Another day, another left-wing academician engaging in overtly racist behavior that most Americans believe was outlawed by the Constitution a century-and-a-half ago and civil rights statutes in the 1960s.

According to Campus Reform, a sociology professor at the State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University) states in her course syllabus that her class will “give priority to non-white folks” when it comes to course participation.

“The ‘Class Discussion Guidelines’ section of Ana Maria Candela’s ‘Social Change -Introduction to Sociology’ syllabus, which instructs white male students to wait their turn to speak after ‘non-white folks’ talk, opens with a quotation about speaking from Mao Zedong, the communist Chinese dictator who killed 45 million people,” Campus Reform reported adding, “‘No investigation, no right to speak,’ the quote reads in the document for the Binghamton University class.”

The syllabus notes that while the Mao quote is a “bit harsh,” it nevertheless “helps to convey the idea that speaking, during class discussions, should be based on having done your investigative work.” It also says that students should complete class reading assignments and then discuss them in an “insightful and informed way,” according to the National Review.

The syllabus goes on to say:

We practice progressive stacking when calling on people participate in class discussions. This means that we try to give priority to non-white folks, to women, and to shy and quiet people who rarely raise their hands. It also means that if you are white, male, or someone privileged by the racial and gender structures of our society to have your voice easily voiced and heard, we will often ask you to hold off on your questions or comments to give others priority and will come back to you a bit later or at another time.

Our experience with this practice is that within little time, those who feel most privileged to speak begin to take the initiative to hold space for others who feel less comfortable speaking first, while those who tend to be more silenced in our society grow more comfortable speaking. As you can imagine, it has tremendous benefits for our society as a whole when we learn to hold space and listen to others whose voices are typically disregarded and silenced. 

There is no other way to describe what this is: Overt anti-white, anti-male racism in a country where there are specific statutes prohibiting racial and gender-related discrimination.

Needless to say, some students pushed back on this, including Sean Harrigan who, we assume, also paid his tuition the same as any other student of color, shy student, or female student.

“How am I supposed to get full participation when the professor won’t call on me even though I had my hand up the longest?” he asked.

“Emme Young said the policy was “embarrassing. … It’s pretty embarrassing that I pay tuition to a school that has a class with that syllabus.”

Embarrassing, yes, and foolish.

After being busted, Binghamton University issued this explainer:

Binghamton University faculty seek to engage all students in their classes in active participation, including those who are shy or lack self-confidence. The Faculty Staff Handbook outlines principles of effective teaching, which include valuing and encouraging student feedback, encouraging appropriate faculty-student interaction, and respecting the diverse talents and learning styles of students.

The syllabus statement you have brought to our attention clearly violates those principles. The faculty member has updated their syllabus, removing the section in question, and is now in compliance with the Faculty Staff Handbook.

It’s good that the syllabus has been changed, but it never should have contained such racist language, to begin with.