University of Wisconsin racism seminar denounces 'whiteness'

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They went beyond the pale.

A mandatory orientation for first-year University of Wisconsin Law School students denounced “whiteness” and ripped “colorblindness” as a sinister racist tool, according to reports.

The racial refresher was given last week to enrollees who had completed their first semester of instruction at the well-regarded Madison school helmed by dean Daniel Tokaji.

Students were given preparatory literature beforehand to acquaint them with the session’s imperatives.

One section reminded white students they benefit from racial oppression regardless of their correctional efforts — and that “there are no exceptional white people.”

“You may have attended many anti-racism workshops; you may not be shouting racist epithets or actively discriminating against people of color, but you still experience privilege based on your white skin color,” the pamphlet contends.

The document was penned by Debra Leigh, lead organizer of the Community Anti-Racism Education Initiative of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

Dean Dan Tokaji heads the Madison law school. law.wisc.edu

Leigh’s writings, the site states, are tailored for government officials, K-12 students and faith groups among others in need of anti-racist reboots.

The pamphlet used at Wisconsin, titled “Common Racist Attitudes and Behaviors that Indicate a Detour or Wrong Turn into White Guilt, Denial or Defensiveness,” lists 28 potential hazards for well-meaning white people on their redemptive journey.

The document kicks off by casting “colorblindness” as a tool of white racial evasion.

“‘Colorblindness negates the cultural values, norms, expectations and life experiences of people of color,” it reads. “By saying we are not different, that you don’t see the color, you are also saying you don’t see your whiteness. This denies the people of colors’ experience of racism and your experience of privilege.”

First-year students were required to attend the session. Google Maps

Another section takes aim at whites who seek to exorcise their inborn racism through the embrace of New Age practices like Native American sweat lodges.

While seemingly benign, the trend is in fact genocidal, Leigh argues.

“Rather than escape one’s white racism by finding a spiritual path, whites instead collude in one
more way with the genocidal attacks on native cultures,” the article states.

An attendee told the Federalist that the orientation felt like a “confessional” for white law students.

The session was presided over by anti-racism expert Joey Oteng, the outlet reported.

Students were told that being colorblind promoted inequity. Google Maps

The social justice educator at one point encouraged students to catalogue slurs for various racial groups.

Stereotypes and epithets related to white people drew chuckles, while the room became grave when the exercise turned to other races or ethnic groups, the student recalled.

Rick Esenberg, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty president and general counsel, blasted the seminar.

“The student body is being subject to nonsense that ignores the rule of law and true equality in favor of a racialized way of seeing the world,” he said in a statement.

Spokesman John Lucas told the Federalist the session “was held in partial fulfillment of ABA (American Bar Association) Standard 303’s requirement that law schools provide education to their students on ‘bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism.’” 

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