Future teachers will be separated into White, BIPOC affinity groups at this education college
Bank Street Graduate School of Education recently created 'affinity groups' for white students and 'students of color.'
Bates offers degrees in multiple fields including 'Child Life,' 'Curriculum Development,' 'Infancy & Early Intervention,' 'Reading & Literacy,' and 'Special Education.'
Bank Street Graduate School of Education recently touted its new “affinity groups” for White students and “students of color.”
The New York City-based college announced the groups in a September 23 blog post, telling prospective students that “becoming part of an ongoing conversation about race and ourselves as racial beings is one way to engage in this necessary aspect of the work we need to do.”
Bates offers graduate degrees in the fields of “Child Life,” “Curriculum Development,” “Infancy & Early Intervention,” “Reading & Literacy,” and “Special Education,” among others.
Both “Students of Color” and “White Students Affinity Group” exist to provide “support and challenge in the context of real community,” according to the university.
The former meets monthly on Friday evenings throughout the year in order to “feel connected” and have a “safe space” to share experiences. The latter meets monthly on Friday afternoons to develop “racial awareness.”
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According to the website, one student said that the White Student Affinity Group helped educate her “about Whiteness and racial justice.”
”The White Student Affinity Group is a very supportive community which keeps me engaged in the work of reflecting on my identity and role in society as a White person,” the student said.
As Campus Reform has reported, countless universities across the United States are introducing segregated programs — which effectively isolate black students from the rest of campus and seek to inform white students of their alleged inherent bias.
The University of Kentucky, for example, created white and non-white training groups for its resident assistants.
In October 2020, Campus Reform obtained an email sent to prospective resident assistants at Kentucky, which said a training session on “microaggressions and microinvalidations” would divide individuals into separate White and “Black, Indigenous, Person of Color” groups.
The email also included a “Common racist behaviors and attitudes of white people” document for students in the “White Accountability Space” to review.”
At Western Washington University, administrators announced “Black Affinity Housing” this semester that serves to “explore and celebrate the diversity of Black and African American people and culture, with historical and contemporary context.”
American University similarly announced “Black Affinity Housing” last spring, citing the “murder of George Floyd and the many other acts of violence against Black people and communities of color.”
