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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