Judy Rohrer: EWU working to further the conversation on racism
By Judy Rohrer
Eastern Washington University has been in the news recently because of another racist incident on campus. This time it was racist graffiti targeting Black students found in the dance studio where they had been practicing for an event.
Students quickly organized to address the attack. The community responded as well, including Spokane NAACP President Kurtis Robinson, who said in a news release, “it must be understood that if an institution is not proactively, systemically, and sustainably engaged in addressing the issues of White Supremacy Culture, it is thereby giving it the hall pass to continue.”
Proactively providing knowledge and resources to address structural racism is exactly what a new 2-credit course at EWU sets out to do. What’s Critical About Critical Race Theory? is being offered through gender, women’s and sexuality studies and cross-listed with Africana studies and the honors program. The course was developed in response to student requests, the increasing attacks nationwide on critical education (CRT, Black studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, and anti-racist education in all forms), and the continued racist incidents at EWU.
“This course not only dispels myths and misconceptions about what critical race theory truly is, but provides a space for me to engage in honest dialogue with others and to expand my curiosity about the nuances and depth of CRT,” said Sam Lee, a senior graduating with a double major in gender, women’s and sexuality studies and psychology.
GWSS and philosophy double-major tommyboiZ Cyphers said the course offers “meaningful guided conversations about the ways that systemic inequities can and have affected BIPOC (people) that reside in our region.”
As part of that course, we arranged to have Angélica Cházaro, of the University of Washington Law School, give a virtual presentation on the origins, unifying ideas and modern applications of CRT. Because of popular interest, we opened her talk to the broader community. Units across campus lent support and co-sponsorship including the library, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Africana studies; American Indian studies, Chicanx studies, Faculty Commons and the honors program.
People in these units recognize how challenging these times are, especially in this conservative region where marginalized communities have historically faced subordination. Business, health and Sciences librarian Kelly Evans said they wanted to “support the right of our students to learn about CRT and understand why it is critical.”
Critical race theory has been distorted to create fear, said Angela Schwendiman, director of Africana studies. “Cházaro’s work is so important because she brings clarity to the meaning and practice of critical race theory.”
EWU is surrounded by states and counties that are actively removing books from libraries, history from curriculum, topics from courses, even language from educators’ mouths. Local librarians and teachers, including 2018 National Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning, have asked for support. In 2022 Manning co-authored a commentary in which she wrote: “We must combat policies like these” and ensure “every child has access to an honest education that reflects their identities and exposes them to the ways of thinking, being, and doing of their peers.”
On Friday, more than 65 people showed up in a Zoom room for Cházaro’s presentation. And all 90 people who registered are getting a follow-up email with the slides and resources shared in the event (and anyone is welcome to request these resources). That is incredible participation and speaks to how hungry people are for accurate, reliable information on what CRT actually is and why it is important.
The four autonomous diversity programs at EWU, and other units dedicated to equity and inclusion, are doing all we can to (re)build an institution that is “proactively, systemically, and sustainably engaged” in addressing intersecting systems of oppression. The CRT course and Cházaro’s event are recent examples of our joint efforts, but this regional comprehensive public university could, and should, do much more. EWU is uniquely situated to boldly step into this moment, offering the kind of transformative education people in the region want and need – and which some students are demanding.
Judy Rohrer is director gender, women’s and sexuality studies at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.