Investigating The Epistemology of Ignorance in Higher Education
Faculty Mentor Information
Dr. Michael Kreiter (Mentor), Boise State University
Presentation Date
7-2024
Abstract
Existing literature on color blindness and anti-Black racism talks about how whites appear unsympathetic about racial issues. However, in my findings, many white students showed “sympathy” by stating they were not “the right person” to talk about race. This form of “sympathy” appears to complicate previous literature, but I explain how it is another/ new way that colorblind racism manifests. I argue that white students engage in the epistemology of ignorance to avoid their responsibility to social justice with phrases like “I’m not the person to talk about this.” I use literature such as Mill’s “Epistemology of Ignorance,” particularly the component of Historical Amnesia, and Dancy II et al.’s concept of Plantation Politics in American higher education to show how anti-racism for racial/ ethnic equity is then thrust upon the BIPOC community, whose activism is a fight for survival. Interviews were conducted with undergraduate students at a predominately white institution. In these interviews, Students were asked about their motivation to attend a predominantly white institution and their race and class influence in their academic pursuits. My preliminary findings indicate a profoundly entrenched and internalized ideology of colorblindness, a problem whose consequences seem to cement racism steeper in the neo-liberal higher education institution. As a solution, drawing from Dancy et al.’s theory of the “New Plantation,” I argue for a Black-centered curriculum to allow non-white students to be able to see themselves finally reflected in the education system.
Investigating The Epistemology of Ignorance in Higher Education
Existing literature on color blindness and anti-Black racism talks about how whites appear unsympathetic about racial issues. However, in my findings, many white students showed “sympathy” by stating they were not “the right person” to talk about race. This form of “sympathy” appears to complicate previous literature, but I explain how it is another/ new way that colorblind racism manifests. I argue that white students engage in the epistemology of ignorance to avoid their responsibility to social justice with phrases like “I’m not the person to talk about this.” I use literature such as Mill’s “Epistemology of Ignorance,” particularly the component of Historical Amnesia, and Dancy II et al.’s concept of Plantation Politics in American higher education to show how anti-racism for racial/ ethnic equity is then thrust upon the BIPOC community, whose activism is a fight for survival. Interviews were conducted with undergraduate students at a predominately white institution. In these interviews, Students were asked about their motivation to attend a predominantly white institution and their race and class influence in their academic pursuits. My preliminary findings indicate a profoundly entrenched and internalized ideology of colorblindness, a problem whose consequences seem to cement racism steeper in the neo-liberal higher education institution. As a solution, drawing from Dancy et al.’s theory of the “New Plantation,” I argue for a Black-centered curriculum to allow non-white students to be able to see themselves finally reflected in the education system.