Examining Race & Racism in the University: A Class Project

Abstract

The rise of black consciousness through “Black Lives Matter” protests and recent events regarding police shootings of unarmed people of color have triggered a national dialogue on race, privilege, and discrimination. I structured my 400-level Race and Ethnicity course to build on the momentum of these conversations by incorporating a student-led race-centric research project whereby students learn and apply in-depth interview skills. Through this qualitative group project, students interviewed 31 members of the university community to investigate colorblindness, racial identity, privilege, racialized experiences, and institutional racism on their campus. In this article, I describe the project, and consider its strengths and limitations as a means of student learning about race, privilege, and discrimination in the U.S. today. I include student quotations gathered through final reflection papers to give voice to their experiences as well as a self-reflection of my experiences as part of this project, particularly as a white woman.

Is race still relevant? Student perceptions and experiences of racism in higher education

“…More specifically, the workshop/course should have clear written expectations and detailed information and training on what and how students should recognise, respond to, react to and report racial incidents, as well as to promote the roles and responsibilities of individual students to safeguard an inclusive culture and to actively call out any forms of racism (especially recognitions and identifications of racism, and even challenge the naïve discourse of racism). With clearer and explicit instructions and expectations, students will be encouraged to adopt and apply the appropriate responses to racism in a way that has the potential to reform and disrupt existing bystander practices, especially the culture of silence (Vess, 2016). Although the absence of the protestor or the activist discourse of racism may reflect the specific participants in our study, it is important that students have a collective voice against racial inequality.…”

Support for Students who have Experienced Bullying Because of their Race or Ethnicity

“…These studies highlight the importance of the student voice in finding solutions to bullying within the tertiary sector. Although the views of tertiary students from ethnic minorities who have experienced bullying has not often been sought, their experiences of racism have been investigated (e.g., Harris, 2017;Pilkington, 2013;Singh, 2009;Vess, 2016). Most recently, Wong et al (2021) interviewed 42 tertiary students about their experiences of racism within a university in England.…”

“…To address the issues raised by the students, the authors recommended all staff and students attend workshops on inclusion, equality, and diversity. They suggested the need for a specific emphasis on recognising and calling out racism with the intention of teaching individuals how to alter the prevailing passive bystander practices silence (Vess, 2016;Wong et al, 2021).…”