If college admissions brochures are to be believed, American universities are thriving havens of not only racial diversity but also of racial harmony. Diverse student groups study and socialize together in marketing photos where everyone smiles, wears complementary colors, and inexplicably laughs during group project meetings. Anyone who has ever done a group project knows that there is scarcely any laughter at these abysmal gatherings. And anyone who has ever gone to college with their eyes even halfway open knows that racial harmony is hardly a mainstay on American campuses.
As incidents in Ferguson, Oklahoma, and more recently South Carolina shine a spotlight on racial tension in America, many are turning to universities to find answers on how to make white Americans unlearn their prejudice. One of the most common answers is that students of color can be integral to helping their white peers overcome their racial prejudice. But like many anti-racism efforts, it is a well-meaning but ultimately wrong-headed approach that makes white feelings the focal point of discussions about race and instrumentalizes students of color in the white transformation.
[For more of this story, written by Alana Massey, go to http://www.psmag.com/books-and...ed-to-be-less-stupid]
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