San Diego State University. (Google Maps)
A San Diego State University professor is under fire after she gave students an extra credit quiz to determine their level of “white privilege.”
Sociology professor Dae Elliott’s “White Privilege Checklist” included 20 questions in hopes that students can see that “racial privilege is one form of privilege,” The College Fix reports. The assignment asked students to check off whether statements apply to them.
“I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race,” one statement on the quiz said. “I can enroll in a class at college and be sure that the majority of my professors will be of my race,” said another.
The end of the quiz asked students to define any other types of privileges they may think they have. Those with the highest number of checkmarks are determined to have the most privilege.
"For the past 23 years as part of her course, an extra credit questionnaire has been offered to all students to help facilitate dialogue about varying opinions; to encourage students to analyze their own opinions; to practice lively, civilized discussion based on reason and factual evidence; to proactively listen to each other with respect; and to help everyone in the class understand each other’s diverse backgrounds and views," the university told Fox News.
The school’s college Republicans cried foul.
“This is another attempt by the left, and Professor Elliot, to divide America,” San Diego State University College Republicans President Brandon Jones told The College Fix. “The left’s political goal is to ensure that minorities in America perpetuate that their primary problem is white racism. This only furthers the portrayal of minorities in America as victims and does nothing to help contribute to their advancement in society.”
Elliott told The College Fix that the lesson helps students see things from other perspectives.
“Only through processes that allow us to share intersubjectively, weigh all of our perspectives according to amount of shareable empirical evidence can we approximate an objective understanding of our society,” she said. “In a society that values fairness, our injustices that are institutionalized are often made invisible.”
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