Desiring Diversity and White Settler Backlash: Violence as a Daily Logic

• In Event: Flipping the Script on Conversations Surrounding Race and Diversity

Abstract

In this theoretical piece, I argue that the current desire for diversity on college campuses is an outgrowth of a short-sided and nebulous and has resulted in predictable backlash. I frame this argument in the writings and theories of critical race theory, particularly the work of Cheryl Harris on whiteness as property, and Jodi Byrd’s work on imperialism. Seeing universities and colleges as white settler property established on violent seizure contextualizes both the ways in which white backlash to the increasing presence of faculty of color manifests and how responses should be formulated. I close with a discussion of the structural changes that could be considered to take to deal with this confrontation of property and human rights.

Author

• Lisa (Leigh) Patel, Boston College