Opinion: UO’s student body is liberal, but the discussion of race still makes many uncomfortable.
———-

Most would classify the University of Oregon’s student body as an extremely progressive and inclusive community. For the most part, I agree with this sentiment. Our university hosts a welcoming LGBTQ+ community, environmentally conscious students and an overall progressive curriculum and lifestyle.

However, in recent weeks of reflection, I have grown increasingly aware of a problem looming beneath the surface of our liberal-presenting university. While many of the white liberal students classify themselves as “woke,” few seem to be able to engage in conversations around race or racism in a constructive manner.

Countless times I have seen professors met with a blank stare and silence from my white classmates when any topic examining race comes up in discussion. Other times, they mumble a few words about diversity and inclusion, seemingly scared to add anything of deep meaning to the conversation. This leaves me with one major question: if our white student body is so liberal, then why does the concept of race make them so uncomfortable?

Recently, I had an experience in the classroom that left me particularly unsettled. My professor was attempting to educate us on the role of blackface minstrelsy in early 1900s popular music and performance. And, while the professor in no way was claiming support of blackface throughout history, many white students in my class grew agitated when my professor attempted to explain the ways in which this was normalized at the time.

White students raised their hands to argue this was “cultural appropriation” or that it couldn’t have been accepted in the 1930s, seemingly angered and appalled with my professor for even introducing this concept to our class. However, as one of the few Black students in the class, I felt no problem with the lesson, as it was a necessary historical lesson in which my professor was purely relaying facts and sentiments from that time.

In addition, no other students of color raised their hands to question the professor’s information. It was as if the existence and normalization of racism in the past (a historical fact) were causing the class’s white students discomfort that led to them meeting it with such strong opposition.

This concerned me. If we as students can’t learn and properly discuss our country’s history of racism and acknowledge the ways in which racist behaviors were viewed differently throughout time, how do we expect to move on? And, in this discomfort, I wonder if this white liberal fragility is really any better than the conservatives attempting to eliminate Critical Race Theory in schools because they don’t want to accept the racism of our past?

Many white students are unable to see the nuances of race and racism throughout history and in our society today in their classroom analysis and discussion. ​​I believe this is likely because of the binary code of racism. As UNC professor Tracy Benson explained, “the ‘good-non-racist, bad-racist binary,’ where over here, you have the bad racist who’s prejudiced, bigoted, hateful, mal-intentioned, racist and over here, way over here, is the good racist — good non-racist, I’m sorry — who’s well-intentioned, liberal and most of all, not racist.”

These problems at our university are rooted in this concept of white fragility. White students have good intentions in their progressive politics at UO but don’t recognize that their discomfort with the concept of racism is problematic within itself.

Kass Weeks, a UO sophomore, has experienced similar issues with the misplaced well intentions of white liberal students. “When you’re Black and queer at the UO, every white queer person thinks they know your experiences better than you do,” Weeks said. “And they always think their advice will help you out of the situation you’re in, especially if that situation is systemic.”

We can’t ignore the fact that even well-intentioned social action can present problems. In the example of my classroom discussion, being more aware of the ways in which we talk about race at this school would benefit many. And, in many instances, taking a step back and simply listening to Black students’ concerns at UO instead of your own rhetoric would go a long way.

This isn’t to say allyship from white students isn’t welcomed and appreciated. However, shying away from tough conversations and speaking out of your own discomfort without reading the room is not.