"They're Protecting Whiteness and Their Fragility Is Showing": How Feminist Praxis Disrupts White Supremacy in Neoliberal Predominately White Institutions"

Abstract

Predominately white institutions (PWIs) embody white policies, culture, and ways of educating that disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). This research addresses the ways in which feminist praxis disrupts white supremist violence in PWIs. Literature highlights the ways in which white supremacy is disguised through the language of diversity, how the university community is able to build community despite barriers in the university, and how each primary player (faculty, staff, and students) navigate institutional violence. This research draws on ten interviews with faculty, staff, and students at a public and private PWI in an urban Midwestern city. Although the sample size is small, the interviews highlight marginalized voices of those doing anti-racist work inside and on the university. Results of this study highlight the ways white supremacy is present in PWIs, the difference between public and private universities, how feminist praxis by faculty, staff, and students is demonstrated to resist institutional violence, and suggestions to transform the university by bureaucratic changes or divesting from the university.