by James C. Sherlock

Marx believed the economic system determines the nature of social, political, and intellectual life.  The University of Virginia (Main Campus) School of Education and Human Development has established itself as a leader in Marxist thought in education.  

This author thinks that Virginians will learn from that school’s “Critical Whiteness Study Group.  It is not helpful (nor perhaps possible) to summarize what these self-defined scholars have written, so it is quoted below.

What is the Critical Whiteness Study Group?

Basically, this book group is open for anyone to join our shared reading and critical discussions about disrupting white supremacy culture (e.g., racial hierarchy, white privilege, capitalism) at the root of the inequity. This is the first year of our grant funding, and we aim to meet monthly over the summer to discuss a book that addresses whiteness and disrupting white supremacy. At each meeting, we will vote on the next book to read together, beginning with Margaret Hagerman’s 2018 book “White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America,” which is a critical ethnography of ethnic-racial identity development in White, affluent children.

Mission and Vision

• To support emerging and established scholars committed to doing research that advances equity.
• To deepen understanding of Critical Whiteness Studies through reading and discussion.
• To critically examine existing research and literature that addresses white supremacy culture (e.g., How will we apply CWS to our research?  What are the commitments/next steps of extending anti-racism from personal work to community action to empirical evidence?  What are existing strategies for dismantling whiteness? And how do we research them? How does our research perpetuate or disrupt oppressive norms?).
• To connect emerging and established scholars for potential future research collaborations.
• To extend beyond our knowledge of individual, institutional, and systemic oppression toward research on how to address white supremacy culture.
• To promote equitable climate at EHD and UVA by expanding the offering of equity-focused learning and collaboration opportunities.

Well.  What to take away?

This author tries to learn something new every day. This manifesto passes that test. He learned that:

• There is something called “critical whiteness studies” at our flagship state university.  
• Capitalism is a key part of “white supremacy culture,” which certainly sounds bad.  
• In this world, community action precedes empirical evidence, which upends the scientific method, which may itself be a part of white supremacy culture.

He learned that these scholars expect a great deal from a book club.  

Ethnography is sometimes defined as a qualitative research method that involves the in-depth study and description of human cultures, societies, or groups through immersion in their natural environments. Now this author wonders where these scientists will go to immerse themselves in “racial hierarchy, white privilege, and capitalism” in their “natural environment.” Perhaps Scott Stadium.

Finally, he notes that they have set the bar extremely high for themselves.  He will watch to see whether this faction of strivers achieves the Sisyphean task of “expanding the offering of equity-focused learning and collaboration opportunities”  at UVa’s ed school. Wisely, they have set no deadline.  

Then again, inevitably, deadlines are an artifact of white supremacy.