Recently the Chicago City Wire reported that the University of Chicago added to their curriculum a class titled “The Problem of Whiteness” CRES (Critical Race and Ethnic Studies) 25030.
Sophomore Daniel Schmidt, 18, criticized the university for the course. He tweeted, “EXCLUSIVE: at my college, @Uchicago, a class called “The Problem of Whiteness” will be taught in the winter. Since I began college a year ago, I’ve documented all the anti-white hatred I’ve seen on campus. Without a doubt, this is the most egregious example.”
Schmidt tweeted: “The course description describes whiteness “as a conspicuous problem within liberal political discourse” with “worldmaking (and razing) effects.” Anti-white hatred is now mainstream academic inquiry. And you’re not even allowed to call that out without being called a racist.”
Schmidt tweeted, “UPDATE: @UChicago has just CANCELLED “The Problem of Whiteness” class. Thank you to everyone who shared my thread. We are obviously fighting an uphill battle, but this is a huge victory. Students need to call out anti-white hatred whenever they see it. Just the beginning.”
Schmidt said Rebecca Journey, a “cultural anthropologist” who appears to be white, would teach the course. The catalog entry for the course discusses the course through the lens of “critical race theory.”
Schmidt also tweeted, “You have to wonder what the solution to the “Problem of Whiteness” would be. This is how people who detest white people think and talk. And they have taken over all universities under the guise of “academic freedom.” No sane professor can oppose it without risking their career. “Will White students at my college complain about this course? Of course not. They’re used to it by now. They know better than to step out of line. They must keep their heads down, shut up and tolerate second-class treatment. That’s the reality. They’re the problem.”
After Schmidt’s tweet, Journey’s bio was inaccessible from the university’s website.
Schmidt recently gave a 30-minute speech at an Eagle Forum event (headquartered in Alton, Illinois.) His topic was “Fighting and Exposing Anti-White Hatred at Universities.” He said that all campus conservatives need to speak up about the blatant hostility toward white students, yet only a few are.”
He talked about the UChicago United, a left-wing student organization, during their 4th Annual Black Convocation, welcoming the incoming class of Black students to the college and broader Chicago community at Rockefeller Chapel. They hosted a discussion on race but banned white people from attending the event. As a result, they were called racist by Fox & Friends co-host Todd Piro and “Federalist‘ staff writer Evita Duffy, who attended the University of Chicago.
The event was mischaracterized. The facts are that white people perpetrate most racism. The meeting most likely was to navigate white racism. Still, Schmidt feels that the students behind UChicago United did the opposite of that goal by not allowing white people to attend and saying their perspective had no value because they’re white.
Yet Schmidt writes if you’re a White person in America, the worst people in our society will always hate you for being white, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You can be the best ally humanly possible, and these people would still treat you like a second-class citizen. To make matters worse, no major institution will stand up for you. You’re on your own. In today’s social hierarchy, you exist at the bottom. Learn your place. He says this lesson is being taught to all the “woke” white students across the country.
Daniel Schmidt tweeted, “My college @UChicago is paying Shaka Senghor, a guy who spent 19 years in prison for murder, to lecture students on criminal justice reform. Keep in mind that thugs have murdered three UChicago students in the past year and a half.” He also mentioned that Senghor was appointed as a software company’s head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Schmidt tweeted, “Imagine if @UChicago took the boldest step of all and eliminated affirmative action. The brilliance this school could attract would be unmatched.”
Schmidt once tweeted that Media Matters called him racist for tweeting “White Lives Matter.” He said, “White people are the only people on earth treated this way. God bless Kanye West for raising awareness. He certainly has more balls than 99.9% of College Republicans.”
What A 18-Year-old College Sophomore Tweets About…
Schmidt tweeted: “If you’re a Black thug in Chicago, UChicago students seem the perfect target. Many are wealthy from foreign nations and will blame white people instead of you.”
“UChicago has one of the largest private police forces in the world. The area around the university is so dangerous that the administration gives students ten free Lyft rides a month. This is the most my administration can do without being called racist.”
“Imagine if @UChicago took the boldest step of all and eliminated affirmative action. The brilliance this school would attract would be unmatched.”
“The consequence of affirmative action is just not Asian and White kids not getting into Harvard. We will soon see a rise in infrastructure failures, medical malpractice, airplane crashes, and overall dysfunction and never-ending national embarrassments.”
Schmidt tweeted some advice for college students: “Don’t spend your time debating leftists. It’s a complete waste of time; instead, spend your time winning over the dorky college Republicans at your school. One of them could be a future GOP politician. That’s how you have influence.”
As of August 2022, right-wing college sophomore Daniel Schmidt was 18.
A Missed Opportunity…
I wonder who taught Daniel Schmidt American history and particularly from what perspective? Had it been from the perspective of Blacks who lived through it and not the sanitized version, he would realize that once upon a time, White people enslaved Black people, and it was wrong. As a result, Black people lived as second-class citizens in their own country for centuries, which was terrible.
Mr. Schmidt, the history you were taught in school, was white-washed. You may believe that the class “The Problem with Whiteness” wasn’t necessary, but you must build the stamina to sustain conscious discussions and direct engagement about race and the sins of your fathers. Until these conversations are discussed (be it in a college classroom or round table discussion), you will never bridge cross-racial divides and end the perpetual cycle that works to hold racism in place, especially in the young mind and life of a college sophomore.
The class cancellation was a missed opportunity to see yourself and others like you (in the mirror) and make a change.
