Whiteness in the Ivory Tower

by Nolan L. Cabrera

Overview

Whiteness is the foundation of racism and racial violence within higher education institutions. It is deeply embedded in the ideologies and organizational structures of colleges and universities that guide practices, policies, and research. The purpose of this book is not to simply uncover these practices but, rather, to intentionally center the harm that Whiteness causes to communities of Color broadly in order to transform these practices. For example, Cabrera explores what academic freedom and tenure could look like if they actually divorced themselves from Whiteness. Readers will dive into these and other pressing issues guided by both critical social analysis as well as hope for the possibilities of human liberation from oppression. This is important reading for university and college professors, scholars, diversity officers, student affairs professionals, and everyone looking for ways to center the needs of historically marginalized students.

• Book Features:
• Extends the work of Beverly Daniel Tatum classic text, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
• Explores what truly embedding anti-racism and decolonial praxis into higher education institutions could look like.
• Uses critical race theory to analyze the cause of racism and the effect Whiteness has on people of Color.
• Offers a critical but concurrently hopeful view that anti-racist futures are both possible and necessary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807782125
Publisher:	Teachers College Press
Publication date:	04/26/2024
Series:	Multicultural Education Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Nolan L. Cabrera is a professor of educational policy studies and practice at the University of Arizona. He is an award-winning author, a recipient of the prestigious education early career award and the National Academy of Education/Spencer postdoctoral fellowship, and an expert witness in Gonzalez v. Douglas—the case that overturned Arizona’s ban on Mexican American Studies.

Table of Contents

Contents (Tentative)

Series Foreword  James A. Banks

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Whiteness in Higher Education: Racism Hidden in Plain Sight
On the Promise and Problematics of Critical Whiteness Studies
Overview of the Book
1.
2. Toward a Unified Theory of Whiteness
Whiteness in Higher Education: The Core Concepts
Racial Structures and Ideologies
Organizational Racial Concepts
Individualized Racial Concepts (Linked to Systemic Realities)
Toward a Unified Theory of Whiteness in Higher Education
Conclusion
3.
4. Why Don’t We Notice White Segregation?: Whiteness, Invisibility, and Racial Exclusion
Self-Segregation/Campus Balkanization—Three Decades of Debate and Race-Lighting
Campus Self-Segregation: Who’s Really Doing It?
White Folk Segregate: So What?
Why Don’t We Notice All the White Kids Sitting Together in the Student Union?
Affirmative Action v. Legacy Admits: Another Case of “What Group”
Conclusion
5.
6. White Knowledge?: It’s Complicated
Academic Freedom
Academic Freedom v. Freedom of Speech
Whiteness and Academic Freedom
Demands for Non-White Knowledge, I: Ethnic Studies
Demands for Non-White Knowledge, II: Critical Race Theory
(Academic) Racial Capitalism and Return on Educational Investment
On Objectivity
Academic Harm
Toward Academic Responsibility and an Academic Hippocratic Oath
Conclusion
7.
8. “It’s All Part of the Plan”: Whiteness, Race, and Organizational Structure
Whiteness and Institutional Logics
What Does This Mean in Structure and Practice?
The Faustian Bargain of College Rankings
The More Things Change, the More Things Stay the Same
Disrupting “The Plan” In Higher Education Organizations
Divorce: Standardized Tests and Rankings
Conclusion

5.  White Guys (Still) in Charge: Whiteness and Higher Education Leadership
Whiteness and the College Presidency
The Complicated Legacy of Michael Crow
The Manufactured Outrage Against Non-White Knowledge
Rehabilitating Higher Education Leadership
Conclusion

6.  Whiteness Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry: The Anatomy of a Racial Non-Apology and Apology
Case Study: The Daily Wildcat Controversy
The Response
Again?!?!?!
The Anatomy of a Racial Apology
From Denial to Accountability
Conclusion

7.  Conclusion: Centering BIPOC Communities, Divorcing From Whiteness, and Institutionalizing Anti-Racism
Divorcing From the Logics of (Academic) Racial Capitalism
Cancel Culture?
Fostering Joy: Divorcing From Whiteness is Insufficient

Endnotes

References

Index

About the Author

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Cabrera’s study of white racial oppression in U.S. universities and colleges has vital lessons for all educators, students, and citizens in white-dominated societies, including those in Europe, South America, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and parts of Africa. Combining a deep and rich understanding of previous U.S. scholarship with new and laser-sharp analysis, this book unmasks the violent and racist operation of white power at every level of higher education.”
—David Gillborn, editor-in-chief, Race Ethnicity and Education

“Cabrera’s book compellingly explores the insidious role of Whiteness in higher education. He brilliantly dissects this Whiteness, demonstrating intricate ways White power and privilege operate in educational contexts, from the individual level to macrostructures. Cabrera challenges the reader to confront uncomfortable truths about our higher education institutions as the foundation of White supremacy beginning with White settler colonialism. Not just an academic exercise, his book is a call to action for visionary educational leaders committed to real social justice. Indeed, this is a must-read and must-heed for anyone seeking to challenge systemic racism embedded throughout the U.S. academic world.”
—Joe Feagin, Distinguished Professor, Texas A&M University, author of The White Racial Frame and Racist America