Article:
First comes Black History Month and then ... Whiteness History Month? 
  
 A community college in Oregon has set aside April to look at "whiteness" — but not to celebrate what it's described as a social construct which leads to inequality. 
  
 Portland Community College's Diversity Council is behind the event, which it called a "bold adventure" to examine "race and racism through an exploration of the construction of whiteness, its origins and heritage." 
  
 The project is "not a celebratory endeavor" but an "effort to change our campus climate," the school said on its website. 
  
 Sixty-eight percent of the school's 90,000-strong student body is Caucasian, according to PCC's website. 
  
 "Whiteness refers to the construction of the white race, white culture, and the system of privileges and advantages afforded to white people," a definition on the school's event page reads. 
  
 The month of April will be dedicated to the project, which "seeks to inspire innovative and practical solutions to community issues and social problems that stem from racism," the school said. 
  
 Among the questions that will be asked: 
  
 What is whiteness and how is it socially constructed? 
  
 In what ways does whiteness emerge from a legacy of imperialism, conquest, colonialism and the American enterprise? 
  
 Who benefits from the consequences of whiteness? Who loses from whiteness? How? 
  
 What are alternatives to the culture of white supremacy? 
  
 What are approaches and strategies to dismantling whiteness? 
  
 News of the plans has provoked some controversy and criticism. One far-right website accused PCC of looking to "trash White Americans," while Campus Reform ran a headline "Portland Community College to Devote an Entire Month to 'Whiteness' Shaming." 
  
 The school's interim president Sylvia Kelley said there was "no intention, as some may have feared, to 'shame or blame' anyone" during the project. 
  
 "We view this project as part of a larger national conversation around race and social justice on America's college campuses," she said in a statement. ||||| A new program being held this April at Portland Community College, Whiteness History Month, has garnered lots of unwanted negative attention. Which is why the school’s interim president, Sylvia Kelley, posted a statement on Wednesday in an attempt to calm the waters. (More about that in a minute.) 
  
 Scheduled for April, Whiteness History Month: Context, Consequences and Change is “not a celebratory endeavor,” according to its description on the school’s website. “The Project seeks to challenge the master narrative of race and racism through an exploration of the social construction of whiteness. Challenging the master narrative of traditional curriculum is a strategy within higher education that promotes multicultural education and equity.” 
  
 Rightly or wrongly, lots of people went to town on that one. 
  
 The loudest critics were those in the conservative press. Rightwingnews.com said the purpose “is not to acknowledge the disproportionate level of accomplishment among whites but to shame us for it.” The American Conservative labeled it “white hatey month.” 
  
 Enter Kelley, whose statement reads in part: 
  
 “‘Whiteness’ is an academic term commonly used to describe the social and political construction of white identity related to beliefs, cultural norms and privileges. The concept of ‘whiteness’ has been referenced by a broad range of scholars and has been a focus of research, teaching and scholarship since the early 1990s. 
  
 “We view this project as part of a larger national conversation around race and social justice on America’s college campuses. As Oregon’s largest post-secondary educational institution, it is our responsibility to help continue this courageous conversation. We understand that this will be challenging and uncomfortable work, yet we have made a commitment in our strategic plan to take intentional action to advance diversity, equity and inclusion –for all we serve.” 
  
 Somehow we doubt that’s the end of that. 
  
 In the meantime, the committee is currently accepting proposals on its website from students and faculty for presentations, lectures, panel discussions, film and music analyses, workshops, plays, art and other forms of expression. 
  
 Caleb Diehl is a student at Lewis & Clark College and a USA TODAY College breaking news correspondent. ||||| Portland Community College, a public college that serves 90,000 students calls itself the largest secondary education institution in Oregon, is staging a “Whiteness History Month” plainly designed to convince white students to despise themselves and their culture. That’s not how the PCC website puts it, of course: 
  
 Whiteness History Month: Context, Consequences and Change is a multidisciplinary, district-wide, educational project examining race and racism through an exploration of the construction of whiteness, its origins and heritage. Scheduled for the month of April 2016, the project seeks to inspire innovative and practical solutions to community issues and social problems that stem from racism. 
  
 More: 
  
 Whiteness History Month Project, unlike heritage months, is not a celebratory endeavor, it is an effort to change our campus climate. The Project seeks to challenge the master narrative of race and racism through an exploration of the social construction of whiteness. Challenging the master narrative of traditional curriculum is a strategy within higher education that promotes multicultural education and equity. 
  
 These people truly put the “PC” in “PCC”. According to the college’s demographics page, two-thirds of its students are white. Most of them are older than age 25. It’s hard to say for sure, but I’m betting the school’s student population is chiefly white and working class — who, as we all know from our progressive catechism, are the Worst People In The World. 
  
 Victor Tan Chen, writing in The Atlantic, may be in need of re-education at Portland Community College. From his piece, which pivots from the startling study by Anne Case and Angus Deaton showing that white working class people are dying at extraordinarily high rates, usually from drugs, alcoholism, or suicide. VTC continues: 
  
 Any explanation of the ominous trends in the Case and Deaton study is, at the moment, speculative. More research is needed, as social scientists like to say, and there are numerous caveats. For example, while the disappearance of high-paying jobs for those with little education is a large part of the overall story of a shrinking middle class, it can’t wholly account for the uptick of mortality identified in the Case and Deaton study. After all, other countries have not seen similar hikes in deaths, even though manufacturing and (to a lesser extent) unionmembership have crumbled abroad as well. Likewise, the groups that have been affected most viciously by these market trends in the U.S., African Americans and Latinos, have not suffered the dramatic increases in death by suicide or substance abuse that whites have. It may be that changes in the economy have affected these workers in different ways. For instance, whites are more likely to be employed in the declining manufacturing sector than African Americans or Hispanics—and for that matter, they’re morelikely to live in the rural communities devastated by this most recent, post-NAFTA era of deindustrialization. Furthermore, whites are less likely to be union members than African Americans (though not Asians or Hispanics). 
  
 Yet there is clearly more to the despair of the working class than empty wallets and purses. Patches of the social fabric that once supported them, in good times and bad, have frayed. When asked in national surveys about the people with whom they discussed “important matters” in the past six months, those with just a high-school education or less are likelier to say no one (this percentage has risen over the years for college graduates, too). This trend is troubling, given that social isolation is linked to depression and, in turn, suicide and substance abuse. One form of social support that many in the working class are going without is marriage. I’m reminded of another worker I interviewed, a jobless 54-year-old white woman who used to work at a Ford plant. Her husband left her, she says, when the paychecks stopped coming. “Jesus Christ,” she told him once. “I didn’t think that our relationship was based on the amount of money that I brought in.” Unable to pay her mortgage, she lost her home and had to move in, as she puts it, with a “man friend.” She is depressed, unable to sleep at night, and constantly worried about falling into poverty. “I’m a loser,” she says. 
  
 Yet the progressives at Portland Community College are making it their business to educate people from this demographic in their own guilt and vileness. 
  
 These nitwit progressives have no idea, no idea at all, what kind of demons they are calling up. If our economy were to collapse, America would start to look something like the old Yugoslavia in its fracturing. Middle-class progressives at places like Portland Community College will have a lot to answer for. This is a time in which they could do a lot of good promoting community solidarity, especially among those of all races who are being left behind by this economy. But they won’t, because waging racist culture war is too important to them. 
  
 (Via Campus Reform.) 
  
 UPDATE: Reader Mr. Pickwick writes: 
  
 Yikes! I have two (white) sons at PCC. They don’t have any patience for that kind of politically correct stuff (they’re too busy studying and working), and say that the same attitude is shared by most of their classmates. In fact, they weren’t even aware of “whiteness history month.” A month ago, I discussed with my youngest son the upheaval that was happening on certain college campuses over racial issues (demonstrations, occupations, intimidation, demands, etc.). He said nothing of the kind was happening at PCC. Although there were a few profs and students who mouthed PC slogans, there was no disruption of the educational process. No demonstrations or such. As my youngest son said “Dad, most PCC students are taking a full course load PLUS working at least one job, with long commutes. We just don’t have any time for that other stuff….” So my take is this: yes, the “whiteness” event is kooky and to be criticized. But don’t write off this school on that account. My sons are getting excellent educations, at an unbeatable price. One is in the EMT/Paramedic program, and the other is getting his AA and then transferring to a four-year university in pursuit of a liberal arts degree in the humanities (in fact, he’s almost certainly going to end up getting an MA or even a Ph.D.). PCC has been a godsend. Up until four years ago, we lived a block from PCC, and on my commute home from work I rode the bus with PCC students every day. Generally speaking, they were a very impressive bunch of kids: serious, focused, working hard at their studies. I often talked with them about their classes and career goals. 
  
 Oh, I’m not surprised about the student body. I wish, though, someone would speak out against this racialist garbage. It would be interesting to see what the student body did with the knowledge that the administration of their college thinks they need to be re-educated to understand why they are bad because of the color of their skin. |||||Summary:
– April is Whiteness History Month at Oregon's Portland Community College, NBC News reports. But instead of dissertations on the Tea Party, juice cleanses, and Macklemore, Whiteness History Month will attempt to "challenge the master narrative of race and racism through an exploration of the social construction of whiteness," per the event's website. NBC reports Whiteness History Month was created by the college's diversity council to improve the culture of a campus that is 68% white. "Colleges across the country continue to struggle to improve diversity, inclusion, and racial equity," the website states. "At Portland Community College, evidence from hiring data, student-­led research, surveys, focus groups, college-wide emails, and other sources have illuminated the underlying reality of whiteness embedded in the overall college climate" USA Today reports Whiteness History Month is predictably drawing criticism from certain circles. The American Conservative calls it "hate whitey month," and Right Wing News claims it's an effort to shame white people for their "disproportionate" accomplishments. In a statement, Portland Community College interim president Sylvia Kelley says Whiteness History Month isn't trying to "shame or blame" anyone. "We view this project as part of a larger national conversation around race and social justice on America’s college campuses," she says. According to the event's website, it's currently looking for lectures, plays, and more to accomplish its goals of understanding whiteness, how it can be done away with, and what can replace it.
Artikel: Först kommer Svart Historia Månad och sedan ... Vitterhet Historia Månad? Ett community college i Oregon har avsatt April för att titta på "vithet" – men inte för att fira vad det beskrivs som en social konstruktion som leder till ojämlikhet. Portland Community College's Diversity Council ligger bakom evenemanget, som det kallade ett "fet äventyr" för att undersöka "ras och rasism genom en utforskning av konstruktionen av vitterhet, dess ursprung och arv." Projektet är "inte en festlig strävan" utan en "ansträngning för att förändra vårt campusklimat", sade skolan på sin hemsida. Sextioåtta procent av skolans 90 000-starka elevskara är kaukasiska, enligt PCC:s hemsida. "Vitheten syftar på byggandet av den vita rasen, den vita kulturen, och systemet av privilegier och fördelar som ges till vita människor", lyder en definition på skolans evenemangssida. April månad kommer att ägnas åt projektet, som "försöker inspirera innovativa och praktiska lösningar på samhällsfrågor och sociala problem som härrör från rasism", sade skolan. Bland de frågor som kommer att ställas: Vad är vitterhet och hur är den socialt uppbyggd? På vilka sätt kommer vitterheten fram ur ett arv från imperialismen, erövringen, kolonialismen och det amerikanska företaget? Vem har nytta av vitterhetens konsekvenser? Vem förlorar på vitterhet? Hur då? Vilka är alternativ till den vita överhöghetens kultur? Vilka är strategier och strategier för att avveckla vitheten? Nyheten om planerna har framkallat en del kontroverser och kritik. En längst till höger webbplats anklagade PCC för att se till "trash White Americans", medan Campus Reform drev en rubrik "Portland Community College to Devote an Entire Month to 'Whiteness' Shaming." Skolans interimspresident Sylvia Kelley sade att det inte fanns "ingen avsikt, som vissa kan ha befarat, att 'skamma eller skylla' någon" under projektet. "Vi ser detta projekt som en del av ett större nationellt samtal kring ras och social rättvisa på USA:s collegecampus", sade hon i ett uttalande. Ett nytt program som hålls i april på Portland Community College, Vitterhetshistorisk månad, har fått mycket oönskad negativ uppmärksamhet. Därför gjorde skolans ålderspresident, Sylvia Kelley, ett uttalande på onsdagen i ett försök att lugna vattnet. (Mer om det på en minut.) Schemalagd för april, Vitterhets Historia Månad: Sammanhang, Konsekvenser och Förändring är “inte en festlig strävan”, enligt dess beskrivning på skolans webbplats. “Projektet syftar till att utmana huvudberättelsen om ras och rasism genom en utforskning av den sociala konstruktionen av vitterhet. Att utmana huvudberättelsen om traditionell läroplan är en strategi inom högre utbildning som främjar mångkulturell utbildning och rättvisa.” Rätt eller fel, många människor åkte till staden på den. De mest högljudda kritikerna var de i den konservativa pressen. Rightwingnews.com sade syftet “är inte att erkänna den oproportionerliga nivån av prestation bland vita men att skämma ut oss för det.” Den amerikanska konservativa stämplade det “vit hatig månad.” Enter Kelley, vars uttalande lyder delvis: “”Vithet” är en akademisk term som ofta används för att beskriva den sociala och politiska konstruktionen av vit identitet relaterad till övertygelser, kulturella normer och privilegier. Begreppet ”vithet” har refererats av en lång rad forskare och har varit ett fokus för forskning, undervisning och stipendium sedan början av 1990-talet. – Vi ser detta projekt som en del av ett större nationellt samtal kring ras och social rättvisa på USA:s collegecampus. Som Oregons största eftergymnasiala läroanstalt är det vårt ansvar att hjälpa till att fortsätta detta modiga samtal. Vi förstår att detta kommer att bli ett utmanande och obekvämt arbete, men vi har ändå gjort ett åtagande i vår strategiska plan att vidta avsiktliga åtgärder för att främja mångfald, rättvisa och integration – för allt vi tjänar.” På något sätt tvivlar vi på att det är slutet på det. Under tiden tar utskottet för närvarande emot förslag på sin webbplats från studenter och fakultet för presentationer, föreläsningar, paneldiskussioner, film- och musikanalyser, workshops, pjäser, konst och andra uttrycksformer. Caleb Diehl är elev vid Lewis & Clark College och en USA TOday College-brytande nyhetskorrespondent. Portland Community College, en offentlig högskola som betjänar 90 000 studenter kallar sig den största gymnasieskolan i Oregon, är iscensatt en “Vithetshistorisk månad” klart utformad för att övertyga vita studenter att förakta sig själva och sin kultur. Det är inte så PCC: s webbplats uttrycker det, naturligtvis: Vitterhet Historia Månad: Sammanhang, Konsekvenser och Förändring är ett tvärvetenskapligt, distriktsövergripande, pedagogiskt projekt som undersöker ras och rasism genom en undersökning av byggandet av vitterhet, dess ursprung och arv. Projektet är planerat till april månad 2016 och syftar till att inspirera till innovativa och praktiska lösningar på samhällsfrågor och sociala problem som härrör från rasism. Mer: Vitterhetshistoriskt månadsprojekt är, till skillnad från kulturarvsmånader, inte en festlig strävan, det är ett försök att förändra vårt campusklimat. Projektet syftar till att utmana det mästarberättande om ras och rasism genom en utforskning av vithetens sociala konstruktion. Att utmana masterberättelsen om traditionell läroplan är en strategi inom högre utbildning som främjar mångkulturell utbildning och rättvisa. Dessa personer sätter verkligen ”PC” i ”PCC”. Enligt högskolans demografisida är två tredjedelar av dess studenter vita. De flesta är äldre än 25 år. Det är svårt att säga säkert, men jag slår vad om att skolans elevbefolkning huvudsakligen är vit och arbetarklass – som vi alla vet från vår progressiva katekes, är de värsta människorna i världen. Victor Tan Chen, som skriver i The Atlantic, kan vara i behov av omskolning vid Portland Community College. Från hans verk, som är ett led i Anne Cases och Angus Deatons häpnadsväckande studie som visar att vita arbetarklassmänniskor dör i utomordentligt hög takt, oftast av droger, alkoholism eller självmord. VTC fortsätter: Varje förklaring till de olycksbådande trenderna i Case and Deaton-studien är för närvarande spekulativ. Det behövs mer forskning, som samhällsvetare vill säga, och det finns många förbehåll. Till exempel, medan försvinnandet av högavlönade jobb för dem med lite utbildning är en stor del av den övergripande historien om en krympande medelklass, kan det inte helt redogöra för den uppåtgående dödlighet som identifierats i Case och Deaton studien. När allt kommer omkring har andra länder inte sett liknande ökningar av antalet döda, även om tillverkningsindustrin och (i mindre utsträckning) facket har rasat även utomlands. På samma sätt har de grupper som har drabbats hårdast av dessa marknadstrender i USA, afroamerikaner och latinos inte drabbats av de dramatiska dödsökningar genom självmord eller missbruk som vita har. Det kan vara så att förändringar i ekonomin har påverkat dessa arbetstagare på olika sätt. Till exempel, vita är mer benägna att anställas i den minskande tillverkningssektorn än afroamerikaner eller latinamerikaner-och för den delen, de är mer sannolikt att leva i landsbygden samhällen ödelagda av denna senaste, post-NAFTA eran av industrialisering. Dessutom är det mindre troligt att vita är fackmedlemmar än afroamerikaner (dock inte asiater eller latinamerikaner). Ändå ligger det klart mer i arbetarklassens förtvivlan än tomma plånböcker och plånböcker. Plåster av det sociala tyg som en gång stöttade dem, i goda och dåliga tider, har slitits. På frågan i nationella undersökningar om de personer som de har diskuterat ”viktiga frågor” med under de senaste sex månaderna, de med bara en gymnasieutbildning eller mindre är lättare att säga någon (den andelen har ökat under åren för akademiker, också). Denna trend är oroande, med tanke på att social isolering är kopplad till depression och i sin tur självmord och missbruk. En form av socialt stöd som många i arbetarklassen går utan är äktenskapet. Jag blir påmind om en annan arbetare jag intervjuade, en arbetslös 54-årig vit kvinna som brukade arbeta på en Ford-fabrik. Hennes man lämnade henne, säger hon, när lönecheckarna slutade komma. ”Jesus Kristus”, sade hon till honom en gång. “Jag trodde inte att vårt förhållande var baserat på den summa pengar som jag tog in.” Oförmögen att betala sitt lån, förlorade hon sitt hem och var tvungen att flytta in, som hon uttrycker det, med en “man vän”. Hon är deprimerad, oförmögen att sova på natten, och ständigt orolig för att hamna i fattigdom. — Jag är en förlorare, säger hon. Ändå gör de progressiva vid Portland Community College det till sin uppgift att utbilda människor från denna demografiska i sin egen skuld och vidrighet. De här idioterna har ingen aning om vad de kallar på. Om vår ekonomi skulle kollapsa skulle Amerika börja se ut ungefär som det gamla Jugoslavien i sin spräckning. Medelklassens progressiva på platser som Portland Community College kommer att ha mycket att svara för. Detta är en tid då de skulle kunna göra mycket gott för att främja solidariteten i samhället, särskilt bland dem av alla raser som lämnas kvar av denna ekonomi. Men det gör de inte, eftersom det är för viktigt för dem att föra rasistiskt kulturkrig. (Via Campus Reform.) Läsaren mr Pickwick skriver: Jag har två (vita) söner på PCC. De har inget tålamod med den sortens politiskt korrekta saker (de är för upptagna med att studera och arbeta), och säger att samma attityd delas av de flesta av deras klasskamrater. I själva verket var de inte ens medvetna om “vithet historia månad.” För en månad sedan diskuterade jag med min yngste son den omvälvning som skedde på vissa college campus över rasfrågor (demonstrationer, yrken, hotelser, krav, etc.). Han sa att inget av det här hände på PCC. Även om det fanns några profs och studenter som muntrade PC slogans, fanns det ingen störning av utbildningsprocessen. Inga demonstrationer eller liknande. Som min yngste son sa “Pappa, de flesta PCC-studenter tar en full kurs last PLUS arbetar minst ett jobb, med långa pendlar. Vi har helt enkelt ingen tid för det där andra...” Så min åsikt är detta: ja, händelsen “vithet” är knäpp och att kritiseras. Men skriv inte av den här skolan för den skull. Mina söner får utmärkta utbildningar, till ett oslagbart pris. Den ena är i EMT/Paramedic program, och den andra får hans AA och sedan överföra till ett fyraårigt universitet i jakt på en liberal arts examen i humanities (i själva verket kommer han nästan säkert att få en MA eller ens en Ph.D.). PCC har varit en gudagåva. Fram till för fyra år sedan bodde vi ett kvarter från PCC, och på min pendla hem från jobbet åkte jag buss med PCC-studenter varje dag. Generellt sett var de ett mycket imponerande gäng barn: seriösa, fokuserade, arbetar hårt på sina studier. Jag talade ofta med dem om deras klasser och karriärmål. Åh, jag är inte förvånad över elevkroppen. Jag önskar dock att någon skulle uttala sig mot detta rasistiska skräp. Det skulle vara intressant att se vad studentkåren gjorde med vetskapen om att administrationen på deras högskola tycker att de behöver ombildas för att förstå varför de är dåliga på grund av färgen på deras hud. ••••••••••••••••••••••
Article: First comes Black History Month and then ... Whiteness History Month? A community college in Oregon has set aside April to look at "whiteness" – but not to celebrate what it is described as a social construction that leads to inequality. The Portland Community College's Diversity Council is behind the event, which it called a "fat adventure" to investigate "race and racism through an exploration of the construction of whiteness, its origin and heritage." The project is "not a festive endeavor" but a "effort to change our campus climate," the school said on its website. Sixty-eight percent of the school's 90,000-strong student body is Caucasian, according to the PCC website. "Whiteness refers to the construction of the white race, the white culture, and the system of privileges and benefits given to white people," reads a definition on the school's event page. The month of April will be devoted to the project, which "attempts to inspire innovative and practical solutions to societal and social issues stemming from racism," the school said. Among the questions that will be asked: What is whiteness and how is it socially constructed? In what ways does the brilliance emerge from a legacy of imperialism, conquest, colonialism, and the American enterprise? Who benefits from the consequences of whiteness? Who loses out on whiteness? How? What are alternatives to the culture of white supremacy? What are the strategies and strategies for dismantling whiteness? The news of the plans has provoked some controversy and criticism. A far-right website accused PCC of making sure "trash White Americans", while Campus Reform ran a headline "Portland Community College to Devote an Entire Month to 'Whiteness' Shaming." The school's interim president Sylvia Kelley said there was "no intention, as some may have feared, to 'shame or blame' anyone" during the project. "We see this project as part of a major national conversation about race and social justice on the U.S. college campus," she said in a statement. A new program held in April at Portland Community College, the month of Letters History, has received much unwanted negative attention. Therefore, the school's age president, Sylvia Kelley, made a statement on Wednesday in an attempt to calm the water. (More about it in a minute.) Scheduled for April, Letters History Month: Context, Consequences and Change is “not a festive endeavor”, according to its description on the school website. “The project aims to challenge the main narrative of race and racism through an exploration of the social construction of whiteness. Challenge the main story of traditional curriculum is a strategy in higher education that promotes multicultural education and justice.” Right or wrong, many people went to the city on it. The most vocal critics were those in the conservative press. Rightwingnews.com said the purpose “is not to recognize the disproportionate level of achievement among whites but to embarrass us for it.” The American Conservative labeled it “white-hairy month.” Enter Kelley, whose statement reads in part: “Whiteness” is an academic term often used to describe the social and political construction of white identity related to beliefs, cultural norms and privileges. The concept of “whiteness” has been referred to by a wide range of researchers and has been a focus of research, teaching and scholarship since the early 1990s. “We see this project as part of a major national conversation about race and social justice at the U.S. college campus. As Oregon’s largest post-secondary educational institution, it is our responsibility to help continue this courageous conversation. We understand that this will be challenging and uncomfortable work, but we have nevertheless made a commitment in our strategic plan to take deliberate action to promote diversity, justice and integration – for everything we serve.” Somehow we doubt that it is the end of it. Meanwhile, the committee currently receives suggestions on its website from students and faculty of presentations, lectures, panel discussions, film and music analyses, workshops, plays, art and other forms of expression. Caleb Diehl is a student at Lewis & Clark College and a USA TODAY College breaking news correspondent. Portland Community College, a public college serving 90 000 students calling itself the largest high school in Oregon, is staged a “Whiteness History Month” clearly designed to convince white students to despise themselves and their culture. That's not how the PCC website puts it, of course: Whiteness History Month: Context, Consequences and Change is an interdisciplinary, cross-district, educational project that investigates race and racism through an investigation into the construction of whiteness, its origins and heritage. The project is scheduled for April 2016 and aims to inspire innovative and practical solutions to societal and social issues arising from racism. More: A month-long whiteness project, unlike cultural heritage months, is not a festive endeavor, it is an attempt to change our campus climate. The project aims to challenge the master narrative of race and racism through an exploration of the social construction of whiteness. Challenge the master's story of traditional curriculum is a strategy in higher education that promotes multicultural education and justice. These people really put ‘PC’ in the ‘PCC’. According to the college's demographic page, two thirds of its students are white. Most of them are older than 25 years old. It's hard to say for sure, but I bet the school's student population is mainly white and working class—as we all know from our progressive catechism, are the worst people in the world. Victor Tan Chen, writing in The Atlantic, may be in need of retraining at Portland Community College. From his work, which is part of Anne Case's and Angus Deaton's astonishing study showing that white working class people die at an extraordinarily high rate, usually from drugs, alcoholism, or suicide. The VTC continues: Any explanation of the ominous trends in the Case and Deaton study is currently speculative. More research is needed, as social scientists say, and there are many reservations. For example, while the disappearance of high-paid jobs for those with little education is a large part of the overall history of a shrinking middle class, it cannot fully account for the upward mortality identified in the Case and Deaton study. After all, other countries have not seen similar increases in the number of deaths, although manufacturing industry and (to a lesser extent) unions have also collapsed abroad. Similarly, the groups hardest hit by these market trends in the United States, African Americans, and Latinos have not suffered the dramatic death increases by suicide or abuse that whites have. It may be that changes in the economy have affected these workers in different ways. For example, whites are more likely to be employed in the declining manufacturing sector than African Americans or Hispanic-and for that matter, they are more likely to live in rural communities devastated by this recent, post-NAFTA era of industrialization. In addition, whites are less likely to be union members than African Americans (though not Asians or Hispanics). Yet it is clearly more in the despair of the working class than empty wallets and wallets. Patches of the social fabric that once supported them, in good and bad times, have been worn. When asked in national surveys about the people with whom they have discussed ‘important issues’ over the past six months, those with only one secondary education or less are easier to say anyone (that proportion has increased over the years for academics, too). This trend is worrying, given that social isolation is linked to depression and in turn suicide and addiction. One form of social support that many in the working class go without is marriage. I'm reminded of another worker I interviewed, an unemployed 54-year-old white woman who used to work at a Ford factory. Her husband left her, she says, when the paychecks stopped coming. "Jesus Christ," she said to him once. “I didn’t think that our relationship was based on the amount of money I took in.” Unable to pay her loan, she lost her home and had to move in, as she puts it, with a “man friend.” She is depressed, unable to sleep at night, and constantly worried about ending up in poverty. “I’m a loser,” she says. Yet the progressives at Portland Community College make it their task to educate people from this demographic in their own guilt and obnoxiousness. These idiots have no idea what they're calling. If our economy were to collapse, America would begin to look much like the old Yugoslavia in its fracturing. Middle-class progressives in places that Portland Community College will have much to answer for. This is a time when they could do much good to promote solidarity in society, especially among those of all races left behind by this economy. But they do not, because it is too important for them to wage racist cultural wars. (Via Campus Reform.) The reader Mr. Pickwick writes: I have two (white) sons on PCC. They have no patience with that kind of politically correct things (they are too busy studying and working), saying that the same attitude is shared by most of their classmates. In fact, they were not even aware of “whiteness history month.” A month ago, I discussed with my youngest son the upheaval that took place on some college campuses over racial issues (demonstrations, occupations, threats, demands, etc.). He said none of this happened at PCC. Although there were some profs and students who cheered PC slogans, there was no disruption to the educational process. No demonstrations or anything like that. As my youngest son said “Dad, most PCC students take a full course load PLUS works at least one job, with long commutes. We simply have no time for that other...” So my opinion is this: yes, the event “whiteness” is crazy and to be criticized. But don't write this school off for that. My sons get excellent training, at an unbeatable price. One is in EMT/Paramedic programs, and the other receives his AA and then transfers to a four-year university in search of a liberal species degree in humanities (in fact, he will almost certainly receive an MA or even a Ph.D.). The PCC has been a godsend. Until four years ago, we lived a block from PCC, and on my commute home from work, I rode a bus with PCC students every day. Generally speaking, they were a very impressive bunch of children: serious, focused, working hard on their studies. I often talked to them about their classes and career goals. Oh, I'm not surprised at the student body. I wish, however, that someone would speak out against this racist rubbish. It would be interesting to see what the student union did with the knowledge that the administration at their college thinks they need to be re-formed to understand why they are bad because of the color of their skin. <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk>
– April är Vitterhetshistorisk månad på Oregon's Portland Community College, NBC News rapporter. Men istället för avhandlingar om Tea Party, juice renar, och Macklemore, Vitterhets Historia Månaden kommer att försöka "utmana mästerberättelsen om ras och rasism genom en utforskning av den sociala konstruktionen av vitterhet", per evenemangets hemsida. NBC rapporterar Vitterhetshistorisk månad skapades av högskolans mångfaldsråd för att förbättra kulturen i ett campus som är 68% vitt. "Kolleger över hela landet fortsätter att kämpa för att förbättra mångfald, integration och ras rättvisa," säger hemsidan. "Vid Portland Community College har bevis från att anställa data, studentledd forskning, enkäter, fokusgrupper, college-breda e-postmeddelanden och andra källor belyst den underliggande verkligheten av vithet inbäddad i det övergripande collegeklimatet" USA Today reports Whiteness History Month är förutsägbart att hämta kritik från vissa kretsar. Den amerikanska konservativa kallar det för "hatig vit månad", och Right Wing News hävdar att det är ett försök att skämma ut vita människor för deras "oproportionerliga" prestationer. I ett uttalande säger Portland Community Colleges interimspresident Sylvia Kelley att Vitterhetshistoria Månad inte försöker "forma eller skylla" på någon. "Vi ser detta projekt som en del av ett större nationellt samtal kring ras och social rättvisa på USA:s collegecampus", säger hon. Enligt evenemangets hemsida söker den för närvarande efter föreläsningar, pjäser och mer för att uppnå sina mål att förstå vitterhet, hur det kan göras bort och vad som kan ersätta det.
– April is the Month of Letters History at Oregon's Portland Community College, NBC News reports. But instead of treatises on the Tea Party, juice pures, and Macklemore, Letters History The month will try to "challenge the master story of race and racism through an exploration of the social construction of whiteness", per the event's website. NBC reports Whiteness History month was created by the college's diversity council to improve the culture of a campus that is 68% white. "Colleagues across the country continue to fight to improve diversity, integration and race justice," the website says. "At Portland Community College, evidence from hiring data, student-led research, surveys, focus groups, college-wide emails and other sources has highlighted the underlying reality of whiteness embedded in the overall college climate" USA Today reports Whiteness History Month is predictable to retrieve criticism from some circles. The American Conservatives call it "hate white month", and Right Wing News claims it is an attempt to embarrass white people for their "disproportionate" achievements. In a statement, Portland Community College interim president Sylvia Kelley says Whiteness History Month does not attempt to "shape or blame" anyone. "We see this project as part of a major national conversation about race and social justice on the U.S. college campus," she says. According to the event's website, it is currently looking for lectures, plays and more to achieve its goals of understanding whiteness, how it can be done away with and what can replace it.