Disrupting Structural Whiteness in Higher Education

Abstract

For more than a century, students and higher education leaders, practitioners, and scholars have imagined and implemented strategies to subvert racism and advocate for racial equity within U.S. higher education. However, racist campus climates and exclusionary practices persist because institutions of higher education themselves are structurally rooted in whiteness and white supremacy. In this chapter, the authors connect their social and political subjectivities as white scholars with their dedication to the dismantling of structures of whiteness within higher education in order to present one way to transform institutions. Through the presentation of theoretical and practical examples, they make the case that it is the shared responsibility of white leaders across the spectrum of higher education to take action against the racialized policies and norms that privilege white people by examining and abolishing institutional structures that support whiteness. Ultimately, the fight for equity and justice in higher education must center the challenging of structural manifestations of whiteness.