White Privilege? At Appalachian State?

One would think that the political focus of a university in the Appalachians, insofar as it is concerned about privileges, would be class privilege. And one would assume that most students there, being poor whites, were victims of that privilege. Finally, one would assume that the main goal of the university would be to help guide their students out of poverty and into the middle class by informing them of jobs to steer clear of because there is no point in even trying – like, for example, elite law firms in New York City or Boston – and telling them which majors are most likely to help them get out of poverty.

But no. Instead, the talk is of white privilege. See here.

Let’s say you are from the bottom half economically, and you live in the region of Appalachian State, and you end up going there because for people in your economic bracket, getting into a classier place is unlikely to happen. What sort of campus will you find? Will you find one that is kind to people of your class, or is it indifferent to your concerns? The latter, definitely.

Let’s take a look at the specialties of some of the professors in the liberals arts. In philosophy, there are six professors. Three have specialties in non-political areas, a fourth includes philosophy of race along with the others, a fifth includes environmental ethics, while the sixth’s specialties are “Feminist Theory, Ethics, Continental Philosophy, Critical Race Theory, Environmental Philosophy, Disability Studies, and Queer Theory.” If you are lower class or lower-middle class, it is hard to see why any of that is appealing.

In Religious Studies, which is paired with philosophy, there is nothing on class. One actually wouldn’t expect them to do anything on class because their focus isn’t even on politics, but in fact one faculty member lists these as her areas of expertise: “History of Christianity, Women in Religion, Religion and Colonialism, Post-Colonial Theory, Religion in Latin America.” Of her five areas, at least three are political, and one isn’t even specifically about religion.

The political scientists are part of a Government and Justice Studies department, but again there is nothing about class. Or let me correct that: if you were a student looking for someone whose specialty was class issues, you probably wouldn’t find them because their interest is described as “critical theory.” Another does “urban politics.” Really? In Appalachia there is a professor whose specialty is urban politics? Why?

In history there is no one whose specialty is labor or class conflicts, though a few deal with gender or environmental issues. In sociology, there is someone who does labor movements, and maybe one or two others who could be counted on to talk about class issues.

There is also a Department of Cultural, Gender, and Global Studies. Obviously, no one there would be interested in class issues.

One might expect more from the Appalachian Studies department, but it seems to be more interested in sustainability than in the poverty of people in the region. Here is the first sentence of their welcome page:

Offering a Master of Arts in Appalachian Studies with concentrations in Sustainability since 1997, Culture since 1978, and Music since 2006 and a Bachelor of Arts since 2008, the Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University continues to grow and build its longstanding commitments to social justice, regional sustainability, and cultural heritage.

Why is sustainability so important to these people, while class issues seem to have no importance whatsoever? And are we supposed to infer that what they mean by “social justice” will include class and not just race, gender, and sexual orientation?

What is pathetic about these professors is that some of them probably come from the bottom half economically, yet they tolerate an intellectual atmosphere that pays no attention to their class background.

What about student services? Does it do a better job than the professors do of helping those from modest backgrounds? Not as far as I can see. There is something called the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Compliance, but there is nothing in the description of what they do that specifically says they deal with class issues.

In short, if you are a lower-class or lower-middle-class white person who is interested in your class situation, there is very little in the way of resources that will help you. There are no organizations to join for solidarity. The research interests of the faculty are generally not going to help you understand your situation, and even if they are interested in class issues, they probably have a perspective that is wildly wrong. If you are a white male, you will be told endlessly how privileged you are for being white or male, but no one will acknowledge that you are underprivileged economically.

The first thing the poorer students there should do is to demand that tuition be lowered, even if it means ditching some of the administrators. Next, they should demand that affirmative action include class background. Another thing is that the white males who are from modest backgrounds should start an organization for themselves. Once they do that, then they can start making demands on others, the first of which is that the university as well as other students need to stop ignoring their class background. The second is to insist that their lack of class privilege outweighs whatever other privileges they do have.

Well, it is not very likely that this will happen. But it is astounding and bewildering and angering that a university that probably caters mostly to people in the bottom half economically should be so indifferent to what their lives are like. I blame the left.