UMBC Offers Parents a Guide on ‘Whiteness’

, Malcolm A. Kline, Leave a comment

The University of Maryland-Baltimore County recently made headlines in college basketball, when its underdog men’s team upset top-ranked University of Virginia in the annual NCAA March Madness tournament. However, the administrators at the university also made headlines with a recent guide they published for parents.

The university’s Student Life Mosaic and Interfaith Centers published a guide, according to Campus Reform, which listed three articles for parents and families to read. The articles discuss how to talk to one’s children about race and “whiteness.” The guide claims:

“Given all the race, national origin, class-based violence, anti-blackness, and anti-immigrant rhetoric in the media and the subsequent backlash from white-identified people and groups, there is a growing need for mindful, supportive education for white children.”

The guide includes tips on:

~”What White Children Need to Know about Race”
~”We need to deal with our discomfort and talk to our kids about racism”
~Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism – from Ferguson to Charleston”

It appears “whiteness” is a major concern for UMBC administrators.