LATEST: Guest Prof Gives MSU a “F” for Equity, Discusses Racism in Schools

"We collectively acknowledge that MSU was built upon communities of indigenous people...we should work to hold MSU more accountable to indigenous people.”

Author: Jack Carlson

Invited guest speaker USC professor Shaun Harper connected the past killings of indigenous people to “domestic terrorism” and delivered a “F” to MSU on his Race and Equity Report.

The event, “The Unacceptability of Racism in Schools,” discussed an array of topics related to the alleged perpetuation of racism in American schools. Harper directed this towards MSU.

Harper said, “we collectively acknowledge that MSU was built upon communities of indigenous people...we should work to hold MSU more accountable to indigenous people.”

He then went further, suggesting, “the slaughter of indigenous people was domestic terrorism.”

Harper did not expand further on his claim of the domestic terrorism against indigenous peoples by non-indigenous peoples.

Shaun Harper is the founder and executive director of the USC Race and Equity Center. His annual 50-State Scorecard ranked MSU a “F” in Completion Equity, a “C” in Gender Equity, and a “D” in Representation Equity for African American students. He gave MSU an overall ranking of 1.75 out of 4.

The University of Michigan scored the highest in the state, with a grade of 2.50.

Suggesting solutions, Harper proposed schools should strengthen racial literacy, and promote more talk about race and racism among colleagues. He said “it is hard to find the ‘truth’ about colonization in schools,” which he tied to racial literacy.

“Racial literacy,” defined by the Racial Empowerment Collaborative,“is the ability to read, recast, and resolve racially stressful encounters....utilizing intellectual, emotional, and behavioral skills that protect and affirm racial self-efficacy (RSE), recast racial stress, and negotiate racial conflicts.”

“We aim to be helpful,” claims the USC Race and Equity website. “Actionable intelligence, as well as scalable and adaptable models of success, inform our ongoing quest for racial equity...dismantling an issue as big as racism requires a robust interdisciplinary network of expert scholars, as well as a wide range of strategies, tools, partnerships, and resources.”

Freshman Ryland Bennett told The Morning Watch, “it’s ridiculous that we’d receive[d] a “F” because of the actions of people 200 plus years ago.” He also stressed the efforts by MSU to diminish racism, saying, “I feel the school and everyone in it work hard for it to be a welcoming place for all”. Bennett is studying Political Science.

Nic Lewis, a freshman studying Biochemistry at MSU, told The Morning Watch, “I think racism is a problem at MSU, mostly because racism is, inarguably, a problem in America.”

The event concluded with the reaffirmation of the alleged abundance of racial segregation, racial illiteracy, and the importance of understanding racial microaggressions.

It should be noted, Harper did not attend MSU as a student and has not visited the campus for research since 2002.

Contributor Jack Carlson