This spring, Grand Valley State University hosted segregated graduation ceremonies. Harkening back to Plessy vs Ferguson, GVSU decided that its graduating class needed “separate but equal” ceremonies.
When a college tells you they support segregated events, believe them. While professing to support “Diversity, Inclusion and Equity”, if their idea of being inclusive and celebrating diversity actually means separating graduation ceremonies by race and sexual orientation, they are in fact hard core segregationists. In America, the general public moved past segregation and “separate but equal” decades ago, but these types of ideas are once again being resurrected by the “thought leaders” of the antiracism movement. For example, diversity expert Robin DiAngelo recently stated in a webinar, “And then I’m a big believer of affinity space and affinity work and I think people of color need to get away from white people and have some community with each other. And I’ll let that go and maybe see if anyone else wants to pick it up.”
GVSU is practicing Robin DiAngelo’s idea of affinity spaces in the name of antiracism. You might read this and think a white person telling people of color they need to get away from white people must be someone who is harboring guilt for sins of past generations, and she may even think she has good intentions. It would be instructive to examine some of her past writings.
In DiAngelo’s book, “White Fragility”, she wrote:
“I felt a mild sense of anxiety as I considered that I might have to enter the all-black group, then mild relief as I realized that my friend was in the other [white] group.”
Later, she states:
“…you would still continue to judge, because it is impossible not to. We can try to examine our judgements, hold them more lightly, and so forth, but to be free of judgement? Not possible. Nor can we treat everyone the same.”
“I believe that the white collective fundamentally hates blackness for what it reminds us of: that we are capable and guilty of perpetrating immeasurable harm and that our gains come through the subjugation of others. We have a particular hatred for “uppity” blacks, those who dare to step out of their place and look us in the eye as equals. “
For whose benefit is DiAngelo telling black people to get away from white people? Is it really for the benefit of black people or her own? After all, if black people “get away” from her, doesn’t it mean that she won’t feel anxious anymore, that she will be liberated from her own guilt for judging? She won’t have to live a life full of self-hate for what black people remind her of. DiAngelo is projecting her own blatantly racist ideas.
Schools in Ottawa County, as well as many local businesses, are also adopting a segregationist mentality. In schools these ideas are spreading from clubs like Calling All Colors and Gay Straight Alliance. These clubs preach Diversity, Inclusion and Equity and believe all people are either racist or homophobic unless they are from a minority group or are active in opposing oppression. In Grand Haven, the Momentum Center, which receives taxpayer funding, and has its own Antiracism Task Force. If you look at the Momentum Center resource list, you’ll find Robin DiAngelo’s flagship book, White Fragility, among others. In the image below you can see some of the local partners that support the work of the Momentum Center. These local organizations, knowingly or unknowingly, are contributing to the rebirth of a segregated society.
With their segregated graduation celebrations, GVSU committed an egregiously racist act. They adopted antiracist teachings and implemented affinity groups. They segregated their graduating class not by fields of study, extra-curricular activities, GPA or other performance-based criteria, but by race and sexuality. Who really benefits from the GVSU segregated graduations? Do the minority groups benefit? Do the straight white graduates – who are anxious around people of color according to DiAngelo - benefit? Is a minority college graduate just an “uppity” person, daring to look at people outside his affinity group in the eye as an equal? DiAngelo and GVSU seem to think so.
In the lone dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court Ruling of Plessy v Ferguson, Judge John Marshall Harlan wrote, “Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.” In Brown v Board of Education, the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v Ferguson and ruled segregation in schools must end. In the final decision, the judges wrote, “We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” Would anyone have imagined that in 2023, a reputable university would be taking our community back to pre-Brown v Board of Education times, back to “separate but equal”, back to segregation?