A webpage operated by the Culture and Family Lab at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities is drawing attention for describing a “whiteness pandemic” and offering resources it says are intended to “halt and reverse” the issue, as reported by Fox News.
The webpage is part of the university’s Institute of Child Development and includes material directed specifically at White parents.
According to the site, “If you were born or raised in the United States, you have grown up in the Whiteness Pandemic, and you can play a role in halting and reversing this pandemic, especially if you are White because of the power and privilege you hold in this racialized society.”
It goes on to state:
“If you were socialized into the culture of Whiteness during childhood, it is not your fault, but as an adult, it is now your responsibility to self-reflect, re-educate yourself, and act. If you are a White adult, antiracist action involves an ongoing process of self-reflection in order to develop a healthy positive White identity while engaging in courageous antiracist parenting/caregiving.”
The site frames racism as an “epidemic” or “pandemic” and describes “another” pandemic that it says is “lurking” behind it, calling it the “whiteness pandemic.”
It includes links to various experts and materials, including resources “especially for white parents” that reference the death of George Floyd and guidance on forming what it describes as a “healthy white racial identity.”
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The university states on the webpage, “Whiteness refers to culture, not biology: the centuries-old culture of Whiteness features colorblindness, passivity, and White fragility, which are all covert expressions of racism common in the United States.”
The site also says:
“Naming the Whiteness Pandemic shifts our gaze from the victims and effects of racism onto the systems that perpetrate and perpetuate racism, starting with the family system. At birth, young children growing up in White families begin to be socialized into the culture of Whiteness, making the family system one of the most powerful systems involved in systemic racism.”
One of the papers linked on the site surveyed mostly liberal White female mothers with an average income over $125,000 and concluded that:
“Family socialization into the centuries-old culture of Whiteness – involving colorblindness, passivity, and fragility – perpetrates and perpetuates U.S. racism, reflecting an insidious Whiteness pandemic.”
The project’s funding comes from multiple sources, including the National Institute of Mental Health. Other listed resources include works by Ibram X.
Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, as well as a link titled “How to explain white privilege in terms simple enough for a child.”
Rhyen Staley, research director at Defending Education, told Fox News Digital, “This far-left programming at a major public university is another example of how ingrained DEI is in higher education and is not going away any time soon.”
Staley also said:
“It is not only concerning that these programs appear to still be up and running, but that absurd ideas like ‘whiteness’ also gain legitimacy through dubious activist-academic ‘scholarship.’ Universities must end this nonsense yesterday.”
A University of Minnesota spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the school is “steadfast in its commitment to the principles of academic freedom.”
Last month, Fox News Digital reported that the University of Minnesota is providing K–12 teachers with ethnic studies lessons that promote causes including defunding the police, Black Lives Matter, and warnings about “white supremacy” and “settler colonialism.”
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