Cal Poly Humboldt ‘Whiteness Accountability Space’ supposedly helps white people ‘confront racism’
The program alleges that ‘[w]hite people have been socialized to repeat behaviors that favor white people and harm Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.’
The 'skills' taught by the program can also be used to ‘help in efforts to confront all other forms of oppression, exclusion, and supremacy (such as ableism, capitalism, cis-heteropatriarchy, and classism, etc.),' the school claims.
California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt is offering a “Whiteness Accountability Space” in which participants will discuss their “whiteness” and examine their own inherent racism.
“In the Whiteness Accountability Space, we invite vulnerability, self-reflection, and confidentiality for the purpose of taking courageous personal action to confront racism,” the program description explains.
The program, which is open to all but “specifically designed for white people,” aims to teach participants to “examine and learn together about how whiteness shows up” in their lives, “challenge our own white positionality,” and “support each other to take action to address whiteness and white supremacy.”
[RELATED: Cornell’s ‘Racial Allyship Training’ teaches students to ‘disrupt white spaces’ and ‘decenter whiteness’]
The description seems to allege that white Americans are racist by default and have been “socialized” to act in racist ways, stating that “[w]hite people have been socialized to repeat behaviors that favor white people and harm Black, Indigenous, and People of Color,” and that “it will take regular practice” for them to act in ways that “will cause less harm” to minorities.
The program description also claims that “[t]he skills we will practice to deconstruct and confront whiteness will also help in efforts to confront all other forms of oppression, exclusion, and supremacy (such as ableism, capitalism, cis-heteropatriarchy, and classism, etc.).”
The group is set to meet twice a month, for a total of more than 30 sessions continuing into December 2025.
The program is marketed as a “practice group,” as opposed to a “training or a workshop.”
[RELATED: Ibram Kendi ‘anti-racist’ center at Boston University in freefall]
“The focus of this group is to engage and actively apply that learning in an ongoing way in your life,” the school website states. “The facilitators will prepare a flexible structure for each meeting to engage participants in personal reflection, practice, and accountability.”
Past session resources include a talk by controversial speaker Ibram X. Kendi on “How to
be an Antiracist,” and a talk by Ijeoma Oluo on “Is Our Anti-Racist Work in Systems?”
Campus Reform has contacted California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
