An Inclusive Litany

1/18/95

Billie Wright Dziech, English professor at the University of Cincinnati, in the Chronicle of Higher Education, January 13, 1995:
Those of us familiar with white male students know that a slow but inexorable process has been at work among them while the attention of campus leaders largely has been focused on other groups. As I have traveled across the country during the past several years speaking about sexual harassment—generally regarded as a "female" issue—I have at the same time learned a lot about male students....

They have heard exhortations and sermons about the white-male, racist Eurocentric hold on American history, but they have not always responded as we hoped they would. Outside of class, when they talk to parents, peers, and faculty members whom they trust, many of them say that they believe they are being forced to pay for history they had no part in and that they feel weary, angry and alienated....

He [the white male] sees no academic departments equivalent to women's or African-American studies that address his history. He receives no special admissions consideration and no special support services. Justifiably or not, the most authentic, the most vivid lesson that he may draw from his experience is that he is expected to pay for the transgressions of his ancestors and that the truly disadvantaged are people like himself, not those whose stories of victimization dominate the headlines.

There are no simple ways to alter such a perception. Even as I write, I feel trepidation at the prospect of having my words misrepresented or exaggerated, despite my long-standing commitment to women's concerns. But it is this commitment to inclusion that should motivate us to address the complex challenge confronting us. At this point, it is impossible to say definitely how—or even whether—equitable remedies can be found for the frustration and resentment some white men feel, but we can take some steps in that direction....

Despite limited resources, colleges ... have a responsibility to determine whether white men, like women and members of minority groups, require some special support services. White male students are acutely aware that their institutions have demonstrated little interest in them as a group, and this is clearly a source of frustration affecting their behavior and attitudes after they leave academe.

Symposia, lectures and discussions addressing white-male experience would show colleges' commitment to increasing understanding of all campus constituencies. We need to talk about how white men were viewed in the past and are viewed today and about how both men and women have been burdened by stereotypes. Furthermore, if existing institutional grievance procedures do not adequately respond to white men who complain about sexual harassment or racial discrimination, we must devise procedures that do.