Western University’s “anti-racism” task force is seeking to “dismantle whiteness” in academia.
The University says its Faculty of Health Sciences’ Anti-Racism Task Force is “designed to address and actively work to prevent racism and other forms of systematic oppression.”
The task force, which is supportive of Critical Race Theory (CRT), was founded in 2020 amid Black Lives Matter riots caused by the death of George Floyd in the United States.
The task force is seeking to “dismantle whiteness and centre anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism strategies, as well as build intellectual empathy as a collective.”
It claims that “historical settler colonialism provided the foundations for academic institutions that centred whiteness and white normativity.”
“Foundational to these was enslavement and the violent genocide of Indigenous people that created systems of oppression which are still evident today in police brutality toward Black people and violent attacks on Treaty lands.”
The task force says its work is informed by “principles inherent to intersectionality, critical race, and post-colonial theory.”
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term “whiteness” as “the fact or state of being white.”
CRT adherents have, however, said that whiteness is a “constantly shifting boundary separating those who are entitled to have certain privileges” that is “enforced by power and violence.” Activists have also claimed that whiteness causes “everyday microaggressions toward people of colour.”
Last week, Western came under fire over a “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) presentation it gave warning against supporting merit-based hiring and racial colour blindness, claiming the latter cause “microaggressions.”
The presentation also warned that “white silence, white privilege and white shame leads to a lot of white complicity in white supremacy.”
A True North investigation into the salaries of University DEI officials also revealed that Western University paid its Associate Vice-President of Equity, Diversity And Inclusion a whopping $257,830 in 2022.
Western University did not return True North’s request for comment in time for publication.
