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  • Arizona State University’s ‘Problem Of Whiteness’ Course Sparks Controversy

    03.31.2015 | News | |

    The Arizona State University (ASU) professor teaching a course entitled “U.S. Race Theory & the Problem of Whiteness,” is receiving hate mail amid a growing firestorm on campus.

    About 18 students have been taking the class since January 12 of this year.

    And since then, protests have been held against the continuation of funding for the course and the assistant professor teaching the class, Lee Bebout, has been harassed.

    Tempe police say fliers with the words “Anti-White” printed over a photo of Bebout’s face were distributed on campus and were found in Bebout’s neighborhood, according to The Arizona Republic.

    “I look forward to your suicide,” one letter read. Another said: “Maybe just kill yourself and get it over with.”

    One person wrote, “I’d enjoy seeing you swing from a light pole.”

    None of the hate Bebout is receiving is constructive or necessary. (Assuming it’s real hate mail and not leftist contrivance.)

    Bebout’s colleagues see the reaction to the course as proof of its necessity.

    “Precisely the reason there is such a backlash is exactly the reason why (such classes) should exist,” said Nolan Cabrera, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona. “The time it will be unnecessary is when it ceases to be controversial.”

    But the honest criticism of Bebout’s class has more to do with the fact that neither he nor Arizona State University would dare endorse a class entitled “U.S. Race Theory & the Problem of Blackness.” Calling the course the “problem if whiteness” overtly states that there’s a problem with being white in America.

    If you’re a white person, it’s more than fair to take offense to that. And you better believe that every civil rights freedom fighter in America would be protesting Arizona State University if there was a professor teaching a course called “U.S. Race Theory & the Problem of Blackness.”

    The issue here is the double standard. It’s the assumption that there is, in fact, a “problem” with being white in America.

    No one wants to feel guilty about being born in the wrong color skin.

    Another issue is that the syllabus for Bebout’s course is not available online. That only opens Bebout and ASU up to more criticism. Not putting the course syllabus out in the open for the public to see and judge at a public university, leaves room for speculation and attack.

    I would suggest that Bebout and Arizona State host a debate about the so-called “problem of whiteness,” instead of having an entire course with a secret syllabus taught on it.


    Jerome Hudson

    Managing Editor

    Jerome Hudson has written for numerous national outlets, including The Hill, National Review, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was recognized as one of Florida’s emerging stars, having been included in the list “25 Under 30: Florida’s Rising Young Political Class.” Hudson is a Savannah, Ga. native who currently resides in Florida.

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