The University of Michigan-Dearborn apologized on Wednesday for creating two segregated online “cafes” — one for white students and another for “students of color.”
The events: The virtual events were held on Tuesday and billed as an opportunity for students to gather with their supposed kin to discuss issues specific to their race.
- “The Non-POC (People Of Color) Cafe” promised to be “a space for students that do not identify as persons of color” to discuss being “non-POC” and to “hopefully brainstorm solutions to common issues within the non-POC community,” according to a since-removed announcement on the university’s website.
- The “BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Cafe” was described as a parallel session for students from “marginalized racial/ethnic/cultural communities” to “relate with one another.”
- Both events were hosted by the university’s Center for Social Justice & Inclusion and moderated by a faculty or staff member.
The apology: In an unsigned statement, the University of Michigan-Dearborn said it “sincerely regrets the terms used to describe the ‘cafe’ events” because they “were not clear and not reflective of the university’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.”
- “The original intent was to provide students from marginalized communities a space that allowed for them to exist freely without having to normalize their lives and experiences, while also providing students that do not identify as persons of color the opportunity to deepen their understanding of race and racism without harming or relying on students of color to educate them,” the statement said.
- “The events were never intended to be exclusive or exclusionary for individuals of a certain race. Both events were open to all members of the UM-Dearborn campus community.”
- Vice-Chancellor Ken Kettenbeil clarified to CBS News that the “cafes” were meant to be one-time events and there were no plans to build two separate physical structures on campus.
Officials at the public university did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the sessions, including regarding who moderated and attended them and what was discussed.
The reaction: Liberal critics of the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s attempt to promote racial justice mostly took issue with the “cafe” for white students.
Abed Ayoub — the legal and policy director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and a University of Michigan-Dearborn graduate — derided it on Twitter as the “White Cafe” and called the whole initiative “not thought out and very lazy.”
- In an interview with The Detroit News, Ayoub expressed support for “safe spaces” for non-white college students but faulted his alma mater for not allowing white students to “hear and learn from the experiences of students of color in these discussions.”
Conservatives on Twitter, meanwhile, saw the “cafes” as an absurd logical endpoint of “critical race theory,” an ideology of racial oppression that is ascendant on the left.
Daily Caller reporter Jordan Lancaster quipped that the University of Michigan-Dearborn “is so woke that they created segregated cafes.”
“This is a lot of words to convey ‘whites only.’ And all in the same of social justice,” said Commentary editor Noah Rothman.
“What’s next?” wondered Michael Shermer, a science writer and the founder of The Skeptics Society, in a tweet. “Segregated dorms/showers/buses? People can associate with anyone they want but isn’t this a reversal of racial integration policy?”
“Safe spaces”: Many U.S. colleges in recent years have established various types of “safe spaces” on campus to accommodate female, black, LGBT or other minority students who might feel uncomfortable among the general student body.
- But public backlash and legal challenges alleging discrimination have complicated — and in some cases scuppered — the efforts.
Amid nationwide racial unrest, President Donald Trump recently ordered an end to all training based on critical race theory by federal agencies, including the Department of Education.
- White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said in a memo released on Friday: “The President has directed me to ensure that federal agencies cease and desist from using taxpayer dollars to fund these divisive, un-American propaganda training sessions.”
