Lawmakers in Wisconsin – at least some Republican ones – have issued a cease-and-desist demand to the University of Wisconsin-Madison over its “Problem of Whiteness” course, scheduled to kick off this spring as part of the school’s African Cultural Studies.
They’re also requesting the university fire the professor who’s teaching the class, Damon Sajnani.
As Campus Reform noted, Rep. Dave Murphy, who represents the Greenville district in the state legislature, put out a press release that stated: “I am extremely concerned that UW-Madison finds it appropriate to teach a course called, ‘The Problem of Whiteness.’ Even more troubling, the course is taught be a self-described ‘international radical’ professor whose views are a slap in the face to the taxpayers who are expected to pay for this garbage.”
Murphy noted Sajnani, the instructor who’s due to teach the course in 2017, has a Twitter feed of inflammatory messages unbefitting a professor.
One of his tweets, Campus Reform found, was sent after the shooting of five police officers in Dallas and read: “Is the uprising finally starting? Is yhis style of protest gonna go viral?
In another one, posted during the same time frame. Sajnani included a link to a song entitled, “Officer Down,” and remarked: “Watching CNN, this is the song I am currently enjoying in my head.”
University officials, however, aren’t likely to cave to Murphy’s demands.
In a statement released after Murphy first raised concerns about the “Problem of Whiteness” class with other Republicans, university administrators defended both course and professor.
“The course title refers to the challenge of understanding white identity and non-white identity across the globe [and] … is not designed to offend individuals or single out an ethnic group,” the statement read, in part.
It also read: “We believe this course, which is one of thousands offered at our university, will benefit students who are interested in developing a deeper understanding of race issues. The course is a challenge and response to racism of all kinds.”
