same as White students’ grades.
This is supposed to create “equity”. Does it, in fact do that? No it does not. It creates a class of underachieving students being given the same academic credentials as students – regardless of skin color – who actually earn them.
And if it does that, who should be resentful of it? Every student, White or non-White, whose achievements are now belittled by being equated to lesser-achieving students.
Ironically, this is especially hurtful to Black students who achieve academic excellence without having it handed to them regardless of whether they earn it. Because these students, both in school and in later life, are sure to have an implied asterisk after their name. “Oh, you were a Black student at Penn State? How much lower were your grades than the White students?”
And there’s more. What happens when these underachievers who get inflated grades based on nothing other than their skin color, go out in the real world. Based on their academic experience, will they expect that corporate America is also going to play the same game and pretend they are as capable as other people they can hire? Or do you think corporate America is going to notice that they aren’t as prepared/as capable as other potential employees and act accordingly?
Then there is the personal toll. How do you think those “you’re not White so we’ll just give the same grades to you” students feel personally? Emotionally. Even if sliding through college with less-than-the-others accomplishments seems great at the time, how do you think they’ll feel as they get older? Do you think they’ll wear the “you weren’t as good, so instead of demanding you work harder/do better, we’ll just pretend you’re equal” designation handed to them by well-meaning racists proudly?
One final point. Over the past several years, race relations in this country have been deteriorating. How much of this deterioration do you think is due to the kind of insulting, condescending treatment of non-White people being displayed here?
This is the reality of “good racism” and these are the consequences. How I wish the people perpetrating it would stop and think about what they are doing.
