DEI appeared alive and well in the Twin Cities, where a new report cast a light on the “absurd ideas” a university perpetuated on “whiteness” at the taxpayer’s expense.
Among the many initiatives of President Donald Trump’s administration, tackling the woke ideologies that have permeated the federal government and society has been given priority treatment. Now it appeared the University of Minnesota would be facing some extra scrutiny from the Department of Justice after the pet project of the school’s Culture and Family Life Lab director was found to be promoting the idea of a “Whiteness Pandemic.”
Featured in a report from the watchdog group Defending Education, Dr. Gail Ferguson of the university’s Institute of Child Development had led current and former graduate fellows on a project that contends, “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.”
“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,” continued the project, still prominently featured on the university’s website. “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.”
An example from the report featured by Defending Education took aim at families as it read, “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.”
“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,” Defending Education research Director Rhyen Staley told Fox News Digital.
“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,” added Staley.
As to how Ferguson’s project had drawn its conclusions, the research was said to have surveyed close to 400 white mothers, nearly all of whom were from Minnesota, with an average income between $125,000 and $150,000. The vast majority had a college education, and 61% identified as “somewhat or very liberal” compared to 18% as “somewhat or very conservative.”
Hellbound and Down 