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Whiteness in the Ivory Tower

Why Don't We Notice the White Students Sitting Together in the Quad?

Nolan L. Cabrera

Publication Date: April 26, 2024

Pages: 192

Series: Multicultural Education Series

Available Formats
PAPERBACK
ISBN: 9780807769164
$39.95
HARDCOVER
ISBN: 9780807769171
$120.00
EBOOK
ISBN: 9780807782125
$39.95
Whiteness in the Ivory Tower 9780807769164
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  • Description
  • Author
  • Reviews
  • Contents

Description+

This book centers the harm that Whiteness causes to communities of Color in order to transform higher education practices, policies, and research.

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. Cabrera also demonstrates how campus-based segregation is largely a problem created and maintained by White students, contrary to popular belief. 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 antiracism 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.

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.

Reviews+

"Nolan Cabrera offers us a searing critique of how higher education reproduces White supremacy in both loud and quiet ways. Whiteness in the Ivory Tower is particularly important because it highlights the racial politics of higher education in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's banning of affirmative action."
—Wayne Au, professor, University of Washington School of Educational Studies, editor, Rethinking Schools

“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, this 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

“Whiteness in the Ivory Tower deepens our knowledge of the role and impact of Whiteness within higher education institutions, and illuminates the ways it manifests in current institutional structures and processes. As only Nolan L. Cabrera can, this book offers approaches to resisting Whiteness and its privileges while serving as a critical resource for scholars, educators, policymakers, and activists seeking to understand and challenge racial inequities in higher education. The question is, do we have the courage to heed Cabrera’s call?”
—Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, professor, Teachers College, Columbia University, and author of Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces

Contents+

Contents

Series Foreword James A. Banks  ix

Preface  xv

Acknowledgments  xix

Introduction: Whiteness in Higher Education: Racism Hidden in Plain Sight  1
On the Promise and Problematics of Critical Whiteness Studies  6
Overview of the Book  8

1.  Toward a Unified Theory of Whiteness in Higher Education  11
With Maria Jose Hernadez and Lauren M. Badajos
Whiteness in Higher Education: The Core Concepts  12
Racial Structures and Ideologies  13
Organizational Racial Concepts  18
Individualized Racial Concepts (Linked to Systemic Realities)  20
Toward a Unified Theory of Whiteness in Higher Education  25
Conclusion  27

2.  Why Don’t We Notice White Segregation? Whiteness, Invisibility, and Racial Exclusion  29
Self-Segregation/Campus Balkanization—Three Decades of Debate and Race-Lighting  30
Campus Self-Segregation: Who’s Really Doing It?  32
White Folk Segregate: So What?  35
Why Don’t We Notice the White Kids Sitting Together in the Quad?  37
Affirmative Action vs. Legacy Admits: Another Case of “What Group?”  38
Conclusion  41

3.  White Knowledge? It’s Complicated  43
Academic Freedom  45
Academic Freedom vs. Freedom of Speech  46
Whiteness and Academic Freedom  47
Demands for Non-White Knowledge, I: Ethnic Studies  49
Demands for Non-White Knowledge, II: Critical Race Theory  52
(Academic) Racial Capitalism and Return on Educational Investment  54
On Objectivity  58
Academic Harm  60
Toward Academic Responsibility and an Academic Hippocratic Oath  61
Conclusion  64

4.  “It’s All Part of the Plan”: Whiteness, Race, and Organizational Structure  65
Whiteness and Institutional Logics  67
What Does This Mean in Structure and Practice?  70
The Faustian Bargain of College Rankings  71
The More Things Change, the More Things Stay the Same  75
Disrupting “the Plan” in Higher Education Organizations  76
Divorce: Standardized Tests and Rankings  78
Conclusion  80

5.  White Guys (Still) in Charge: Whiteness and Higher Education Leadership  83
Whiteness and the College Presidency  84
The Complicated Legacy of Michael Crow  88
The Manufactured Outrage Against Non-White Knowledge  93
Rehabilitating Higher Education Leadership  101
Conclusion  104

6.  Whiteness Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry: The Anatomy of a Racial Non-Apology and Apology  107
Case Study: The Daily Wildcat Controversy  108
The Response  109
Again?!?!?!  112
The Anatomy of a Racial Apology  113
From Denial to Accountability  115
Conclusion  116

7.  Conclusion: Centering BIPOC Communities, Divorcing From Whiteness, and Institutionalizing Antiracism  119
Divorcing From the Logics of (Academic) Racial Capitalism  120
Cancel Culture?  125
Fostering Joy: Divorcing From Whiteness Is Insufficient  127

Endnotes  131

References  134

Name Index  159

Subject Index  165

About the Author  171

$39.95

Professors: Request an Exam Copy

Print copies available for US orders only. For orders outside the US, see our international distributors.

Books In This Series
Race, Curriculum, and the Politics of Educational Justice
Race, Curriculum, and the Politics of Educational Justice
Fostering School–Family Relationships in Multicultural Communities
Fostering School–Family Relationships in Multicultural Communities
Critical Theory, Methods, and Design in Educational Research
Critical Theory, Methods, and Design in Educational Research
Affirming Student Ethnic Identities
Affirming Student Ethnic Identities
Critical Ethnic Studies and the Global Pursuit of Justice
Critical Ethnic Studies and the Global Pursuit of Justice
Let's Talk About DEI
Let's Talk About DEI
Why Historically Black Colleges and Universities Matter
Why Historically Black Colleges and Universities Matter
Hidden in Blackness
Hidden in Blackness
"To Remain an Indian"
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