Western Washington University has made a minor splash in the national news. Theyve put out a questionnaire that includes the following question: How do we make sure that in future years “we are not as white as we are today?” Since anyone can respond to the question on their website, here is how I responded, after reading the information sheet: Survey writers at a university ought to know that how they frame a question will influence the sort of feedback it elicits. Apparently the university wishes to increase level of ethnic diversity among its faculty, staff, and students. The obvious way to state this question is: How can we increase ethnic diversity among our faculty, staff, and student population? Instead, the university has chosen to single out a single population, white, for reduction. Moreover, only one group, white, is identified by color, whereas all the others are identified by region of origin and/or native language. One of the largest and most successful ethnic groups, Asians, is nowhere mentioned. The question might have the desired effect, however. Parents of white children might be less likely to send their children to Western, not because they oppose ethnic diversity, but because they do not wish to subject their children to anti-white bias. wwu.edu/sixquestions/three.shtml
Posted on: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 15:30:45 +0000