Wednesday, February 13, 2013

If You're Happy and You're White, Kill Yourself




If you’re happy and you’re white, defile your face.  If you’re happy and you’re white, abuse yourself.  If you’re happy and you’re white, you’re a privileged oppressor.  If you’re happy and you’re white, kill yourself.

The University of Wisconsin – Superior (UWS) is sponsoring a campaign that teaches students it is “unfair” to be white, a university spokesperson confirmed to Campus Reform last Wednesday.

The controversial project, named the “Unfair Campaign,” exists to teach students that “systems and institutions are set up for us [whites]” and as such are “unfair.” The campaign’s slogan, as it appears on its official website, is “it’s hard to see racism when you’re White.”

The project disseminates its controversial message through an aggressive campaign of online videos, billboards, and lectures.

Posters produced by the group feature a number of Caucasians with slogans like “is white skin really a fair skin?” sharpied on their faces.

The campaign was initially sponsored by the University of Minnesota – Duluth (UMD), but the school dropped their partnership and labeled the campaign “divisive” and “alienating” after a Campus Reform investigation brought unwanted national attention to the school.

Lynn Williams, a spokeswoman for UWS, told Campus on Wednesday UWS does not “exactly” share UMD’s concerns.

The school is using the campaign as an “opportunity on our campus to talk about all privilege and to create conversation,” she told Campus Reform.

“We really felt that this was an opportunity for the campus and the neighboring community to learn and to grow together,” Williams added.

Williams added UWS has held a number of “diversity dialogues” in conjunction with the Unfair Campaign and said that a number of professors have discussed the project in their classrooms.

The university has several events planned for the future and is not considering dropping its sponsorship, she added.

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